Three recent bequests will aid the Jewish Alliance’s mission

In the past five years, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and its endowment, the Jewish Federation Foundation (JFF), have received several million dollars in bequests from generous community members. The Alliance is honored to have received three such gifts in recent months.

In 2017, Zalman Newman, a longtime Alliance donor, established a bequest for the JFF. The Alliance honored this planned gift by including Newman’s name in our listing of Dor L’Dor Society members.

The Dor L’Dor Society recognizes and honors individuals who have made their planned-gift intentions known to the Alliance. “Dor l’dor” is Hebrew for “generation to generation” and refers to ideals of continuity, legacy and collective memory.

When Newman notified JFF of his planned gift, he explained, “I believe in supporting the programs that serve our local Jewish community. The Jewish Federation Foundation needs to grow its endowment. That’s why it’s very important to make bequests and establish endowments to sustain Jewish life.”

Since Newman’s death in 2023, his bequest has funded the Judge Zalman D. Newman Fund, which provides unrestricted support to the Alliance.

While the Alliance was aware of Newman’s bequest, two recent bequests were unexpected. Each year, we receive planned gifts from community members who didn’t tell us that the Alliance was included in their estate plans. While we are deeply appreciative of this generosity and the donors’ invaluable foresight in advancing our mission, we wish we had been able to thank them directly and include their names in the Dor L’Dor Society.

We are grateful to the families of donors Dorothy Licht and Jeff Webber for sharing their thoughts about these meaningful gifts:

Carol Kanin wrote, “The bequest of my mother, Dorothy Licht, is a testament to the important and necessary work that the Jewish Federation Foundation of Rhode Island does every day. My father was one of the founders of the General Jewish Committee of Providence, which later became the Jewish Federation. Throughout their lifetimes my parents were devoted and passionate supporters of the Federation, and it was a cause close to my mother’s heart.”

David Webber wrote, “Jeff [Webber] lived in the New York City area as an adult, but his attachment to Rhode Island, where he was raised, never diminished. Jeff was very engaged in Jewish religious observance, community activities, and volunteer work near his home, inspired, I think, by his mother’s (Lorraine Webber) deep involvement with Rhode Island Hadassah. I believe his bequest reflects a desire to honor and connect all of these elements.”

Creating a community legacy and becoming a Dor L’Dor member can be accomplished in the following ways:

Establish a bequest or living trust.

Designate the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island as a beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy.

Set up an endowment fund with the Alliance.

Establish any other planned gift that provides for the future of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

A written confirmation that a future gift has been arranged will suffice, and is most appreciated, or you can request a Legacy Gift Intention form to fill out.

To notify the Alliance of a planned gift, or to request information about such a gift and becoming a member of the Dor L’Dor Society, email endowment@jewishallianceri.org or call 401-421-4111.

CLAIRE UZIEL (cuziel@jewishallianceri.org) is the endowment/campaign operations manager at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.