The National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency funded by U.S. tax dollars, dispensed the grant in the midst of Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians. It’s to combat “antisemitism” – i.e. criticism of Israeli war crimes
NEH Press Release
NEH Announces Largest Grant in Agency’s History—$10.4 Million—for Humanities-Focused Effort to Combat the Normalization of Anti-Semitism in American Society by Focusing on the Study of Jewish Civilization
- In 2017 Tikvah published a plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.
- Its chair is Israel advocate Elliott Abrams, a close associate of leading neocons Bill Kristol and Robert Kagan. He was a founding co-signer of their Project for a New American Century, led the charge to invade Iraq after calling for “regime change,” and has endorsed military interventions in Libya and Syria as well as Iran.
- Abrams was forced to plead guilty to deliberately misleading Congress regarding his nefarious role in the Iran-contra scandal, and was also disbarred in the District of Columbia.)
- Abrams founded the Vandenberg Coalition, “the latest reincarnation of the Project for the New American Century, a letterhead organization headed by Bill Kristol and Bob Kagan, that did so much to promote the U.S. invasion of Iraq.”
- In April The NEH slashed at least 1,200 grants supporting culture and history programs across the country]
“This expansive effort will include: the creation of a Jewish civilization curriculum for middle and high school students, implemented through teacher training and school partnerships; an expanded fellowship program for high school students providing intensive seminars on Jewish civilization; development of university courses in the Jewish humanities, to be offered in partnership with new Western Civilization BA programs at various major academic centers; public programs on the problem of anti-Semitism and the significance of Jewish civilization; a series of scholarly books on the meaning of Jewish resilience in the history of the United States and the Western world; and a fellowship program for early-career journalists who seek to write about anti-Semitism and advance knowledge of Jewish history and culture.
“These activities will focus on the foundational texts of Jewish civilization, from the Hebrew Bible and Talmud to modern Jewish literature, art, and philosophy, and examine subjects such as the influence of Hebraic ideas on Western and American civilization, the history and meaning of Zionism, and contemporary challenges facing the Jewish people.
“It is an honor to partner with NEH on this ambitious educational project,” said Tikvah CEO Eric Cohen. “At this weighty moment in the history of the West, we believe that Jewish ideas are essential to strengthening the best of our shared American culture and answering the perverse ideology of anti-Semitism with the enduring majesty of Jewish civilization.”
“In a related matter, following in the wake of President Trump’s Executive Orders on combatting anti-Semitism, NEH has also recently updated its notice of funding opportunities to place schools, colleges, and universities on notice that if they receive NEH financial assistance for humanities programs and activities, the agency will hold them accountable for tolerating discrimination or harassment against Jewish students in violation of civil rights law.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): The National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at neh.gov.
Tikvah: Based in New York, the nonprofit Tikvah promotes serious Jewish thought about the enduring questions of human life and the pressing challenges that confront the Jewish people through a range of educational initiatives and publications, podcasts, and other media. Please see tikvah.org for further information.
Tikvah Board of Trustees:
The Honorable Mr. Elliott Abrams, Chairman
Elliott Abrams is the chairman of the Tikvah Fund, as well as chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C.. He served as Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for the Near East and North Africa in the first term of George W. Bush, and as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor in the second term. In the Trump administration he served in the State Department as Special Representative for Iran and for Venezuela. He is the author of Undue Process, Security and Sacrifice, and Faith or Fear, and writes widely on U.S. foreign policy with special focus on the Middle East and the issues of democracy and human rights. His most recent book is Realism and Democracy: American Foreign Policy After the Arab Spring.
Mr. Gary Rosenthal, Vice Chairman
Gary Rosenthal is a partner in The Sterling Group, L.P., a private equity firm headquartered in Houston, Texas. Prior to 1987, Gary was a partner at the Houston law firm Vinson & Elkins and a clerk to the Hon. Irving Goldberg of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has also served as Executive Chairman, CEO, and/or board member of numerous public and private companies.
In addition to his current role as Vice-Chairman of the Tikvah Fund, Gary’s other charitable activities include service as Chairman of Texas Children’s Hospital, the University of Houston System, and the Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation and as a member of the Boards of Commentary Inc., The University of St. Thomas, the Finance Committee of the Texas Medical Center, and the Sabin Foundation. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gary is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and a former Charles Henry Fiske Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge University, England.
