The two main characters in this scandal met at the Beverly Hills Orthodox synagogue Beth Jacob — Morey Levovitz and Rabbi Steven Weil. <\/p>\n
My sources say these two haven’t changed. They were ruthless in LA, they were ruthless with Beth Jacob and Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, and they’ve ruthlessly advanced their own interests at FIDF.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Weil was detested in LA by his fellow Modern Orthodox congregational rabbis.<\/p>\n
Terms used in FIDF for Morey and Steven’s FIDF behavior — \u201ccutthroat,\u201d \u201cpoisonous,\u201d \u201cbullying\u201d and \u201cmafia-like\u201d — echo the language used about them in LA.<\/p>\n
After the Levovitz-Weil experience, Beth Jacob went in the opposite direction by choosing Rabbi Kalman Topp<\/a>.<\/p>\n Judah Ari Gross writes for eJewishPhilanthropy<\/a>: <\/p>\n The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces has gone into crisis management mode following the leak of an internal investigative report to the Israeli news outlet Ynet last week that detailed serious allegations against the organization\u2019s top leadership, particularly its board chair, Morey Levovitz, of mismanagement, wasteful spending and creating a toxic work environment….<\/p>\n In response to the leak, the organization has hired a crisis communications outfit \u2014 on top of its existing public relations firm \u2014 and brought on additional legal assistance. It has also issued strict orders to employees and lay leaders not to speak publicly about the situation….<\/p>\n Multiple sources told eJP that after a significant rise in donations to the organization in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks, contributions have decreased sharply in the past year, with multiple donors explicitly telling FIDF that they were withholding funds because of the situation with upper management.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are substantially below their target [for 2025],\u201d one donor source told eJP. \u201cWe know of many donors who are holding donations and explaining that it\u2019s until actions are taken to address the problems,\u201d the source said, adding \u201cmany, many donors.\u201d<\/p>\n In the Bay Area FIDF chapter, for instance, donations dropped from more than $7 million annually to well below $1 million this year after its popular executive director was fired following a disagreement between her and Levovitz, according to two sources connected to the chapter. <\/p>\n The report, which remains closely guarded by the organization, was prepared this spring by an investigative committee led by board members Garry Sobel, Fred Distenfeld and the organization\u2019s counsel, Steve Rubin. The committee spoke to more than 30 people, the majority of whom were current and former employees. <\/p>\n The committee found that for roughly the past two years \u2014 particularly since the Oct. 7 terror attacks \u2014 Levovitz has served as the de facto CEO of FIDF, while Weil, the organization\u2019s actual CEO, has served in a lesser administrative capacity, while still drawing one of the highest chief executive salaries in the Jewish world. <\/p>\n According to multiple sources, Levovitz has repeatedly declared to FIDF staff and lay leadership that he is the true head of the organization, including in meetings where Weil was present. Weil has also regularly stated that Levovitz was helping run the organization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has just been accepted that that\u2019s the way it is,\u201d one source said. \u201cHe was never elected officially [to serve as CEO].\u201d<\/p>\n The investigative committee detailed a number of irregularities in its report, which was presented to select board members last month, including a highly irregular exclusive agreement between FIDF and the Israeli travel company Ortra, which is run by a close acquaintance of Levovitz, requiring that all of the organization\u2019s missions and other travel be purchased through the firm. This arrangement was allegedly reached unilaterally by Levovitz, without going through a standard tender process. A former senior FIDF employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told eJP that when individual FIDF chapters tried to use cheaper alternatives for their missions to Israel, Levovitz intervened and canceled their visits to military bases as a form of punishment for not using Ortra.<\/p>\n The report also found that Levovitz has demanded reimbursement for his travel expenses to Israel, which often include business and first-class seats, amounting to more than $53,000 \u2014 in contrast to previous chairs who paid for their own travel and accommodations, in addition to making six-figure donations to the organization, which Levovitz has also reportedly not made…<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m afraid they will destroy my donor base,\u201d said one former employee, who has since become CEO of another Jewish nonprofit. \u201cThese are dangerous, dangerous people.\u201d<\/p>\n Two former employees, from different FIDF regions, told eJP that they had seen cases of the organization \u201cdouble-selling\u201d projects to donors. \u201cSteve double-sold an amphitheater to another donor,\u201d said the former employee who now leads another nonprofit, whose family also donates to FIDF. \u201cA Florida donor bought the same amphitheater for the same base as us. They told us that we can get a garden instead.\u201d<\/p>\n All of the sources \u2014 coming from three different regions of the United States and Israel, most of whom had been involved with FIDF for many years, some for more than 20 \u2014 described a severe deterioration in the work environment at the organization in recent years, using terms like \u201ccutthroat,\u201d \u201cpoisonous,\u201d \u201cbullying\u201d and \u201cmafia-like.\u201d <\/p>\n Multiple sources tied the current turmoil in the organization to a 2020 decision spearheaded by then-board Chair Peter Weintraub to split the professional leadership of the organization into two. FIDF had historically been led by a former Israeli general, but then the board decided to hire Weil, a former pulpit rabbi and executive vice president from the Orthodox Union, to serve as CEO, while also bringing on board a former general to serve as national director. (The organization recently created an executive vice president position as well.)…<\/p>\n During his interviews with the board, Weil noted that he did not have experience as a CEO, and after he was hired, he brought Levovitz onto the board to assist him. The two had known each other for nearly 20 years at that point through the Beth Jacob synagogue in Beverly Hills, Calif., and various local Jewish organizations.<\/p>\n In 2023, Levovitz was named board chair. A regional FIDF board member said that Levovitz began acting as the CEO soon after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, declaring in a meeting a few days later, \u201cI am the one in charge; Steve is not really capable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were all heartbroken and shocked by what happened in Israel, so our focus was not on who is joining the organization or not,\u201d she said. \u201cWe did argue and didn\u2019t quite understand where it was coming from. But in normal circumstances, this would not have passed.\u201d<\/p>\n A former FIDF employee told eJP that the influx of funding in the wake of the attacks \u2014 in 2023, the organizations raised $282 million, more than three times what it did the year before \u2014 was used by Levovitz and Weil to fend off criticism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The two main characters in this scandal met at the Beverly Hills Orthodox synagogue Beth Jacob — Morey Levovitz and Rabbi Steven Weil. My sources say these two haven’t changed. They were ruthless in LA, they were ruthless with Beth … Continue reading