2019 Milstein Family Foundation Newsletter
Last week, on Yom HaShoah, we commemorated the memory of those lost in the Holocaust. Yesterday, on Yom Hazikaron, we remembered Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. And today, we celebrate Israel’s 71st birthday. Israel was built despite the Holocaust and it safeguards the Jewish people around the world.

We wish all of you a happy Yom Ha’atzmaut and ask that you join us in celebrating Israel’s phenomenal accomplishments and the strength of our pro-Israel community today and every day.

We hear the motto ‘Never Again’ echoed throughout the United States. Yet antisemitism is growing like a virus around the world. It continues to threaten our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

This hate against Jews has made its way into mainstream America and the halls of congress. It has manifested itself in New York Times cartoons—a chilling reminder of Nazi propaganda. And most recently, it stole the life of Lori Gilbert-Kaye during the Chabad of Poway terrorist attack.

When we say Never Again, we need to act on it. It’s time to not only to speak out against it, but to stand up and combat this age-old hatred. We must use new strategies to target antisemitism at its source. We must launch an offense to deter this hate. The time is now to stand up, speak out, and act to effectively combat antisemitism.

This month, our newsletter includes a video, F-15 Eagles Over Auschwitz, that shows why a strong Israel is critical to the safety of the Jewish people.

We feature Adam's latest op-ed in The Jerusalem Post, where he defines Islamophobia as the 21 st  century weapon to silence our freedom of speech and vows to continue to take a stand and speak out against radical Islam and other extremist movements that threaten our way of life.

And finally, we share with you the mission of our featured organization, the MERONA Leadership Foundation, which funds pro-Israel initiatives including The Impact Forum—a Los Angeles-based network of pro-Israel philanthropists supporting small organizations that make a huge impact.

With sincere love and admiration for the State of Israel and the Jewish people,

Gila and Adam Milstein
F-15 Eagles over Auschwitz
What does it mean for Jews to be safe? The horrors of the Holocaust remind us what happens when there is no national homeland to safeguard the Jewish people. This powerful video shows us why we need a strong Jewish State: so that when we say Never Again, it truly means Never Again. 
Islamophobia - The 21 st Century Weapon to Silence our Freedom of Speech
Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in 2015, the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, refused to use the term 'Islamophobia' to describe the phenomenon of anti-Muslim prejudice, because, he said, the accusation of Islamophobia is often used as a weapon by apologists for radical Islamists to silence critics.
We cannot let accusations of Islamophobia silence us when we confront and defend ourselves against the radical ideologies that exist in some Muslim communities and are now growing in America. Ideologies that undermine our values and seek to destroy our way of life.



Written by Adam Milstein, published in the Jerusalem Post
MERONA Leadership Foundation and its
Impact Forum

MERONA Leadership Foundation ’s mission is to support pro-Israel activists of all backgrounds—on campuses and beyond—by providing programming, professional guidance and funding for pro-Israel initiatives, while collaborating with pro-Israel nonprofits and engaging pro-Israel community leaders.
One of the initiatives MERONA supports is The Impact Forum — a Los Angeles-based network of pro-Israel philanthropists. Members of the Forum support each other's initiatives and empower other nonprofits that have an annual budget of $2 million or less and support specific projects led by larger organizations.
 
Over $1.5 million has been raised to support the 36 organizations that have presented to the Impact Forum since its inception in early 2017. The Impact Forum provides an opportunity to empower some of the most innovative start-up nonprofit organizations and initiatives that advance the fight against anti-Semitism and strengthen the State of Israel and the U.S.-Israel alliance. It also gives the most influential pro-Israel philanthropists an opportunity to expand their philanthropic connections and foster supportive relationships amongst each other.

T he Impact Forum comes together every six weeks and hosts two non-profit organizations with a budget of $2 million or less to present their work and achievements during an invitation-only luncheon. These organizations get the opportunity to establish long-lasting connections with the attending donors and to raise funds supporting their activity. The organizations invited to present are vetted and selected by the Steering Committee.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can be a part of this philanthropic network, click the "Stay in touch" button below.
The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation is proud to sponsor this impactful organization.