Lion of Judah is…

• A legacy of achievements and the mission to build flourishing Jewish communities.
• An entire sisterhood who are building a better world, changing Jewish lives across oceans and around the corner.
• A collective who magnifies the power of each women’s gift.
• About restoring and revitalizing communities.
• Connecting thousands of young women to Jewish culture and traditions.
• Leaving a clearly marked path for the people who will follow
• Showing Jewish values in action
• A commitment to tzedakah, to family and community
• A sisterhood to change the world

It's the 50th Anniversary of the Lion of Judah!

How it Started:
In 1970, the current Women’s Philanthropy was known as the “Women’s Division of the United Jewish Appeal” created in 1946 during WWII. Adele Rosenwald Levy, daughter of Julius Rosenwald, Chairman of Sears, Roebuck and Co. and noted philanthropist, was the first Chairperson of the Women’s Division for the UJA. In that role, she traveled the country and encouraged women to make a gift in their own name. Hundreds of thousands did as a record-breaking amount was raised by 195 Women’s Divisions to aid displaced Jews in Europe as the war was ending.

Twenty four years later, Norma Kipnis-Wilson (z”l) envisioned a path for elevating women’s leadership in Jewish philanthropy. She took the Lion of Judah as a symbol of the strength of Judaism and the Jewish people, and with that concept and her passion for women’s leadership, Kipnis-Wilson and her good friend Toby Friedland (z”l) co-founded the Lion of Judah program in 1972, creating a new avenue and sense of recognition for women to make significant financial commitments within the Federated system. The level of giving to become a Lion of Judah was set at $5,000, with additional levels of recognition even higher.

“Norma believed in the enormous contribution that Jewish women were capable of making and of a minimum million-dollar campaign,” JFNA Board Chair Mark Wilf said in December 2021 in a letter to JFNA supporters following Kipnis-Wilson’s passing. “This was groundbreaking philanthropy, unheard of for women at that time.”
Since that first year, Lion of Judah donors have raised more than a billion dollars to benefit Jews in need in Israel, in countries worldwide, and in local communities. They support social justice, heal the sick, feed the hungry, preserve human dignity and build Jewish identity. Nearly 18,000 women worldwide from 146 Federations are a part of the mission.

Women who give at the Lion of Judah level are offered a specially designed pin of a Lion, a traditional symbol of the strength of the Jewish people. Women are Lions in Jewish communities around the world and the piece of jewelry has become an emblem of generosity and commitment recognized around the world.

Indianapolis Joins the Nation

The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis joined the Lion of Judah program about a decade after the national program’s inception. A luncheon in the fall of 1983 at the home of Diane Meyer Simon marked the beginning of the Indianapolis Lion of Judah Trustee Division. These pledges spiked the amount raised for the 1984 Annual Campaign by 11.3 percent. 

Local Lion of Judah Philanthropists are offered a specially designed gold pin of a Lion, with the addition of an Indy logo added to it. 

In a 1983 article of the Indianapolis Jewish World Newspaper, Simon said to her guests “For me, personally, this pin means a great deal. This pin will be something that I can pass on to my daughters. I can explain to them how important it is to affirm and reaffirm what it means to be a Jew.”

Several local Lion of Judah members have passed the Lion pin down to their children, continuing a beautiful sisterhood who are still changing the world for the better. In addition, almost 39 years later, several women who were Lions of Judah that first year are still in the community and Lions today. Many others have left a Lion of Judah Endowment and continue to support the Annual Campaign at the Lion level in perpetuity.

In 2022, there are approximately 145 Lions, and with a minimum gift of $5,000, have collectively donated more than 17 percent of the Annual Campaign’s total amount raised. 

Every other year, members of Lion of Judah from around the world meet at a conference geared toward learning, sharing, and celebration. The International Conference and 50th anniversary celebration had been planned in Phoenix in January 2022 but due to COVID, is now scheduled for December 2022.

Read more about the local Indianapolis members throughout the 2022 Federation News magazines.

About Jewish Federation of Indianapolis’ Women’s Philanthropy:
Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis is a network of compassionate and committed volunteers who inspire and empower each other to be change makers and community shapers. These women are dedicated to building and supporting Jewish life for today and future generations in the local Indianapolis community, Israel and throughout the world.

Visit www.jewishindianapolis.org/womens-philanthropy to learn more about JFGI’s Women’s Philanthropy Group and how to get involved.