Lawrence Hopfenberg’s life of service inspires upcoming leaders

Lawrence Hopfenberg cared deeply about family and community.

His daughter, Bobby Morgenstern, recalls that when she was growing up, there were meetings at their house in Providence at least four nights a week – B’nai B’rith, the National Coalition of Christians and Jews, Hebrew Free Loan, Jewish War Veterans, and more.

“My father was not observant, but he was very community-centric. His Judaism was the center of his life,” Morgenstern said.

Though he passed away at just 56, in 1983, Hopfenberg’s legacy lives on in the form of the Lawrence Hopfenberg Memorial Fellowship at the University of Rhode Island Hillel.

While Hopfenberg was a graduate of Brown University, both of his children went to URI. He served on the Hillel boards at both universities, and was proud of his family’s connection to URI.

When Hopfenberg passed away, his wife and children decided that a scholarship for a URI Hillel student would be a fitting way to honor his legacy and make a commitment to both education and Judaism. By establishing the Lawrence Hopfenberg Memorial Fund with the Jewish Federation Foundation of Greater Rhode Island (JFF), they ensured the scholarship would be available annually.

The fellowship is open to Jewish first-year students at URI. For one year, the fellow works at strengthening the Jewish community at the university by engaging and building meaningful relationships with Jewish students, planning programs or working on projects for Hillel, and helping to connect his or her peers to Jewish life on campus, while developing valuable engagement, networking and project-management skills.

Students who have been fellows in previous years have gone on to greater leadership positions at Hillel and have stayed connected to Judaism in their professional and/or personal lives.

“The Hopfenberg Fellowship is an incredible resource for furthering students’ connection to Jewish life at URI,” said Amy Olson, director of URI Hillel.

This year’s Hopfenberg Fellow is Bailey Rapaport, a Communicative Disorders major from Maryland.

“Throughout my life, Judaism has always been important to me,” Rapaport said. “When I got to college, I knew that I wanted the opportunity to continue learning about Jewish values and help others feel the same way. That is why the Hopfenberg Fellowship is so important to me.

“I get to plan programs and work with other Jewish students to make Hillel a welcoming and comfortable space for everyone. I am looking forward to creating activities with my peers and making connections with Jewish students so that they love Hillel and their Judaism as much as I do!”

The Lawrence Hopfenberg Memorial Fellowship is just one of the endowed scholarships stewarded by the JFF. In addition to two for URI Hillel, JFF currently maintains funds for scholarships to be awarded by Brown University chaplains, Providence College chaplains, Rhode Island College, Dartmouth High School, Camp JORI and BBYO New England.

Creating an endowment fund to benefit our community’s youth ensures that you or a loved one will always be actively supporting our future.

The Hopfenberg family is committed to continuing to give to the fund, and they encourage friends and family to do so as well. The fellowship is helping to create the next generation of leaders; people who understand the importance of giving back, as Lawrence Hopfenberg did. As the fund grows, the family hopes it will provide an even larger scholarship to deserving students.

For information on endowing a scholarship or award, contact Sara Masri at endowment@jewishallianceri.org or 401-421-4111, ext. 223.

SARA MASRI (smasri@jewishallianceri.org) is the chief development officer at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.