Mr. Raanan Agus
Raanan Agus is global co-head and co-chief investment officer of Alternative Investments & Manager Selection (AIMS) within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. AIMS invests in leading private equity, hedge fund, real estate, ESG, credit and public market managers, investing as a limited partner, secondary-market investor, seed-capital provider, co-investor or management company partner. Prior to his current role, Raanan served as head of Direct Alternatives for Goldman Sachs Asset Management and global co-head of Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, a position he held since the group’s inception in 2007. Prior to that, he was co-head of the Goldman Sachs Principal Strategies Group beginning in 2003 and later became sole head of the group until 2007. Raanan joined Goldman Sachs in 1993 as an associate in Equities Arbitrage. He was named managing director in 1999 and partner in 2000. Raanan earned an AB, summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, from Princeton University in 1989 and a JD/MBA, Stone scholar, beta gamma sigma, specializing in Finance from Columbia University in 1993.
Ms. Mem Bernstein
Mem Bernstein – venture philanthropist – is the Chairman of The AVI CHAI Foundation, a leader in Jewish education; and a trustee of Keren Keshet – The Rainbow Foundation, whose signature project, Nextbook, promotes Jewish literature, culture, and ideas through the Jewish Encounters books series, and its website, www.tabletmag.com. In the late 1980s, Mrs. Bernstein authored two books that resonate with today’s baby boom generation: Aging Parents and You published in the US, and The Sandwich Generation, published in Israel.
Ms. Terry Kassel
Ms. Kassel is the Head of Strategic Human Resources at Elliott Investment Management L.P., serves as Counsel on their Management Committee, and is also a member of their Compliance and Operational Risk Committee. Previously, Ms. Kassel held a series of leadership positions at Merrill Lynch from 1985-2006, including serving as Global Head of Human Resources and as a member of Merrill’s Operating Committee.
Ms. Kassel serves as Chairman of the Board of Start-Up Nation Central, a not-for-profit based in Israel and inspired by the book, Start-Up Nation. She also serves as Director of the Paul E. Singer Foundation and as Board Member of OneTable, Onward Israel, Jewish Funders Network, and Jewish Food Society. Ms. Kassel earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University and a B.A. in Political Science from New York University.
Mrs. Shelly Kassen
Shelly Kassen is the past President and Chairman Emeritus of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Mrs. Kassen has extensive experience in community and nonprofit leadership, including having served as a selectman of the Town of Westport, president of her synagogue, and as chair of her local AIPAC council. A former CPA, Shelly graduated from Wellesley College and received an MBA from Harvard University.
Mrs. Kassen is a long-time leader of the Tikvah movement, most recently having served as co-chair of the Tikvah Advisory Board before her appointment to Tikvah’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Moshe Koppel
Moshe Koppel is a member of the department of Computer Science at Bar-Ilan University and serves as chairman of the Kohelet Policy Forum. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Courant Institute and did post-doctoral work in the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Dr. Koppel’s main areas of research in computer science include machine learning and social choice theory. His work on authorship attribution is used widely in commercial, legal and security applications. Dr. Koppel has also published two books and many articles on Rabbinic literature, with special emphasis on logic and probability. He also co-founded and co-edited the journal Higayon, which is devoted to these topics. Dr. Koppel’s political activity includes co-drafting two proposed constitutions for Israel, including a joint proposal with Michael Eitan, formerly chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution and Law committee. Several laws that Dr. Koppel drafted have been passed by the Knesset.
Mr. Jay Lefkowitz
Jay Lefkowitz is senior litigation partner in the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis and a member of the firm’s global management executive committee. He is also an adjunct professor of administrative law at Columbia Law School.
Mr. Lefkowitz has had a distinguished career in public service, including the period from 2005 through 2009, when he was the United States Special Envoy on Human Rights in North Korea. He also served as Deputy Assistant to President George W. Bush for Domestic Policy and as General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget. Earlier in his career Mr. Lefkowitz served as Director of Cabinet Affairs and Deputy Executive Secretary of the Domestic Policy Council for President George H.W. Bush. His essays on law, politics, and religion have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, the Public Interest, the Jerusalem Post, Commentary, and elsewhere. Mr. Lefkowitz is a graduate of Columbia University and Columbia Law School.
