Gloria Feibish: A leader in our community for 35 years

Gloria Feibish

The phone rings so you look at the caller ID. You don’t recognize the number, but you grudgingly decide to pick it up. On the line is Gloria Feibish, calling on behalf of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. It is dinnertime, so you are a little perturbed, but because you really like Gloria, you decide to listen to what she has to say. She thanks you for your previous gifts to the Alliance, and wonders if you can increase your donation this year because the needs in our community are growing. You decide that you can do that. She thanks you, and you return to your dinner table.

This is a scenario that has occurred over and over during the many years that Gloria Feibish has been seeking support for our Jewish community. Feibish and her husband, Martin, moved to Rhode Island from New York City in 1962. She became involved with the Jewish Federation, now the Jewish Alliance, when her husband could not finish a project he had initiated for the Jewish Community Center in the early 1970s.

Feibish then became involved with a newly formed group called the Business and Professional Women’s Affiliate of the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation, eventually serving as its second president. She subsequently served on the Women’s Division Board, as well as the Board of the Jewish Federation, where she was appointed the Federation’s designee to the Board of Jewish Education.

She became president of the BJE in 2000, serving until 2003. Jewish education is incredibly important to Feibish, and she has been involved in its many facets in the community, including serving for nine years on the board of the Jewish Community Day School.

When asked about her work with the Alliance, Feibish replied that she has had many commitments in the Jewish community but has always had a special commitment to the Alliance, helping to raise funds for over 35 years. “When you’re involved with a Jewish agency such as the Alliance, you’re always going to be seeking additional funds from the Jewish community for support of its programs; there never seems to be enough to do all its important work,” she said.

Feibish, who lives in Providence, grew up learning about the impact and importance of tzedakah, and was taught that we should give what we can – no gift is too small, no amount too large, and it is an obligation we have as Jews to help each another.

Feibish quickly became a leader in the Jewish community, and she helped others understand the Alliance’s mission and encouraged them to join in the effort. She was Rhode Island’s first Lion of Judah, and, slowly, other women in the community have followed her lead. The ranks have now grown to more than 100 women.

Feibish, along with Selma Stanzer and Janet Zurier, was also instrumental in founding the Women’s Alliance Endowment Fund, which now has over 100 women. This popular fund helps needy girls and women all over the globe.

In response to a question about getting a greater number of young people involved, Feibish said it is a nurturing process, working to engage them in an activity they are interested in and moving into more involvement from there. She expressed her interest in continuing to serve, and the hope that millennials will follow suit.

“We are very lucky to have the people we have,” she said of her fellow Jewish community members.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of three articles about women who are long-time annual campaign volunteers.

HILLARY SCHULMAN is a development associate at the Jewish Alliance.