Elliot Cohen interviews Board member Richard Solomon
E: So how did you get involved with JIFLA?
R: I first got involved with Jewish Interest-Free Loan Association of Georgia (JIFLA) when I attended a dinner event honoring Laura Kahn for her years of service to JIFLA. At the event, I learned about JIFLA’s mission, and their partners: Jewish Fertility Foundation, In the City Camps, and Peaceful Family Fund, to mention a few. Our primary goal is to help members of the Jewish Community by providing interest-free loans to qualified Jewish people, free financial literacy workshops, and budget counseling. Through donor gifts people can participate in one of the greatest Mitzvahs, giving money anonymously. They, the donors, don’t know who their funds are going to, and the beneficiaries don’t know who gave the money.
E: What’s the highest form of tzedakah (charity)?
R: The highest level of tzedakah is to help people earn a living. Instead of giving people fish, teach them to fish. If you help put someone in business, they can take care of themselves. Our financial literacy classes and coaching sessions fit very well with this concept. We help people to take care of themselves.
E: I’m sure every board member has their passion that led them to volunteer with JIFLA. Is there anything about JIFLA and its mission that appeals to you on a personal level?
R: Helping a fellow Jew is an act of loving-kindness. Our Torah teaches us that the world stands on three things: the study of Torah, prayer, and acts of loving-kindness. JIFLA is the embodiment of G’milut Chasidim (acts of loving kindness). Additionally, it’s about respect. Applicants and borrowers are treated with care and concern for their privacy and treated like menschen (good, honest people). JIFLA approves loans to qualified applicants ranging from 18 years old on up, salaried, and hourly workers including professionals. The board is amazing, I am honored to be a member and rub shoulders with all of them! Most board members have been volunteering their time and resources for decades.
E: I understand your board portfolio is development, fundraising, and stewardship. What specifically are you going to be doing for JIFLA in your capacity as a board member?
R: In my capacity as the Development Chair, I want to redefine fund-raising into fun-raising. Asking people for money is always difficult, but if we approach it with an understanding of how the funds are used and the impact it has on the people we help, it can be very rewarding and fun.
Stewardship involves careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. I will be working with JIFLA‘s staff to maintain and expand the relationships we have with donors and partner organizations. Our board is sensitive to privacy issues and expresses our appreciation and respect to our donors and borrowers. We spend time writing thank-you notes, attending community events and generally getting the word out. As a board member, I hope to help develop new connections with synagogues, their executive directors and rabbis, letting them know we’re here and that we have money to lend. Additionally, I also hope to build a development committee and have more community members join JIFLA in a volunteer capacity.
I want to learn from my fellow board members and contribute my energy, enthusiasm, work ethic, and dedication to our cause and staff. They are the foundation—the driving force that has transformed JIFLA from a two-person organization into the incredible entity it is today!
E: So, some of your goals as part of the organization are expansion and opening the frontiers for what JIFLA is capable of. Would you say that?
R: In 2023 JIFLA expanded to serve the entire state of Georgia. I am excited to help the staff engage new communities of borrowers and donors. Our board is populated with extraordinary people who have volunteered selflessly for many years. I know we can expand our community reach and financial capacity by engaging additional dynamic caring volunteers.
E: Do you have any thoughts on JIFLA’s role in the Jewish community at large? Do you think that role should change, or get larger?
R: I feel like JIFLA’s role in the Jewish community at large has a lot of room to expand. My goal, with JIFLA, is to identify/brand us as the preeminent loaner of funds to Jews on an interest-free basis throughout Georgia. When people think, “I have a need” or “I have a friend in need,” they know exactly how to contact JIFLA.