02/07/2025
Danielle Wild of Beachwood Helps Create ‘Safe Space’ For Jewish Women at Lion of Judah Conference
Danielle Wild, center, accompanied by her sister, Karen Rutman-Weiss, left, and Erka Rdin-Luria, president of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, is honored as Cleveland's 2025 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award recipient at the 2025 Lion of Judah Conference last month in Atlanta. Submittion photo / Jewish Federations of North America / Ralph Alswang
ABIGAIL PREISZIG | CJN
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
Last month, more than 1,700 philanthropic Jewish women rallied around their collective pride to inspire one another and hear from world leaders at the 2025 Lion of Judah Conference in Atlanta.
Danielle Wild, a Beachwood resident and event co-chair, worked with co-chair Dana Keller, a Lion of Judah member from Hartford, Conn., to develop and implement the theme of the three-day Jewish Federations of North America event: “Proud to be!”
“We really felt like at this point in time, Jewish women needed a safe space to come together and show our pride in who we are because we can’t always do that out in the world these days,” Wild, a congregant of Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood, told the Cleveland Jewish News on Jan. 28.
From Jan. 12 through Jan. 14, attendees had the space and opportunity to feel pride in their Jewishness at each plenary talk.
The first night focused on activism, specifically women who became “accidental activists” following the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel by Hamas; the second day centered around being a Zionist, with impact forums, lunch and learns, and a concert; and the conference closed with “Proud to be a Lion,” highlighting the philanthropic endeavors of the international sisterhood, Wild said.
Speaker highlights included Rachel Goldberg-Polin, a hostage advocate; Michal Herzog, first lady of Israel; Eden Golan, an Israeli singer-songwriter; Cochav Elkayam-Levy, founder and chair of Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women and Children and the Dvora Institute for Gender and Sustainability Studies; Sigal Manzuri, a mother and activist; Iris Kraemer, chair of national women’s philanthropy at JFNA; and Anila Ali, a women’s rights advocate.
“Being in a room with (more than) 1,700 other like-minded women who feel the same passion for philanthropy and the Jewish community was energizing and it was beautiful,” Wild, who has been a Lion of Judah member for about 10 years and has attended five conferences, said.
Wild was honored at the conference as Cleveland’s 2025 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award recipient, a biannual award given by the JFNA to a Lion of Judah who exemplifies the highest standard of philanthropy and volunteerism. She was recognized at the conference among honorees from 60 other communities at a ceremony led by Rabbi Emily Hyatt, associate rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Denver, she said.
“Being involved in Lion of Judah, and then through that being involved with national women in philanthropy, I’ve made amazing friends from all over the country and all over the world who I feel that I can call on to discuss best practices for Jewish communal world, and reach out to them for anything,” Wild said. “I think that that’s really been an amazing experience. Even within Cleveland, I’ve really just met the most amazing people. … It’s been a really impactful part of my life.”