Mr. Steven Price
Steven Price is co-founder and CEO of 25Madison, LLC, a venture studio and investment vehicle for early stage companies. He is also Executive Chairman of Townsquare Media, Inc. a publicly traded diversified media company.
Prior to founding Townsquare in 2010, he was Senior Managing Director at Centerbridge Partners, a leading private equity and distressed debt firm. Mr. Price was formerly the founder and Chief Executive Officer of PriCellular Corporation, a publicly traded cellular telephone operator and LiveWire, a software company focused on business process outsourcing.
Mr. Price graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and has a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law. He is Vice Chair of Community Security Service (CSS) and serves on the Boards of Brown University (Trustee emeritus) and Commentary Magazine, among others. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Council of AEI, the Mount Sinai Medical Center Foundation and the Financial Management Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. He is a co-owner and Alternative Governor of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team.
Trustees Emeriti
Mr. Roger Hertog, Chairman Emeritus
Roger Hertog is president of the Hertog Foundation and chairman emeritus of the Tikvah Fund. One of the founding partners of the investment research and management firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., which he joined in 1968, Mr. Hertog served as the firm’s president before its merger with Alliance Capital Management in 2000. In 2006 he retired from the successor company, AllianceBernstein, and is currently vice-chairman emeritus.
An alumnus of the City College of New York, Mr. Hertog was previously chairman of The New-York Historical Society and The Manhattan Institute; he has also served on the boards of the American Enterprise Institute, the New York Philharmonic, the New York Public Library, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy.
In 2007 Mr. Hertog was awarded the Medal of the National Endowment for the Humanities in recognition of his philanthropic efforts. In 2010 he received the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. In 2022 Mr. Hertog was awarded the Tikvah Fund’s highest honor, the Herzl Prize.
Mr. Arthur Fried z’l
Mr. Fried retired as a Managing Director and CFO of Lehman Brothers in 1981 to become the CEO of The Rothschild Foundation, Jerusalem/Geneva, a position he held until November 1999. Thereafter, he served until December 2012, as Chairman and CEO of The AVI CHAI Foundation funded by the Estate of Zalman C. Bernstein.
Mr. Fried earned a B.B.A. from Bernard M. Baruch School of Business and Public Administration in 1963, a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1968, and an M.B.A. in Health Care Administration from City University of New York in 1983.
Executive Leadership
Eric Cohen
President & Chief Executive Officer
Eric Cohen has been Tikvah’s chief executive since 2007. He was the founder and remains editor-at-large of the New Atlantis, and he serves as the publisher of Mosaic. Mr. Cohen has published in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Commentary, The New Republic, First Things, and numerous others. He is the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology (2008) and co-editor of The Future is Now: America Confronts the New Genetics (2002). He was previously managing editor of the Public Interest and served as a senior consultant to the President’s Council on Bioethics. Mr. Cohen currently serves on the board of directors of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Witherspoon Institute, and National Affairs and on the Editorial Advisory Board of First Things.
Rabbi Hershel Lutch
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
Rabbi Hershel Lutch serves as Senior Vice President of Tikvah and is Tikvah’s Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. In addition to leading Tikvah’s finance, administrative, business process reengineering, and operating functions, Rabbi Lutch helps direct Tikvah’s strategic planning, development, and program management initiatives. Before coming to Tikvah, Rabbi Lutch served as the Chief Operating Officer of Aish HaTorah, where he managed Aish’s dramatic growth into a $65 million organization, engaging over 700,000 participants each year.
Rabbi Lutch is a member of the executive committee of the Rabbinical Council of America and the rabbinic circle of the Coalition for Jewish Values. His scholarly articles, opinion pieces, and conversations have appeared in a wide variety of Jewish and general publications. Rabbi Lutch also has an active interest in government advocacy: he has served as guest chaplain in the US House of Representatives, testified before legislative committees, and led missions to Israel with members of Congress.
