Morris Zimmerman and AMIT have a lot in common. Both can boast nearly nine and a half decades. Both have contributed greatly to the Jewish people and to Israel. And both are creating a strong Zionist future by supporting the education of Israeli children.
Mr. Zimmerman is generously dedicating a classroom at AMIT Ramle Technological High School, located in Ramle, in memory of his parents, Regina, z”l, and Emil, z”l, Zimmerman, and his parents-in-law, Daisy, z”l, and Samuel, z”l, Cohen.
The dedication, said Mr. Zimmerman, 94, is a fitting tribute, especially to his late mother and mother-in-law who worked tirelessly on behalf of AMIT when it was known as Mizrachi Women of America, the Miriam Chapter in the Bronx.
“In those years they were involved in anything having to do with the State of Israel,” Mr. Zimmerman said. “Also, anything that had to do with Holocaust survivors, pre-state Palestine, Israel, and children were very meaningful causes for them. For many years, they would go to the meetings of Mizrachi Women and bring in tzedakah.”
While the Cohen and Zimmerman families shared a passion for Zionism and for raising money for pre-state Palestine and Israel, Mr. Zimmerman pointed out how very different the families were from one another.
“This is really the story of the Cohen and Zimmerman family, which were quite different,” he said.
The Cohen family – the family of his late wife, Elaine, z”l – came to America prior to 1900. They were educated in New York City schools and did not have close family members in Europe. Elaine, z”l, grew up in an English-speaking home.
In contrast, the Zimmerman family arrived in the United States from Czechoslovakia in the 1920s. Morris Zimmerman grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were still in Europe. He even had an aunt, a widow who lived in Palestine, who was raising a child under very difficult circumstances.
The Zimmerman and Cohen families lived in the same blue-collar, working-class Bronx neighborhood. And both families shared the goal of trying to make life easier for those who were less fortunate.
The Zimmerman family lived an extremely frugal lifestyle in order to have funds to send to their impoverished family in Europe and in Palestine, he said.
Mr. Zimmerman said that his late wife’s mother, Daisy, z”l, was the first to become involved in the Miriam Chapter of American Mizrachi Women, founded by Miriam Reichman, wife of the local rabbi. It was through the women’s friendship that Zimmerman’s mother, Regina, z”l, became involved with the Miriam Chapter.
“Daisy got my mother involved,” he said. “They were always at the meetings. I remember seeing them rolling up coins and wrapping them up to send to Israel.”
In fact, his mother was so loyal to Mizrachi Women that even after she retired as a high-end fashion seamstress in the garment district, she continued to work and raise money for the organization. She would do alternations on clothing at home to allow her to continue her support. “If a woman bought something from Alexander’s and she needed a hem or some kind of alterations, she would bring it to my mother who would do the work. She would charge them and earmark everything she earned for Mizrachi,” Mr. Zimmerman recalled.
That Zionist zeal was part of his personal history. “I remember my father was a big supporter of (pre-state) Palestine and Israel,” he said. My parents would buy Israel bonds. They were not sophisticated investors, but they said, ‘If it’s good for Israel, then it has got to be good.’”
Mr. Zimmerman first met his wife through mutual friends who were part of the Zionist clubs in their Bronx neighborhood. They married in 1948 and as a wedding gift, the Miriam Chapter of Mizrachi Women gave the young couple a menorah with a music box that plays “Maoz Tzur.” They used that menorah every Hanukkah during the 65 years they were married.
The couple moved from the Bronx to Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan, then to Ridgefield, N.J., and later to Teaneck, N.J. where they lived for 60 years. Mr. Zimmerman worked as a CPA and was a partner at Anchin, Block & Anchin, retiring after 44 years. Elaine, z”l, worked as a kindergarten teacher and knew the importance of educating children.
They continued their community involvement. They were among the founders of The Moriah School, a modern Orthodox Jewish day school in Englewood.
“We always were connected to AMIT and Jewish causes,” Mr. Zimmerman said.
They had two sons: Dr. Stanley Zimmerman, who lives with his wife, Joanne, in Edison, N.J. and Rabbi Samuel Zimmerman, who lives with his wife, Dr. Deena Zimmerman in Nof Ayalon, a community close to AMIT Ramle Technological High School. Mr. Zimmerman has 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.
Mr. Zimmerman said he made his dedication to AMIT through an IRA rollover. This donation mechanism has tax benefits for anyone older than 70 ½ who wants to make an IRA distribution directly to a charity, such as AMIT.
This dedication of a classroom, Mr. Zimmerman said, is a very fitting tribute to both sets of parents who worked hard to instill in their children strong Zionist ideals.
“I felt that it was time for my parents and my in-laws to be remembered for their (Zionist) pioneering days. We wanted to make a donation in their memory – something substantial. I wanted to do it now and put it in a place where my family can visit.
“If not for my in-laws, I would not have had my wife, who was a great influence on me,” Mr. Zimmerman said. “My parents and my in-laws are worth the kavod,” he added, using the Hebrew word for honor.
