The philanthropic world got a happy jolt when 40 members of the world’s wealthy elite — including 13 Jews — announced that they would give away more than half their money before they died.

The participating philanthropists were responding last week to a challenge issued earlier this year by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to their billionaire peers to donate more than half of their wealth in their lifetimes. Buffett and Gates called it the Giving Pledge.

But without any obvious signs of where their money will go, it’s unclear what impact this will have on Jewish nonprofits.

This is what we know so far about the Jewish giving of the Jews who have accepted the Giving Pledge, according to searches of their foundations’ 990 tax forms and media reports:

Michael Bloomberg: Already one of the world’s most generous givers, the mayor of New York City has been ramping up his charity in recent years. His foundation does not yet have 990 forms that show where his money is going, but according to a New York magazine profile he is a major donor to New York’s Jewish Museum.

“Being charitable is an important part of Jewish identity,” Joan Rosenbaum, director of the museum, told the magazine. “And Michael has been an extraordinarily generous supporter of the museum since 1988.”

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told a public inquiry into the deadly, late May raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that he left the matter in the hands of his defense minister and military leaders.

“We did not delve deeply into the details of the operation, except for the ramifications it may have in the media,” Netanyahu told the Israeli commission in reference to the decision making process prior to the May 31 raid that left nine Turkish activists dead.

The Israeli premier, who agreed to testify before the commission only after its chairman former Israeli supreme court judge Jacob Turkel threatened to quit, was visiting Canada at the time of the raid, which led to a diplomatic disaster for Israel.

The national recession has resulted in decreased donations to charities across the board, but it has also spurred local Jewish organizations to enter a cost-sharing initiative that could save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey convened a July 29 meeting at its Paramus headquarters to highlight its successes in the year-old Kehillah Cooperative — the federation’s role in the wider Kehillah Partnership — and draw new organizations to the program. To date, 29 organizations have signed up and collectively saved more than $300,000 on electric bills. (The Kehillah Partnership is a group of community organizations banded together to realize savings in cost and programmatic resources.)

Area teens heading to college may encounter anti-Israel and anti-Semitic attitudes and behavior there — and educators and youth leaders have ways to manage an often overwhelming experience.

“For freshman going to college, it can be a very surprising experience, especially if you come from a tight-knit Jewish community, or a Jewish school,” says Andrew Getraer, the executive director of Rutgers University Hillel in New Brunswick. “Most high school students have never had to deal with such a variety of opinions and events, especially ones that may directly challenge their own.”

Karen Brand — recently named outreach coordinator for Jewish Family Service of North Jersey — has two goals.

“We want to educate people in the community as to what’s available” from our agency, she said. But in addition, “we want to market JFS as a partner with other agencies in the community.”

“Some local organizations are unaware of our services,” she said, noting that she has already met with area principals about offering programs in their schools for both faculty and students.

More often than not, Jewish and Muslim groups come down on the same side of battles over religious liberties.

Jewish organizations often file amicus briefs supporting Muslim religious rights in cases where zoning boards try to block the construction of houses of worship or bar the right of a Muslim to grow his beard.

“There are a lot of commonalities of interest,” said Nathan Diament, director of the Washington office of the Orthodox Union.

That made last week’s announcement by the Anti-Defamation League opposing the construction of a planned mosque near the Ground Zero site all the more remarkable. It was a rare instance of a Jewish establishment organization explicitly opposing a Muslim project or distancing itself from the role of upholding liberties for all.

A new pro-Israel organization that aims to give rabbis a middle ground between what the group calls the hard-line policies of AIPAC and left-leaning J Street has the attention of several local rabbis.

Rabbis for Israel, launched last month by Rabbi Michael Boyden of Hod Hasharon, Israel, bills itself as a centrist group dedicated to a two-state solution with peace and security for Israel. More than 230 rabbis, including six from Northern New Jersey, have signed on to the group’s mission statement.

“I was amazed that so many leading rabbis from all streams and from all over the world, including North America, Israel, and Europe, should have chosen to identify with Rabbis for Israel in such a short space of time,” Boyden said in a statement.