Other items in today’s column include:
*Jeser, recovered from esophageal cancer, back at Federation’s helm
*Political bytes
*Recommended reading
*In memoriam
SAN DIEGO — Matthew Brown had 20 years experience as a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation before becoming the Homeland Security Program Manager for the San Diego Unified Port District. Earlier this month he joined the staff of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as part of a three-year partnership program with the Jewish Federation of San Diego County to improve security for the local Jewish community.
“This unified commitment to safety will be critical in strengthening efforts to address the rise in anti-Semitism throughout the region,” commented Michael Jeser, CEO of the Jewish Federation, and Tammy Gillies, San Diego regional director for the ADL, in a joint statement.
“Matthew will work closely with local Jewish institutions to advise on issues surrounding security and safety, including leading ADL’s Jewish Community Security Committee,” they added. “Additionally, he will provide training on hate crimes identification and investigation to local law enforcement, and regularly connect with the Center on Extremism to keep up to date on local hate groups and activity as part of the ADL’s ongoing effort to protect all communities targeted by extremism.”
Gillies and Jeser added: “This partnership symbolizes the very best of what can happen when our institutions work together for the betterment of the entire community.”
In a follow up interview, Jeser said a cooperative program had been under discussion with ADL following the massacre of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018, and accelerated following the shooting that took the life of Lori Gilbert Kaye at Chabad of Poway in April 2019. He said whereas years ago Federation had supported the work of the ADL, that support had dwindled in recent years, except for the Federation’s sponsorship of ADL’s “Walk Against Hate.”
“This is a kind of return to a major relationship of two organizations, which by the way echoes the partnership launched a year ago between the national ADL and the national federations,” better known as the Jewish Federations of North America, Jeser said.
Tammy Gillies, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the three-year grant provides $150,000 in annual funding, which can be applied to Brown’s salary or to various programmatic efforts which he will supervise. While ADL has had programs offering security advise to synagogues and Jewish institutions for many years, this is the first time that a staff person will devote 100 percent of his or her time to communal security matters, she said.
Besides counseling synagogues and Jewish organizations about providing security for their people and property, Brown will also work with local law enforcement agencies to help them recognize and deal with hate crimes, Gillies said. A recent compilation of hate crimes committed against all targeted communities in 2019 showed that anti-Semitic hate crimes were on the rise, while hate crimes against other communities were decreasing. She said it is often the case that Jews are the first targets of haters, but Jews are never the last target.
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Jeser, recovered from esophageal cancer, back at Federation’s helm
For Jeser, the month of July has marked his return to work as Federation’s chief executive officer. Now cancer-free following surgery on his esophagus, Jeser said he considers himself only about 70 percent recovered because his voice remains hoarse; he has difficulty eating some foods and must resort to a feeding tube about 30 percent of the time, and suffers fatigue. However, he said, he believes he is far along the road to recovery, and feels himself becoming more energetic with each passing day.
In addition to Federation’s contract with the Anti-Defamation League, Jeser said the Federation has been busy protecting other Jewish institutions from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation, more than $2 million has been raised from donors to help Jewish institutions stay afloat and to continue their missions. “For example,” he said, “we recently announced a grant of $417,000 to Jewish Family Service to provide services to some 200 individuals struggling with jobs or income loss due to Covid-19. He said that under auspices of the grant, “JFS will focus on Jewish community members who need food, transportation, interest-free loans, rental abatement, and interview- and job-search help.” Additionally, money from the grant will “be spread out throughout the year and used to develop a new program for ongoing critical needs.”
Including that grant, between $1.7 million and $1.8 million has been allocated to various local Jewish institutions that might otherwise have to cease providing services and lay off key personnel, Jeser said. He added that the financial support the three cooperating agencies provides will most likely have too be increased “once federal resources dry up.”
The Federation CEO said that other important programs initiatives are ongoing, among them a drive funded by a $200,000 matching grant to help needy Holocaust survivors within the community. “I want to assure the community that we are committed to this work,” he commented.
Asked if he anticipated that the Jewish community will bounce back to its pre-Covid 19 status after the pandemic abates, Jeser responded, “I am an optimist. I do believe that the community is going to heal. For some institutions it may take longer than others and there is definitely going to be some growing pains as we still don’t know the full extent of the pandemic. Are we going through the first phase or are we about to go into a second phase? We don’t know. There is a lot we don’t know. We do know that needs are going to be increased, the needs are going to be significant, and I believe we expect to need to raise more money to help the community, but I’m sure that the community will rebound from this.
“Some of the other wild cards include generally how the economy is going to look this year. We have an election year, and who knows how that will impact the economy? I think we have more uncertainty now, which is frightening, but I think San Diego is a very generous community. I will say that our Federation was able to raise the same amount of money that we raised a year ago, which tells us that our donors recognize how important it is to have a strong Federation. When we do the analysis we will see that we have lost some of our smaller gifts from donors who are impacted more, but those donors who give the lions’ share to our campaign have been exceedingly generous, giving us the same, or more, in some cases. That tells me that this community is going to stand behind the organizations that are going to struggle the most.”
Jeser said while there has been discussion nationally about the need for Jewish organizations to consider merging to avoid duplication and to consolidate overlapping functions, he hasn’t heard of such conversations going on locally, nor has he heard any indications that any Jewish organization is in such financial stress that it may need to merge or go out of business.
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Political bytes
*Joe Leventhal, a candidate in the 5th District San Diego City Council race, has been endorsed by the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors. Richard D’Ascoli, the organization’s chief executive officer said Leventhal “will support policies that make San Diego a more affordable place to live, work, and raise a family.”
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Recommended reading
*Times of San Diego reports that the USS Gabrielle Giffords, named for the former Jewish congresswoman from Arizona who survived an assassination attempt, is now patrolling in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The U.S. and other nations say the sea is international, whereas China claims it is its territory. The Gifford, a littoral combat ship based in San Diego, accompanies a task force including the U.S. aircraft carriers (Chester) Nimitz and Ronald Reagan.
*Leaders of the “No Profit from Hate” coalitions, including representatives of the ADL and the NAACP, walked away dissatisfied following a meeting on Tuesday with top executives of Facebook, according to a news account in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
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In memoriam
Paul Osroff, son of August Osroff, has died, Tifereth Israel Synagogue announced. The funeral and shiva will be private.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com