Rabbi Lutch earned his MBA and MS in Nonprofit Management (MSM) from the University of Maryland and his semicha (rabbinic ordination) from Rabbis Moshe Lazerus and Zalman Nechemia Goldberg. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife and three children.
Dr. Jonathan Silver
Senior Vice President & Chief Programming Officer
Dr. Jonathan Silver is Senior Vice President and the Chief Programming Officer of Tikvah, the editor of Mosaic, and the Warren R. Stern Senior Fellow of Jewish Civilization. As the host of the Tikvah Podcast, he has hosted hundreds of writers, rabbis, educators, military officers, artists, and political figures, including members of Israel’s Knesset, the U.S. Senate, and the prime minister of Israel.
Sean Clifford
Chief Strategy Officer
Sean Clifford is the chief strategy officer at Tikvah. He most recently served as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Learn Capital, an education-focused venture fund. Sean has spent much of the past eight years in startups. He was the founder and CEO of Canopy, a tech company that leveraged AI to protect children from harmful online content. He also served as the head of growth for Skills Fund, a fintech venture in the education sector. Prior to that, Sean spent eight years in Washington, DC as Vice President of Baron Public Affairs. While there, he advised leading tech companies, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 corporations operating at the intersection of politics, business, and culture. Sean earned his BA from Williams College, an MA in the Great Books from St. John’s College, and an MBA from Wharton.
Rabbi Mark Gottlieb
Chief Education Officer
Rabbi Mark Gottlieb is chief education officer of Tikvah and founding dean of the Tikvah Scholars Program. Prior to joining Tikvah, Rabbi Gottlieb served as head of school at Yeshiva University High School for Boys and principal of the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, and has taught at The Frisch School, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, Hebrew Theological College, Loyola University in Chicago, and the University of Chicago. He received his BA from Yeshiva College, rabbinical ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, where his doctoral studies focused on the moral and political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. Rabbi Gottlieb’s work has been featured twice in the Wall Street Journal and his writing has appeared in First Things, Public Discourse, SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, The University Bookman, Tradition Online, the Algemeiner, From Within the Tent: Essays on the Weekly Parsha from Rabbis and Professors of Yeshiva University, and, most recently, Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith. He is a trustee of the Hildebrand Project and serves on the Editorial Committee of Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. He lives in Teaneck, NJ with his wife and family.
Malka Groden
Chief Development Officer
Malka Groden is the Chief Development Officer at Tikvah. Prior to Tikvah she served in senior development roles at the Philanthropy Roundtable and the Manhattan Institute. She earned her BA from Yeshiva University where she studied philosophy and Jewish studies and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Government at Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government.
Malka has been a passionate advocate for domestic adoption and children in the foster care system. She and her husband are the parents of three children.
Alexandra Rosenberg
Senior Director of Development
Alexandra Rosenberg is senior director of development at Tikvah. She is responsible for Tikvah’s comprehensive development program, directing and coordinating strategy for the Jewish Leadership Conference and related community-building efforts, expanding charitable support, and managing donor relations. Prior to joining Tikvah in January 2022, Alex spent seven years at the National Review Institute—the nonprofit parent organization of National Review magazine, helping lead their development and events departments. She holds a BA in political science and international studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Bergenfield, New Jersey with her husband and two children.
Alan Rubenstein
Senior Director of University and Young Professionals Programs
Alan Rubenstein was educated in Liberal Arts at St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD, and also at Georgetown University. He was a senior consultant for the President’s Council on Bioethics and currently serves as Hanson Scholar of Ethics at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. At Carleton, he teaches ethical thought through close reading of great literature of the West—in particular, Plato, the Hebrew Bible, and Shakespeare. He is currently Director of University Programs for Tikvah. His published essays have focused on the philosopher Hans Jonas, the Hebrew Bible, and Judaism in middle America. He is married and a father of three children.
Avi Snyder
Senior Director of Tikvah Ideas
Avi Snyder is senior director of Tikvah Ideas. He oversees the development, production, and marketing of Tikvah’s growing library of online multimedia content, including MeirSoloveichik.com, Tikvah Online Courses, an expanding podcast network, and Mosaic. Avi came to Tikvah in 2017 after working at the California-based Claremont Institute and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Brandeis University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and currently lives in Riverdale, NY, with his wife and two children.
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