If you'd like to give a gift to the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, there are several different funds you may wish to consider.  Take a look at the descriptions below. To give a gift of stock or any other noncash gift, please get in touch with our This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you have any further instructions about your gift, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .


General Fund
To help meet our annual operating costs, our general fund is the place where most donations land.
If you wish to give a gift in memory of a loved one or in honor of someone who has done something special, or to just share your good fortune with the community, this is the fund to donate to.  We depend on donations to keep us operating from year to year; dues alone cannot cover our costs. 

Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund
Different rabbis use their discretionary funds differently; Rabbi Lippe is committed to using much of his to help fund unmet needs of the congregation. Through this fund, we hire additional musicians to enhance our services, speakers for our annual Interfaith Scholar-in-Residence Weekend, extra staff for our annual Synagogue Retreat, and much more.

Maintenance Reserve Fund
The Maintenance Reserve Fund works like a Building Fund does in communities where putting up a new building is possible: It supports the continual renewal and repair of our physical plant.  Our beautiful 1858 brownstone is always in need of help to keep it beautiful, to hold back the ravages of time and the wear of housing 55 preschoolers, 150 religious schoolers, and 300 to 600 adults almost every week of the year.  There’s always something in need of repair or replacement, and this fund helps us take care of the business of keeping our building beautiful and safe.

The Irving I. Weissler Endowment Fund
The Brooklyn Heights Synagogue was privileged to receive a special gift from an old friend over the course of the last few years.  Irving Weissler, of blessed memory, made our Synagogue his residuary legatee.  This means that we received what was left after all the other bequests and debts of his estate were paid; the amount was surprising and generous; it will provide a measure of security for the Synagogue.

Our Finance Committee came up with a policy on how to invest the money and how to use the income from the investment so as to maintain its value over time, and also help to pay the considerable expenses of running our physical plant.   The last payment from the Weissler estate came in the fall of 2007; the earnings have already begun to make it easier for us to meet our needs.   Thus, we have our first endowment fund, set up to maintain the value of the principal and spin off some income for our use in maintaining our beautiful house.

This fall, one of our members received an unexpected bequest from a cousin. Our member chose to pass it on to the Synagogue, in the form of an addition to our endowment. Now we are established and ready to receive future gifts, in the form of cash or checks or securities.  Think about donating to this fund, or about putting a bequest in your will for the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue Endowment Fund.  You will be helping to ensure the future of a very wonderful institution.

Matthew Eli Puccio Fund
Created by our member Carol Ziegler in memory of her son, this fund is specifically aimed to support Jewish education for teens. It is used to subsidize our annual 9th Grade Israel Trip, to ensure that the cost of the trip stays at a level accessible to all our members.  The Puccio Fund is added to regularly by members of Matthew’s family and by grateful parents whose children have come home from Israel with new visions of their Jewish futures.

Stanley H. Person Preschool Fund
Established by Diane Person and added to continually by members of the Person family, by other members of the congregation, and by Preschool alumni families, the Person Fund finances capital needs of our Preschool, assuring that we have the resources needed to purchase furnishings and refresh and renew our classrooms each year.

Feldman Fund
One of the special purpose funds at Brooklyn Height Synagogue is the Feldman Fund.  Originally established in memory of Noah Feldman by his wife Sadie, and now named in memory of them both, this fund is “to be used yearly to engage a noted Jewish scholar, speaker, author, or entertainer to give a free lecture or show for the congregation and the community.”

Our Arts & Culture committee generally chooses a speaker or performer for the annual Feldman event, which is held each spring.  The Feldman Fund is not an endowed fund; it will eventually run out if additional donations do not increase it.  If you have fond memories of Noah and Sadie, or if you want to support free public programs of general interest here at the Synagogue, please consider a donation to this Fund.