An Endowment Fund Can Set an Example for Many Passovers to Come

The following is a reprint of the JCF's Money Matters column, published in the April 16, 2025 issue of the Jewish Community Voice, titled, "An endowment fund can set an example for many Passovers to come":

In this issue of the Voice, you will find two full pages of names (also available here)–approximately 800 in all–of generous individuals who have committed to leaving a gift in their wills, benefiting local Jewish organizations through the Life & Legacy initiative of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

When these gifts are received, they are added to endowment funds managed by the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) that spin off annual income to each donor’s selected organization(s), for many generations. Thank you to all who have stepped up to ensure our Jewish community’s future remains bright.

Prior to Life & Legacy, dating back to the 1980s, donors have established endowment funds with the JCF, using either current or after-lifetime gifts.

As we gather for Passover, this is a meaningful time to reflect on our ancestors who are no longer with us at the Seder table but who made an impact that has continued through to today. To remember some of these departed ancestors who continue to make the world a better place via their legacy gifts, here are brief stories about three JCF endowment funds:

• Mildred Sbar Annual Campaign Endowment Fund: According to her obituary in 2004, Mildred Sbar (z”l) “was an officer in the British Army during WWII and a Lt. Col. in the Israeli Army during the 1948 War of Independence.” Truly brave heroism. Now buried in New Camden Cemetery, Mildred’s impressive, patriotic spirit carries on, having left a gift in her will to benefit the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey’s Annual Campaign (JFund) every year, and it’s one of the largest “ACE” funds that the JCF manages for the Federation.

• Monsignor Joseph W. Devlin Jewish-Christian Relations Endowment Fund: The obituary for Msgr. Devlin, who died in 2015, reads, “As a young priest, Fr. Devlin…participated in the discussions leading to the drafting of ‘Nostra Aetate’, the statement that opened the era of improving interfaith relations between the Catholic Church and the Jewish and other non-Christian faiths. Since the early 1980s, Msgr. Devlin (had) worked closely with the South Jersey Jewish Community through the JCRC. Msgr. Devlin was a highly respected scholar and theologian often called to participate in state and local Holocaust and Kristallnacht Observances. Msgr. Devlin was a founding member and leader of the Catholic Jewish Seminar, the Catholic Jewish Institute of Understanding, the Catholic Jewish Commission and the Catholic Jewish Muslim Dialogue.”

In his will, Msgr. Devlin left a generous gift to the JCF to fund programs relating to Jewish-Christian relationships in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council. Msgr. Devlin’s passion for uniting people of different faiths continues, thanks to this enduring contribution.

• William & Bertha Remer Community Endowment Fund: William and Bertha Remer (z”l) established a fund designed to provide annual payouts for JCF Grants to spur new and innovative programs and services in South Jersey. As published in their obituaries, during their lifetimes, the Remers, commonly known as Bill and Bert, actively helped others in the Jewish and secular SNJ community in a variety of ways, and JCF Grants in their memory reflect that devotion.

This Passover, as you reflect on all that your ancestors have done for you, please consider how your descendants will remember you many years hence. If the lesson of tzedakah is one that you’d like to pass along to others, please contact me at (856) 673-2571 or dsnyder@jfedsnj.org to discuss the impact you can have. A gift in your will can be easy to include, and its annual support can continue over many future Passover Seders.

On behalf of the JCF Board and staff, enjoy a zissen (sweet) Pesach.