- We are honored to be joined by our good friend, Dr.

Idana Goldberg, who's the Chief Executive Officer of The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Idana, great to have you with us.

- Great to be back.

- We've been partners, collaborators for many years, the Russell Berrie Making a Difference Awards, which is sun setting after it is gonna be 30 years of that, but it's the 40th anniversary of the Russell Berrie Foundation, correct?

- Correct.

- First, can we do why the number 40 itself is significant in the Jewish tradition?

And the Russell Berrie Foundation has significant interest in Israel and to the Jewish people and a whole range of causes that are very important, please, and a longtime underwriter of our programming, please, Idana.

- Sure.

So the number 40 has several meanings in the Jewish history.

Moses is believed to have spent 40 days receiving the ark, the sort of the tablets from God on Mount Sinai.

And then the Jewish people really, they were the Israelites wandered for 40 years in the desert until they were able to enter into the land of Israel.

So this idea that 40 days is a meaningful time of journey, of preparation is something that really resonated for us as we celebrated or marked 40 years of the foundation this year.

The foundation was founded back in 1985 by Russ Berrie and has really grown and evolved over the last 40 years.

- Idana, could you remind everyone who Russ was?

And by the way, we did what I think is a very powerful and important testimonial to Russ Berrie, late Russ Berrie as part of our series Remember Them, those who are in New Jersey or connected to Jersey on one level, but have a statewide national, and in Russ's case, an international impact.

Who was Russ Berrie and why did he still matter so much?

- Russell Berrie started as a salesman, but he was a salesman who had a vision and who could really spot talent and opportunity.

And he grew that ability into a toy company, a gifts company that I think probably many of your viewers would remember, the Russ teddy bears.

The troll dolls came from Russ's sales company.

And he was somebody just with a really big heart who loved people, and he translated that into the foundation and how the foundation thinks about the way we do our philanthropy.

- Which is where the Making a Difference Awards come from.

- Absolutely.

- By the way, I wanna ask you this.

I'm gonna go back to the greatest impact of the 40 years of the Russell Berrie Foundation, but also you spent five weeks in Israel, and during that time, that's when the ceasefire took place and also the release of the hostages, the living hostages obviously.

The greatest message you wanna share with our audience, Dr.

Goldberg, about that experience.

- So I think that being there on the day those hostages was released really felt like a miracle.

And there's a blessing that is in the daily prayers of thanking God for bringing back the dead.

And that's what it felt like.

Everybody in Israel knows somebody is one degree of separation, if not exactly attached to somebody who was taken hostage.

251 hostages were taken on October 7th.

And so the day was one of both relief, a collective sort of breath, and also really mixed with the trauma of the 1200 people who were murdered by Hamas on October 7th, the hostages who did not make it home alive.

And so there was almost like this intermingling of feeling that day of both joy and sort of renewed trauma.

Idana, let me ask you, this 40th anniversary of the Russell Berrie Foundation, most proud of, and this is an unfair question.

- It is not fair.

- Most proud of what?

- I say I'm most proud of how we do our work.

Maybe that's cheating because it really combines a deep knowledge of the fields that we work in, it involves deep relationships with the people that we fund, the organizations that we invest in, and it's sort of about being willing to take risks on entrepreneurial ideas in order to see impact.

So I don't wanna pick a favorite grantee or a favorite brand.

So I'll say that I think it's really that way that we see our work intersecting the way we build and connect dots between the organizations that we fund in order to leave an enduring impact on the areas that we care about.

- Well said, but some of those initiatives are connected to Israel, if I'm not mistaken.

- Sure.

- Correct, right?

- Absolutely.

Someone might say, why are you asking these questions about Israel?

Russ and the foundation, Angelica and everyone, the board, the team care deeply about Israel issues.

Well, I'm gonna put this on the table, issues including the significant rise in antisemitism.

Please talk about it.

- I'll start by saying that yes, the foundation invests in a resilience and an inclusive and a safe Israel.

And that's incredibly important to us and we believe to the Jewish people worldwide.

And of course we're seeing the rise in antisemitism that is coming from both the right and from the left right now.

There's really been an emboldening of, on the one hand, sort of a return to a white nationalism that endangers the Jewish people, and not only the Jewish people, but really any I think minority here in America, and we have to care about that.

And it's also coming from the extreme left, who is singling out Israel as almost like sort of the greatest sinner on the world stage, which has unfortunately bled into the targeting of Jews and especially those Jews who see themselves as Zionists and who support Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

- Before I ask, Idana, about this, there's a Gen Z changemakers initiative, I just wanna say this, we will continue our programming, and yes, we're a New Jersey-based media operation, but I believe the second largest population, Jewish population in the country is in New Jersey, the other is in Florida, and there's a large Palestinian population in New Jersey.

These issues matter to all of us.

That being said, help us on this, Making a Difference, Gen Z. We're gonna be doing a panel with terrific Gen Z leaders who are making a difference.

These changemakers, why are they so important, Dr.

Goldberg?

- Because we really need to see the next generation take on leadership, and we do see it.

There are already so many teenagers and young adults who have identified a problem, taking their passion, and are making a difference.

And we thought that it would be so appropriate to sunrise.

We actually call our process a sunrise- - Sunrise.

- because we wanna see What's gonna come out of the foundation spend done.

So even though the program is ending, we believe it sends a really important message of passing the torch to this next generation to take on the leadership, to take on the passion, to say there's a problem and I can do something about it.

- And finally, let me disclose that for every year.

I believe since 1997, Idana, I've been honored to host the Russell Berrie Foundation Making a Difference Awards, and this final event will recognize these Gen Z changemakers.

I look forward to it.

I've met so many extraordinary people.

I believe it's 430 over these last 30 years, people making a difference every day.

And go on the website, nominate someone who you believe deserves to be recognized because they're making a difference.

Idana, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve.

Always an interesting conversation.

- Always.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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