Zipporah was a gifted leader and orator, and examples of her speeches and letters survive thanks to the Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives. She could be warm and inspirational one moment, then firm and demanding the next.<\/p>\n
After 14 years, Zipporah tried in vain to recruit her replacement. \u201cIt was my earnest desire that one of you would become my successor, but my desire did not become a reality,\u201d she quipped.<\/p>\n
But, like any steadfast leader, she refused to abandon her neighbors in need.<\/p>\n
In 1918, JFS\u2019 volunteer leaders canceled a quarterly meeting to avoid spreading the disease during the flu pandemic. \u201cI need not bring before you the meaning of responsibility,\u201d wrote Zipporah in her President\u2019s Report that year. Richmond\u2019s needs were dire, and she was determined JFS would rise to meet them.<\/p>\n
Lived Through Last Pandemic<\/strong><\/p>\n So, in the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we looked to Zipporah Cohen for guidance. She lived through the last pandemic and made sure JFS served the community no matter the obstacles.<\/p>\n Through it all, she insisted \u201cthat no crisis has come upon us of which this organization has not been able to take care of.\u201d<\/p>\n Zipporah once closed a speech on JFS\u2019 history with a declaration of hope and a promise for the future: \u201cWe know no matter what may come to us or how severe the test, we will be able to meet these demands, for in the hearts of our people dwell love and charity.\u201d<\/p>\n We are humbled by all the remarkable women who have been JFS people since 1849: after all, there would be no JFS without them!<\/p>\n Special thanks to Beth Ahabah Museum & Archives for sharing their collection and to Peter Opper, without whose book about JFS\u2019 history we would not be so well-connected to our past.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reflectornews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/JFS_transparent-300x201.png\"){kind=spacer}
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