Another Shonda for the Goyim

Knowing that I work with Christians who genuinely care about and support Israel, I receive countless appeals from fellow Israelis and Jews to get my “help” and “partnership” in their projects. But by “help” and “partnership” they simply mean funding, or opening my virtual rolodex of friends, contacts, and donors among whom I have cultivated personal relationships for years, just because they are asking.

The recent appeal for my “help” made a claim that each week (since October 7), 2-3 Israeli “combat soldiers suffering from PTSD lose all hope and take their own lives.” This represents an epidemic, shocking. If it’s true, how could I not know about it, and of course, why would I not want to help?

But before responding, I did a little research. While many (indeed most soldiers and Israelis) are suffering PTSD since October 7, I refer to it as Present Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the loss of any one life for any reason as a result of the war is a tragedy and worthy of working tirelessly to prevent, there is no evidence pointing to 2-3 soldiers are committing suicide each week.

Asked for his input, Philanthropist Consultant, Arnie Draiman, who guides donors through the challenges of how to make the biggest impact, affirmed that the number of soldiers committing suicide at 2-3 per week is grossly exaggerated and simply said, "Amen."

Out of the gate, this appeal had me suspicious.

Then it got worse.

When I explained that I am not in the position to help, that I cannot say “yes” to every project for which people approach me for my “help,” that I am committed to other projects, on top of donor fatigue showing a drop in material support, the response was “I thought you had a fabulous community of Christian Zionists who want to give to Israel…”

The problem with this is twofold.  First, it highlights the very objectification of Christians as a faith-based ATM that I regularly call out.  Too many, including Jews, Israelis (Jewish and non-Jewish), and even Christian organizations, spend far too much time taking advantage of the goodwill and genuine love of Israel by Christians who just want to be a blessing.

The second problem is that just because someone may have a truly great and impactful program that some Christians might want to support, why assume that because I have spent two decades cultivating meaningful relationships that I should either drop what I am doing, embrace your project along with other projects to which I am already committed, or that what you’re proposing is not perhaps a conflict with something I am already doing?  Why, when I say, “I’m not in a position to do that now,” do you challenge me with “Dealing with our country’s deep trauma is ‘not suitable’?”

In nearly two decades working among Christians, I have been approached many times with appeals like this. Occasionally, they offer a true collaboration or partnership. Most of the time, it’s transactional: because I have invested my time over the past 20 years building relationships among Christians, I should simply comply with their request for “help.” I chuckle about this, wondering if similar appeals would be made to plumbers, electricians, lawyers, or brain surgeons.

It's not only that I am hesitant to just throw my help and support behind anyone who asks due to a lack of time and bandwidth, but not every project is really appropriate. I recognize that in promoting others’ programs, I am also vouching for the people and projects that I would be referring. There has been no shortage of times in my career when I have represented an organization or project to donors to find out that it/they are not really all it claims. Lies, specious use of funds, legal charges, even arrests have been associated with some of the ones I was too nice/naïve to not vet more carefully. For my own integrity, I have to be extra careful about the integrity of others.

Another phenomenon is that since October 7, organizations and projects I will refrain from naming have become unusually problematic in their fundraising, riding the wave of their notoriety and being flooded with cash through reflexive donations of people who are not careful where they give. Using precious charitable dollars from their windfall to promote themselves and raise more money rather than provide the services they claim. Additionally, what some actually do (or claim to do) is at best limited in terms of providing actual, real, urgent needs as a result of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack and ensuing war.

Some of this is based on the fact that even the best nonprofit professionals and administrators are human and subject to failures and dishonesty. Some is based on the fact that certain organizations have branded themselves for so long (maybe even correctly) as the unique provider of a service or other need, that even when what they do has nothing specifically to do with the war, they contort themselves and manipulate others to donate, because that’s all they have to offer. I’m reminded of the John Belushi and Dan Akroyd routine on SNL, where in their Greek restaurant, they said they didn’t sell hamburgers, only cheeseburgers.

Ask yourself: Does Israel really need another (fill in the blank), and if so, how is that connected to ongoing and urgent needs related to the war? Does this organization have any track record of being able to provide emergency needs, and is the overhead reasonable domestically and with the international organizations that support them?  Is their marketing honest? Even though you have seen an ad or been invited to an event, or one’s pastor/rabbi or neighbor is suggesting something in particular, how does one know that the organization saying it’s providing the service is really doing so?

These are real, hard questions that should be asked, or risk as the definition of the original Yiddish phrase means, being an embarrassment or shame before the nations.

Photo Courtesy: ©GettyImages/CarmenMurillo
Published Date: June 12, 2025

Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes regularly for a variety of prominent Christian and conservative websites and is the host of Inspiration from Zion, a popular webinar series and podcast. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.