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This Passover, Rabbi Michael Cahana urged his congregation to use the portion of the seder commemorating the bread of affliction to “call out the hunger of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
While the draft did not accuse Israel outright of genocide, a common allegation among pro-Palestinian activists, it referenced “colonial ideologies” and said the food bank would work “to keep policymakers accountable and press them to refrain from enacting foreign policies that contribute to genocide, warfare, famine, and hunger.”
In response, a dozen Portland Jewish groups — including the federation, several synagogues including Beth Israel, and a Jewish family service group — decided in late May to cut off their support. Today they’re funding other local hunger groups instead, at least two of which are Jewish-run.
“From our point of view, it seems like you’re targeting this particular conflict because you want to demonizeIsrael,” Bob Horenstein, director of Portland’s Jewish Community Relations Council, told JTA. “That’s the impact of what they’re doing.”
Taken together, the incidents point to a growing concern in Jewish philanthropy circles since Oct. 7: that the rise of a “statement culture” around the Israel-Hamas war, in which a range of organizations regardless of mission are taking positions on the issue, is fraying relationships between Jews and non-Jews in institutions across the country.
