AL

Arieh Lebowitz

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Greetings!

I've just learned of this fascinating initiative via a JTA article ("Synagogues are joining an ‘effective altruism’ initiative. Will the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal stop them?" by Asaf Elia-Shalev December 1, 2022 - https://www.jta.org/2022/12/01/united-states/synagogues-are-joining-the-effective-altruism-movement-will-the-sam-bankman-fried-scandal-stop-them ), and a few thoughts and resources, books and articles, come to mind, some of which may already be known to folks "here." Let me think this through, even if just a bit, via if you'll excuse the expression, cut (in this case, copy) and paste:

* It should be clear to many "here" that the entire world of Jewish community federations in North America has, for many decades, been involved in the work of in essence effective altruism, at least to some degree, and many of the key professionals as well as lay-people in the world of Jewish community federations have studied, planned, worked with effective altruism as a de fact part of their thinking, working, planning, and teaching in terms of their work to bring younger North American Jews into the world of Jewish federations, locally, nationally and internationally

* There may still be relevant information in the book "To Dwell in Unity: The Jewish Federation Movement in America Since 1960," by Philip Bernstein · 1983"

*  The same for the article "The Jewish Federation System: A Conversation for the Future," By Denis Braham and Lee Wunsch, dated December 16, 2014, in eJewishPhilanthropy - https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-jewish-federation-system-a-conversation-for-the-future/  --- this article notes that "this essay is the fifth in an on-going conversation focused on JFNA and the federation world. Previous articles can be found here. We welcome additional submissions – details are here." 

* The same for the article "THE ROOTS OF ALTRUISM," by Pearl M. Oliner and Samuel P. Oliner, published in Shofar Vol. 8, No. 2 (Winter 1990), pp. 16-34 - see https://www.jstor.org/stable/42941396 

* That led me to "Altruism and the Theory of Rational Action: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe," by Kristen R. Monroe, Michael C. Barton and Ute Klingemann, published in Ethics Vol. 101, No. 1 (Oct., 1990), pp. 103-122 -  see https://www.jstor.org/stable/2381894  --- although I suspect this article, although significant, may veer a bit far from E.A. or even EA per se, although I am mindful that "the intellectual underpinnings of EA are typically traced to Peter Singer, who is ethnically Jewish and whose grandparents died in the Holocaust," as noted above.

* As noted on its website, the "Jewish Funders Network is an international community of private foundations and philanthropists with over 2,500 members from 11 countries around the world whose mission is to promote meaningful giving and take an active part in the processes that change the thinking and action patterns of philanthropy in the Jewish world."   I can't help but think that the JFN, its key people, and many resources, would be of help as this initiative develops - https://www.jfunders.org/about_jfn  --- Note:   I am not now nor have I ever been associated with this Network. 

>> Arieh