Sadie & Maurice Friedman: A Simple Bequest and a Lasting Legacy

A MESSAGE FROM J. DAVID HELLER AND ERIKA B. RUDIN-LURIA

It’s no secret that Cleveland is one of the most vibrant and caring Jewish communities in the world. You can see it in our dedicated volunteers who help both neighbors and strangers in need. You see it in our annual Campaign for Jewish Needs, which just raised $33.1 million – the most in Federation history – from more than 13,000 donors representing more than 9,800 gifts. And you see it in our endowment funds that serve as our community’s safety net in challenging times and fuel innovative programs that could not be funded by annual giving alone.

Inside this edition of Living Generously, you’ll read remarkable stories about Jewish Clevelanders who have found meaningful and personal ways to endow their gifts to the Federation. No matter your passion, the Federation wants to make sure you are philanthropically fulfilled.

Thank you for your generosity as donors and your dedication to our Jewish Cleveland community. Because of you, we can help make life in our Jewish community better today and even stronger in the future.

J. David Heller Board Chair

Erika B. Rudin-Luria President

If only the Federation’s Legacy Society members could see into the future so that they could appreciate the impact of their generosity in our community. Sadie and Maurice Friedman (z”l) would be so pleased and surprised to know how many lives have been positively impacted by their bequest. While each Legacy Society donor story of how and why a gift was made is unique, they are all united by the concept of tikkun olam – repairing the world.

Sadie Yoslovitz moved to Cleveland with her family in 1916, working for The May Company and then as a bookkeeper for a clothing factory. Maurice “Moe” Friedman moved to Cleveland in 1918 after serving in France during World War I. He worked for the Federal Coffee Company. In 1924, he and a partner bought the company,

A Simple Bequest and a Lasting Legacy

and renamed it Euclid Coffee Company. He soon met Sadie, and married her on Christmas Day 1927.

The Friedmans gave generously throughout their lives, and in very personal ways. In the early 1940s, the Friedmans opened their home to a young girl who had fled Nazi Germany. Later, they welcomed a French Jewish girl who had been sheltered in a convent during the war. Sadie was an active volunteer as a Big Sister at the Jewish Orphan Asylum (now Bellefaire JCB), NCJW, and several other Jewish women’s organizations, while they traveled and enjoyed life.

After continued success, Moe sold his business in 1950 and retired. In addition to volunteering, he enjoyed gardening, reading, fishing, and listening to the Cleveland Indians on his back porch. He also managed his own investments, very successfully. Moe supported Sadie’s interests and activities and was involved with, and a major contributor to, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

Sadie passed away in 1981, and Moe spent the next eight years mourning the loss of his beloved wife, but also continuing his interests.

Prior to his death in 1989, Moe created what would become his and Sadie’s legacy through his estate plan. With the assistance and expertise of attorney Robert Lustig and Federation’s Director of Endowments, Howard Berger (z”l), he established the Sadie and Maurice Friedman Endowment Fund for Jewish Welfare (now the Campaign for Jewish Needs), which makes a distribution to the Campaign for Jewish Needs every year in perpetuity — what we now call FOREVER Funds. This fund, along with the more than 100 FOREVER Funds and Lion of Judah Endowment Funds created by other insightful donors, made distributions of greater than $1,000,000 to the Campaign for Jewish Needs this year, and this amount grows every year.

In total, the Friedmans left a bequest of $8.5 million to be shared by the Federation and seven other Jewish and general community organizations. The Federation’s Sadie and Maurice Friedman Endowment Fund has tripled in value while making grants that exceed the original contribution. In addition to the Campaign, the fund has helped hundreds of students attend college, summer camp and take trips to Israel, and because a portion of their fund goes to the unrestricted endowment fund, it has helped to fill gaps in services at Federation agencies.

The Friedmans’ beautiful legacy lives on forever in the improved and enriched lives of Jews who have or will benefit from their generosity for generations to come.

FOREVER Funds are permanent endowment funds of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland that perpetuate your gift to the Campaign for Jewish Needs. They may be established in your name or in honor of, or in memory of, a loved one.

How does it work?

• You can create a FOREVER Fund either during your lifetime or after your death. • You can make an irrevocable gift of cash, securities, or other property during your lifetime or through your estate plan to create an endowment fund at the

Federation. • You may also use life insurance, charitable remainder trusts, retirement accounts, and Donor Advised Fund recommendations to create a FOREVER Fund.

The annual spendable portion of the FOREVER Fund is used each year to make a grant to the Federation’s Campaign for Jewish Needs.

In creating a FOREVER Fund you provide a permanent source of funding for the Federation’s annual Campaign for Jewish Needs, ensuring that the vital operating needs of the community continue to be met long after you are gone.