Every other year, The Jewish Federations of North America asks each community to nominate a woman for the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award. This award recognizes women who exemplify the spirit of the Lion of Judah by proven commitment to the Jewish community through leadership and philanthropic giving. This year, Memphis Jewish Federation is proud to announce Marlene Gerson as the 2016 recipient of the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award.
The Lion of Judah is a symbol of today’s Jewish woman’s strength, a symbol of her caring about the organized Jewish world and a symbol of her financial commitment of at least $5,000 to the community’s Annual Campaign. Since 1972, the Lion of Judah program has brought together women of all ages and from many walks of life to play an essential role in creating social justice, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, preserving human dignity and building Jewish identity.
All Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award recipients will be honored during the International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington, D.C. in September of 2016.
Past Memphis winners of the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award include Sylvia Marks (2004), Mary Lynn Perl (2006), Diane Mendelson (2010), Louise Sklar (2012), and Laurie Cooper (2014).