By Robert E. Sutton
This past spring, Ellen and Stanley Wasserman donated a major gift of $3,000,000 towards the renovation of the Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikva. The money will go towards mishpachton (surrogate family) apartments and a state-of-the art industrial kitchen that will have the capacity to serve 700 meals a day.
ONE OF THE BOYS AT THE TABLE.
IN THE WINTER OF 1954, ELLEN Charles sat down at an empty table in the Hunter College cafeteria with her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and proceeded to eat her lunch while reviewing the day’s assignment. To her dismay, a group of young men sat down opposite her and immediately disturbed her concentration by talking loudly and annoyingly about a girl they thought was “weird.” One of the young men declared she was weird because she had a graded index of 3.5, and they snickered at her academic proficiency. Exasperated because she couldn’t focus on her studies, Ellen looked up and simply stared at them. “So what’s your index?” smirked one of the boys. Ellen casually replied, “It’s 3.7, and I am a freshman.” And “ so what’s your index,” one of the great pick-up lines of all time, began what was to become one of the great marriages of all time.
Ellen and Stanley Wasserman have been married for 55 years. They have four children, Alan, Mark, Neil, and Rivka. When asked about her grandchildren and two great-granddaughters, Ellen rattled off 19 names and ages in less than a minute. That one-minute recital illuminates the meaning of mishpacha.
They were brought up in the Bronx. Ellen attended Ramaz, he DeWitt Clinton. Glancing at Ellen, Stanley proudly said, “She was the smart girl, she is the intellectual. I was just an average student.” “However, I have my father’s sense of business; I’m able to make a quick decision, that’s the key.”
AMIT: Did he ask you out right after that encounter?
Ellen Wasserman: No way! Despite his bravado, he was a little shy. I dated a few of his friends. They all asked me out. He didn’t.
Stanley Wasserman: But I got reports from them.
Ellen Wasserman: Stanley was always funny. He was so funny, I would cry from laughing. Even now, you talk to him for two minutes and I guarantee he’ll have you in stitches. He always brings a smile to people’s faces.
AMIT: So it was the laughter that got you hooked.
Ellen Wasserman: I liked him. He was so handsome, especially in his leather motorcycle jacket. He has an easy-going manner, a happy–go-lucky attitude and a quick smile. His personality was outsized. All his friends followed him.
AMIT: Tell us about the early years.
Stanley Wasserman: The first year we were married I was working for my father and going to law school at night. Eventually, my father sold the business. I took the federal service exam, and I began working for the Social Security Administration. I was a fraud investigator for 18 years. While working there, I began dabbling in real estate. With the money I had, I bought a four-story-up in the Bronx. I left the government job and have been in real estate ever since.
AMIT: I’m going to go a bit off the subject. I know there’s an interesting story about your maiden name “Charles” How did that not-so-Jewish name come about.
Ellen Wasserman: Well, I knew that Charles was not our authentic family name, but I had no idea that our original name was on my birth certificate. At 16, I applied for a summer job at MetLife. At the time they had a reputation for not hiring many if any, Jews. The human resources department asked for my birth certificate in order to ascertain my age. When I asked my mom for my birth certificate and saw the name “Ellen Czazkes” staring back at me, I was convinced that I would never get the job. Fortunately for me, they did hire me. So, I found out my original surname while applying for a job.
AMIT: Growing up in the Bronx in the mid-to-late 1940s. What was it like at the dinner table talking about the future Israel and Zionism?
Ellen Wasserman: My father was very Zionistic. Outspoken about his Zionism and the likes of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir. Both my parents loved Israel. It was a constant in our lives. I clearly remember when I was 12 going on the subways with a pushka and collecting money for the Jewish National Fund. Pennies, nickels, and dimes for Israel.
Stanley Wasserman: And as a kid, I was immersed in what was going on around the world. Reading the newspapers every day: the war, Palestine, the Zionist movement. It was one of the most significant parts of our lives.
AMIT: When was the first time you went to Israel?
Ellen Wasserman: It was 1957 and I went with about a thousand young people. We went by ship – on the SS Israel. I met cousins and traveled around. It was wonderful.
AMIT: When were you first introduced to AMIT?
Ellen Wasserman: Around 1974. A friend from the Bronx, Vivian Rosen, asked me if I wanted to become a member of Mizrachi Women of America. With four kids I thought I wouldn’t have the time. But the chapter met only once a month, so I was in. It was the Dahlia Chapter in Pelham Parkway. One needs a certain type of personality who could go out and say, “Well, you’ve got to give.” That’s not me. But I love to write skits, plays, poetry. So, I became Program Chairman. When a member was honored I put together short plays, poems about AMIT. I wrote songs for functions such as…
PENNIES IN PUSHKAS
(Tune of Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head)
Pennies in pushkas every day,
Turn into dollars if you save them in that way. Pushka, you’re for me. Those pennies in pushkas, dimes and quarters in pushkas…
I also wrote a song to the tune of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”
There’s no chapter
like our chapter
like no chapter we know.
Yesterday Mizrachi was the barest dream
Today 50,000 make up our team…
Eventually, I was fortunate enough to become president of the Dahlia Chapter.
AMIT: Stanley, were you involved with MWOA at that time?
Stanley Wasserman: Sure, I went to events and functions. Most husbands attended. But the meetings, no. Those were just for women.
AMIT: When did you first visit an MWOA school?
Stanley Wasserman: It was 1971, we were in Israel with all four kids, ten years old, eight, six and three—you can only imagine what it was like, crazy and wonderful.
Ellen Wasserman: We visited Kfar Batya Children’s Village. That’s when I saw with my own eyes that Mizrachi works.
Stanley Wasserman: It was unbelievable. How the surrogate parents took care, taught, and helped raise young Jewish orphans. I saw the need for money, it was obvious. We were collecting pennies and dollars, but MWOA needed “real” money.
We visited Beersheva two or three years ago and toured the high school. It was beautiful to see Russian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi all sitting together in a classroom. We talked to these remarkable teachers and the principal. They had such devotion to these kids 24/7. I was awestruck. And, with AMIT’s professionalism and the money all of us have donated, the Bagrut scores have risen by nearly 70%.
Ellen Wasserman: We went to the school in Ma’ale Adumim and met with the principal and teachers. Their rapport with the students, their concern, it was real. I was a teacher in the New York public school system for 22 years, and I’ve rarely seen such dedication to children and with great enthusiasm. They know how to teach a child at whatever level. Impressed? More than I can tell you.
But the beauty of it all is at the end of the day these kids graduate, go into the IDF, start a career, and become substantive citizens of Israel.
We’re so proud we are able to help such wonderful schools, beautiful children, and the finest educational network in Israel.
AMIT: If you are talking directly to someone who may not know AMIT, what would you say in a sentence or two.
Ellen Wasserman: The best educational system that we know about is AMIT; it delivers the best education and it cares personally about each of its students, the principals, and the teachers. The best reason to donate money is the education of children.
That’s the future of Israel.
AMIT: And what would you like to say to the 50,000+ members of AMIT.
Ellen Wasserman: I would say kudos to all the members who belong to AMIT and who support AMIT. You are performing a mitzvah.
Stanley Wasserman: And in these trying times, if you love Israel, you support Israel. Every Israeli child is a valuable child. We must elevate his or her full potential. They’re our greatest resource. And when they succeed, that’s because of you…the member of AMIT.
