Donor Stories

A Charitable Remainder Trust with an Added Dimension

Barbara and Norman Gross

Norman Gross wanted to express his enormous respect for the leadership of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion – including its stellar faculty and dynamic administration. Norman was on the board nominating committee for the most recent HUC-JIR presidential search and was delighted when the former assistant rabbi of his synagogue – Rabbi David Ellenson – was selected as President of HUC-JIR. Norman Gross phoned the new President the day after his selection and was proud to make a $1 million commitment in honor of Rabbi Ellenson. He decided to establish a charitable remainder trust at the suggestion of HUC-JIR’s vice president for development. As a prominent attorney, Norman understood the value of that advice.
Charitable remainder trusts help generate tax deductions while providing variable lifetime income. They can help to avoid estate and capital gains taxes as well as help avoid probate. Unitrusts can be tailored to meet individual financial needs and objectives, including a hedge against inflation, supplemental retirement savings, sale of business interests and others.
Because of his affection for HUC-JIR, Norman Gross and his wife went a step further. They set up their trust with the intention of returning its income to the College-Institute. While not everyone can make such a magnanimous gesture, the charitable remainder trust is an excellent planned giving choice for donors interested in supporting the College-Institute and generating deductible income at the same time.

Adding a Planned Gift to Our Annual Giving

Gloria Austin

Gloria Austin’s family first learned about HUC-JIR at the suggestion of the Rabbi of Temple Beth Ohr in La Mirada, California, where they had been affiliated more than 40 years. He told them they might be interested in learning of the Rabbinical School at HUC-JIR/LA, and of its need for scholarship support. “We were introduced to the Dean, and by the end of that visit, we were committed to adding our support to the Scholarship Program. His welcoming enthusiasm at the receipt of our first gift was as memorable as if it had been a million dollars.
“The importance of Family, Judaism, Education, Health and Community has been foremost during the decades of our lives. These principles – especially in association with synagogue, organizations and extended family – were paramount in making our decision to be supportive of HUC-JIR. Upon having the opportunity to meet students, faculty and graduates, the choice of HUC-JIR became a compelling decision in our estate planning as well as our current charitable giving. The naming of HUC-JIR in our estate plans was a simple process that satisfied our need to know that the future leaders of the Reform Movement would be able to achieve their educational goals.”

A Visionary Philanthropist Pioneering a New Type of Planned Gift

From left: Ruth Ziegler, Anna Schwarz, MAJCS/MPA’09; and Richard A. Siegel, Interim Director, School of Jewish Communal Service, HUCJIR/Los Angeles

Ruth Ziegler is a visionary philanthropist who understands and appreciates the critical role that Jewish professional leaders play in advancing the agenda of the American Jewish community. The complexity of Jewish organizational management requires professional leaders with increasing levels of business skills and sophisticated understanding of Judaism and the Jewish community. Ruth Ziegler’s generous contribution to our School of Jewish Communal Service provides critical support and encouragement for the next generation’s Jewish professional leaders.
  Mrs. Ziegler, along with the Ziegler Family Trust, has committed to a gift of $1 million to provide full tuition scholarships for up to four students, to be known as Ziegler Scholars. Mrs. Ziegler’s gift establishes a virtual endowment, which commits 6% ($60,000 annually) from a $1 million fund that she set aside for the benefit of HUC-JIR. The full $1 million will come to HUC-JIR as a bequest to permanently endow these scholarships. The College-Institute is deeply grateful to Mrs. Ziegler, not only for her generosity, but also for introducing a new model of giving.
  “I am deeply committed to the School of Jewish Communal Service and to the leadership of Rabbi David Ellenson. I am pleased to enable future generations of communal service professionals to pursue their transformational work,” said Mrs. Ziegler.
  Mrs. Ziegler is helping to offset the high cost of tuition for future communal service professionals. Most students at the SJCS enroll in dual degree programs with the University of Southern California, in a unique academic partnership with HUC-JIR’s Los Angeles campus – a partnership that makes the SJCS program highly desirable in the field of professional training. These students make the commitment to register in both schools and enroll in expanded coursework, and pay tuition and fees to both institutions. SJCS students emerge from their studies with an average debt of $50,000. For those Ziegler Scholars, this scholarship support allows them to begin their careers more focused on their work than their debt.

Our Largest Bequest – Made in Gratitude for Student Rabbis

Gus Waterman Herrman

Gus Waterman Herrman, born in 1920, grew up in Lexington, Mississippi, a town of 2,500 people with only 50 to 60 Jews. Their congregation could not afford a rabbi and depended on Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion to send student rabbis to serve as the community’s spiritual leaders. One such student, Rabbi James Wax, became the Herrman brothers’ good friend. Rabbi Wax’s impact on their lives as Reform Jews led the brothers to ultimately bequeath their worldly resources to the College-Institute.
Gus Waterman Herrman was a member of Congregation Beth Israel, Houston, Texas and Temple Sinai, New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a philanthropist and a decorated World War II veteran. He served as a tank commander in the United States Army under General George Patton, was in the Normandy invasion, and received both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star medals of honor. He passed away on December 13, 2001 in Houston, Texas.
Gus Herrman is memorialized through the Gus Waterman Herrman Presidential Chair, established by the largest bequest in the history of the College-Institute. Gus Waterman Herrman’s memory and legacy of Jewish commitment will be perpetuated through this historic gift to the College-Institute. HUC-JIR students serve more than 100 small congregations that otherwise would not have spiritual leaders. We know we provide an important service to these communities, and yet we are continuously amazed and moved by the impact our students have on the individuals with whom they work. The Herrman brothers have inspired us as much as we have inspired them.