The Forward, June 23, 2020

Unless Jews Start Listening to Each Other, Our Future Will Be Lost

We come from the same places and share the same history. I think about the countless Jewish lives persecuted, oppressed, and killed by regimes of all kinds over millennia. While there were wide divides within our community throughout the ages, we found ways to bridge our gaps and move forward with our shared Jewish project.

It is time for everyone in the Jewish world to take a breath, take some time to think, and focus on what makes us similar rather than what makes us different.

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Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 22, 2020

Jewish organizations are in danger. Our legacy planning should make sure they survive.

While I was creating my own donor-advised funds for my sons, my wife wisely asked, “How do you know they are going to spend this Jewishly?” It hit me like a bolt. I never thought about what was going to happen to my donor-advised funds after I die. I started the Jewish Future Pledge to invite others — not only Warren Buffet’s billionaires — to pledge that upon their passing, they leave at least 50% of their assets for charitable purposes to continue to support our people.

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Jewish News Syndicate, June 9, 2020

Jewish Future Pledge calls on Jews to allocate half of their charitable estate to charity

This is not a fundraiser. It is a monumental chance to sustain the financial future of the Jewish people, and to ensure that our values and wisdom endure for generations.

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New Jersey Jewish Standard, May 28, 2020

Giving it to the Jews: Jewish Future Pledge asks donors to plan their bequests

“What’s really powerful is you’re having these conversations with professionals — stockbrokers, insurance people — and you’re having these conversations with your children. It’s not unusual to talk about estate planning with your peers. Having this conversation and this pledge is a powerful vehicle for making a change and commitment for our future.”

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Jewish Exponent, May 24, 2020

Jewish Future Pledge Asks for Commitment

Part of that is stressing to potential signers that the pledge requires only 50% of the charitable funds they’d leave behind support Jewish causes. There’s no restriction as to what can be funded, as long as it’s Jewish.

“It doesn’t make any difference to me where the resources are going to be spent in the end,” Leven said.

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eJewish Philanthropy, May 17, 2020

A $600 Billion Opportunity to Secure the Jewish Future

“This initiative comes at a critical time for the Jewish community. More and more young Jews are disengaged; the U.S.-Israel relationship faces new challenges; and the institutions that have held our community together for generations hang in the balance. Nearly two-thirds of young Jews do not belong to any synagogue, and nearly 25% of people born to Jewish families now claim they have “no religion.” Intermarriage continues to pull many younger Jews out of the community because our institutions have not adapted to accommodate interfaith families fast enough. At the same time, fewer and fewer Jews see Israel as a critical part of their Jewish identity.”

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Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 14, 2020

New Jewish giving pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative

“We have an historic opportunity to write the next chapter of the Jewish story,” Leven said in a statement. “By acting now, we can ensure that more than $600 billion is set aside for Jewish causes as wealth is transferred from this generation to the next. I wanted to start a conversation with my family about the importance of securing the Jewish future. I see an enormous opportunity to help spark thousands – even millions – of similar conversations around Jewish tables before my generation passes about why the Jewish future matters.”

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Times of Israel, May 14, 2020

New US Jewish donation pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative

A new initiative asks Jewish-American donors to earmark at least 50 percent of the charitable giving in their estate plan to Jewish- or Israel-related causes. The Jewish Future Pledge, co-founded by philanthropist and entrepreneur Michael Leven and Jewish executive Amy Holtz, was launched on Wednesday.

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Cleveland Jewish News, May 14, 2020

New US Jewish donation pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative

“We have an historic opportunity to write the next chapter of the Jewish story,” Leven said in a statement. “By acting now, we can ensure that more than $600 billion is set aside for Jewish causes as wealth is transferred from this generation to the next. I wanted to start a conversation with my family about the importance of securing the Jewish future. I see an enormous opportunity to help spark thousands – even millions – of similar conversations around Jewish tables before my generation passes about why the Jewish future matters.”

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Times of Israel, May 13, 2020

New US group seeks to ensure young Jewish donors keep giving to Jewish causes

“We trust the next generation,” co-founder Amy Holtz said. “We think they’re going to make great decisions. We’re not mandating where they give. We just want to make sure that they give Jewish.”

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AEPi’s The Lion – Winter Issue 2020

Securing the Jewish Future

“As AEPi Brothers, we understand that we need to step up as leaders in the Jewish community, and I invite AEPi Brothers to become leaders in the Jewish Future Pledge,” said Leven. “The Jewish future is in our hands, and it starts with each one of us.”

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American Jewish University Webinar, April 21 2020

A Six Billion Dollar Opportunity

A person’s net worth is measured not by what he earns, but by what he gives. Join David Groshoff, J.D., M.B.A., Ed.M. Interim Dean, Graduate School of Nonprofit Management, and Professor of Business & Law at American Jewish University, in conversation with Mike Leven and Mark Silberman: two leading entrepreneurs and philanthropists behind the Jewish Future Pledge, a new movement designed to ignite a culture of Jewish legacy giving and spark critical intergenerational conversations about why the Jewish Future matters.

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Jewish Funders Network Webinar, March 22, 2020

Tzedakah We Can Believe In: A $600 Billion Opportunity to Secure the Jewish Future

Jewish philanthropy is declining, as many families are increasing their giving to causes outside the community. A rising percentage of the next generation of Jews are disconnecting from Judaism and the State of Israel. Now is the time to do something radical to secure the Jewish future. The Jewish Future Pledge is igniting a national conversation and encouraging Jews to commit at least 50 percent or more of the charitable dollars in their legacy giving to Jewish and Israel-related causes.

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Atlanta Jewish Times, July 10, 2019

Pledging Today for Tomorrow’s Jewish Future

Over the next 25 years, a staggering amount of money – estimates range as high as $60 trillion – will transfer from the Baby Boomers to the millennials and Gen Z.

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