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A MOTHER IN ISRAEL
THE SOUTH'S FINEST
OWNER-OPERATED
DRUG STORES
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3073 PEACHTREE ROAD, N.E.
CEdar 3-1122
There Is No
Rabbi in the House
by ANITA ENGLE
CHARGE AND DELIVERY SERVICE
ROAD SERVICE MElrose 6 7021
SINCLAIR PRODUCTS - GOODYEAR TIRES & TUBES
BATTERIES - ACCESSORIES
Dub’s Sinclair Service
MECHANIC ON DUTY
SINCLAIR
BRIARCLIFF & LaVISTA ROADS ATLANTA, GA.
W. C. “Dub” Watkins
Jerusalem
To find 10 old people in search
of a home for their declining years
is, alas, only too common. But to
find a home in search of 10 needy
old people, that’s news.
The home, a $75,000 structure of
imported marble, situated at Ra-
naana, has been standing empty
for four years for lack of suitable
candidates. It was built, equipped
and is being maintained by Dr.
Samuel Zimmerman, a wealthy,
retired New York pediatrician who
gave up his American citizenship
to come and settle in Israel some
5 years ago.
The tenants whom Dr. Zimmer
man is waiting to nourish and care
for are aged and destitute rabbis—
without wives. Evidently this is a
category which is in short supply,
for so far apart from Dr. Zimmer
man and his wife, the home had
only one resident. The little old
rabbi who had come to end his
years there stayed long enough to
marry Dr. Zimmerman to his pres
ent wife, and then was taken away
by his son, who had found a wife
for him.
The 63-year-old financier-physi
cian built the home for needy
rabbis in memory of his parents
who died in New York ten years
ago. He has left suffcient money
in his will to maintain the home
for as long as Ranaana remains in
existence. Deeply religious and in
tensely devoted to the memory of
his parents, Dr. Zimmerman has
thought out every detail and
spared no expense in equipping
the home for traditional living
with comfort, such as his own
parents were not able to enjoy
until later in life.
The ten bedrooms have foam-
rubber mattresses, easy chairs and
private balconies for sun-bathing.
The kitchen has been stream
lined for large scale kashrut, with
three stoves (for cooking milk,
meat and parveh foods) and two
institutional size deep freezers.
There are three Sefer Torahs in
the marble synagogue which forms
part of the home. The smart, up-
to-date mikveh, complete with
showers and a sunken marble
pool, wouldn’t shame a movie
star.
The cement is the only thing in
the home which comes from Is
rael. Everything else, the building
materials, plumbing equipment,
furniture, a complete medical clin
ic, came from the U.S. Dr. Zim
merman brought it over on the
coffins of his dead parents. When
ever Dr. Zimmerman returns to
the States, he brings back more
things for the home.
Only the rabbis are lacking.
When Dr. Zimmerman investigates
applicants, he finds that they have
families, or are wanting to move
in just for the comfort, and not
because they have no alternative.
The Jewish Agency has promised
to help him. They hope that im
migration from Hungary and Ru
mania will bring some suitable
candidates for the home.
Is Dr. Zimmerman down-heart
ed? On the contrary, he and his
wife are ideally happy, keeping
the house in order and working in
their vast garden, with a Yemenite
gardner and his wife as their only
assistants. When friends accuse
them of being very satisfied with
the present vacant state of the
home, they are indignant. Just let
some needy and suitable rabbi
turn up. they maintan, and all the
attention in the world will be
given him.
Although Dr. Zimmerman was
successful in his profession, his
real wealth stems from another
source. He was a lieutenant in
the Medical Corps in France in
World War 1. During a retreat his
hospital had to be evacuated. The
dead and dying were left behind.
There was one young soldier
whom Dr. Zimmerman refused to
abandon. He was sure he could re
cover with proper treatment. The
young man didn’t die. “I’m one of
the Morgan family,’’ he told Zim
merman before they parted.
“When you get back to the States,
come and see me.”
Zimmerman was so busy getting
himself set up in his profession
after the war, he forgot all about
the soldier whose life he had
saved. Then, one day, finding him
self walking down Wall Street, he
remembered the young man, and
went to call on him. After a warm
reunion, the young man, now a
perfectly healthy financier, gave
Dr. Zimmerman some suggestions
for investments. Dr. Zimmerman
has never ceased to prosper from
that time.
The Southern Israelite
14