Nancy Lipoff

Nancy Lipoff

Nancy Lipoff

Nancy Lipoff Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

My husband, Norman, and I went to Israel for the first time in 1968, right after the Six-Day War. We went on a trip sponsored by Hadassah with my parents and aunt. My aunt had been very involved with Hadassah so much so that Golda Meir spoke at a program she had hosted in her living room in 1939. When Norman and I arrived in Israel, it was love at first sight. The experience changed our lives forever.

Nancy Lipoff

In 1970 we moved to Miami. Gloria Scharlin, my sister Helyne Treister’s best friend, invited me to a Greater Miami Jewish Federation Women’s Division meeting. She said I would meet a lot of nice women, which was an understatement. My involvement in the Federation quickly became a passion. After serving as president of GMJF Women’s Division, I began to get involved nationally – first, on the board of United Jewish Appeal (UJA) Women’s Division, and then with Women’s

Division of the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF). I later became Women’s Division President for CJF. During that time, I created and chaired multiple programs at the General Assembly and in Israel. I did a lot of traveling, attending conferences within the US and Canada, and to Israel with Norman, who was on the board of The Jewish Agency.

It was a very exciting time to be involved with CJF Women’s Division, but it was also not without its challenges. On the local and national levels, women were taking on more leadership roles and women’s philanthropic giving was steadily increasing, representing a larger percentage of the overall annual campaign. Despite these changes, national Women’s Division was not afforded equal access or representation at national leadership meetings. I was proud to have had the opportunity to help change this, which was not an easy feat. Our advocacy efforts resulted in CJF Women’s Division

Nancy and Norman Lipoff

President serving as a Vice President of CJF and sitting on the dais at the big meetings. Luckily, the fight to make the President of the Women’s Division in Miami a Vice President of the Federation was not as difficult. We achieved that as well. After I left the national scene, I became the first woman Chair of our Federation’s Foundation of Jewish Philanthropies. It was then that I realized the importance of endowments. The annual campaign can no longer meet all of the needs of the local and international Jewish communities. I had been a Lion of Judah for many years and endowed my gift so that my name would

be on the list of Federation contributors in perpetuity. There’s something very comforting in knowing my support of the Jewish community will continue forever. It also sends a very important message to my family. All of our children and grandchildren are involved in Jewish life, including day schools, Jewish summer camps, Israel experience programs, JCC’s, BBYO and synagogues. That is the greatest joy for Norman and me.

Temple Beth Am AND Rambam Day School

Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation