A founder of Jewish Federations’ Lion of Judah women’s philanthropy group dies at 93
The idea to start a charitable group for women came to her in a dream more than 50 years ago.
“I went to sleep and I dreamed of a Lion of Judah,” said Norma Kipnis Wilson in a 2010 video for the Jewish Federations of North America. “I saw this powerful, powerful animal and it would be a philanthropic society for women.”
The next morning, she discussed the idea over a bagel and coffee with her friend Toby Friedland.
“That’s when we decided loosely that we would have a society for women,” she said in 2018. “And that we would work on making that a reality.”
It took two years, and in 1972 Kipnis Wilson and Friedland founded the Lion of Judah as part of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
Kipnis Wilson, who became known around the world for her activism and dedication to breaking barriers for women, died Tuesday in Aventura from lung cancer. She was 93.
She had the disease several decades ago and was in remission until earlier this year. She died a month shy of Lion of Judah celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“Norma really was among the handful of leaders who transformed the Jewish community of Miami from a sleepy southern retirement community to a thriving and dynamic Jewish community, much like it is today,” said Jacob Solomon, CEO of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
Kipnis Wilson was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and moved to Jacksonville with her parents and older sister. She graduated high school in Jacksonville and then attended classes at the University of Miami. She then returned to Jacksonville where she married Jerry Kipnis. Together, they had five children.
In 1960, she moved to South Florida with her then-husband. After a divorce, she married Allan Wilson.
Her daughter, Deahni Kipnis, said her mother was a potter and cementist until one day — as the Vietnam War raged and other social issues rose — she stood up from her wheel and walked out of her studio.
“She said, ‘What am I doing playing with clay?’ ” her daughter said. “That is when her life turned toward activism and philanthropy in a major way.”
Kipnis Wilson said in the 2018 video that the path to creating Lions of Judah wasn’t easy.
“In the beginning, when I thought a woman should give her own gift, it was a very touchy subject,” she said. “I was criticized for it as much as admired for it.”
Solomon said Kipnis Wilson put “women’s giving on the map.”
“Norma recognized that women had a real contribution to make in their own voices and not just as the wife of a husband who was involved in the community,” Solomon said. “It was a wonderful statement of Jewish feminism and a way of writing Jewish women into the history of Jewish philanthropy.”
The Lion of Judah program now has over 18,000 members, who have donated $5,000 or more a year to Jewish federations across the country. The Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award was established in 2004 to recognize extraordinary women philanthropists and volunteers.
Deahni Kipnis said her mother “modeled social responsibility and philanthropy and being proactive.”
“Back in the early 1970s, this was groundbreaking stuff for woman,” she said. “My mom wanted everyone to know that women want stature and respect and are capable, smart and have something to bring to the table.”
Solomon said that Kipnis Wilson “proved in her lifetime that one person can really change the status quo for good.”
Kipnis Wilson said in 2010 that in her “wildest imagination” she never “would have dreamed that the lion would become what it is today.”
“No one person could have done this,” she said. “I think we are all put here for a reason. And that may have been mine. That may have been the plan set for me when I was born.”
In addition to Deahni Kipnis, she is survived by her sons Dan, Douglas, Donald, five grandchildren and one great grandchild. She was predeceased by her husband, Allan Wilson, and son David.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Sunday at Temple Beth Sholom, 4144 Chase Ave. in Miami Beach. The services will be streamed on the synagogue’s website at https://www.tbsmb.org/watch.
Instead of flowers, the family asks that a donation be made in Kipnis Wilson’s name to the Greater Miami Jewish Federation or Memorial Regional Hospital in Broward County.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 4:28 PM.
