09/17/2025
Ensuring Our Impact Beyond Our Time
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
Rabbi Jeremy Pappas | SPECIAL TO THE CJN
A colleague recently walked into my office to share some remarkable news: the Jewish Federation of Cleveland had received a large and unexpected bequest from a donor who made modest contributions to the Campaign for Jewish Needs for more than 30 years. He made this gift every year – consistently, faithfully and steadily.
Along with his bequest came a letter sharing his intentions. He wanted to continue to benefit our community after he was gone. His bequest ensures that the values that mattered most to him – caring for the vulnerable, strengthening Jewish life and supporting the Jewish people everywhere – would continue beyond his lifetime.
His bequest underscores the essential nature of the Campaign for Jewish Needs in our community. The campaign provides critical support to our Jewish Cleveland institutions, it fuels innovation and provides a safety net for the most vulnerable.
One way for our community to ensure that Jewish Cleveland continues to thrive well into the future is to endow our gifts to the Campaign. By endowing your gift, you are answering these important questions: What values do I want to carry forward? What kind of community do I want my children and grandchildren to inherit? How can my generosity become part of something that outlives me?
We are all so proud of what the campaign does to support those in need – it ensures that Holocaust survivors receive care, that families in crisis have a safety net, that Jewish education is strong and that our connection to Israel remains unbreakable. When we endow our annual gift, we make sure that this impact continues for generations to come.
It is, in many ways, an act of teaching. We teach our children and grandchildren that giving is not only something we do when asked – it is something we make part of who we are. We show them that our philanthropy is not temporary or transactional but enduring. We model that caring for one another is not just a choice, but a sacred responsibility.
Endowing a campaign gift is also a practical way to ensure stability for the future. Through an endowment, your contribution continues in perpetuity, providing predictable resources that our community can count on, even in times of uncertainty. It gives our agencies the confidence to plan, to innovate and to respond to new challenges, knowing that this support is secure.
The donor who makes modest campaign gifts may not have imagined that his story would inspire others. But in many ways, he captured the deepest truth of our Campaign: it is not about the size of the gift, but about the heart behind it and the commitment to carry those values forward.
By endowing campaign gifts, we ensure that Jewish Cleveland will not only be strong today, but even stronger tomorrow.
Rabbi Jeremy Pappas is managing director of Campaign for Jewish Needs at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland in Beachwood.
