Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman (born 1942) is a former rabbinic leader in

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

. He is a past president of the

Central Conference of American Rabbis The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. ...

(CCAR) and

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

. In 2000, Zimmerman was suspended from the CCAR after an inquiry regarding inappropriate sexual conduct revealed a pattern of predatory behavior, including fondling and kissing a teenager. He subsequently resigned as the 7th president of HUC-JIR which he had led from 1996–2000.

Background and career

Rabbi Zimmerman was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He was ordained from HUC's New York Campus in 1970 and is the 11th generation of rabbis in his family.HUC Press Release
His son, Rabbi Brian Zimmerman, currently the regional director for the Union for Reform Judaism's

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

region, is the 12th. His other son Coach David Zimmerman is currently the Athletic Director and Varsity Boys Basketball coach at Yavneh Academy of Dallas. Zimmerman served as the senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1972–1985 and Temple Emanu-El in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He then served as the 7th president of HUC-JIR from 1996-2000 until his resignation after the allegations that were made against him. After leaving HUC, Zimmerman worked as executive vice president of the popular

Birthright Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel (), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a free ten-day heritage trip to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adults of Jewish heritage between the ages of 18 and 26. The program is spon ...

program. In 2003, United Jewish Communities (UJC) hired Zimmerman as vice president of Jewish Renaissance and Renewal. In 2012, Sheldon's book ''The New Family Prayerbook'' was published. He served as the rabbi of the Jewish Center of

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End (Long Island), East End of Long Island, consist of the town (New York), towns of Southampton (town), New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork ...

for nearly 10 years, until his retirement in the summer of 2017. Zimmernman then served as scholar-in-residence at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas from 2017 until his firing in 2021.

Misconduct

Zimmerman was suspended by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in 2000 after what was described as inappropriate “personal relationships” that violated ethical codes. Shortly after this, he resigned as president of the HUC-JIR, the Reform movement's seminary. The CCAR later reinstated Zimmerman's credentials in 2005. In 2020, a former congregant of Zimmerman (at Central Synagogue, where Zimmerman had served as senior rabbi from 1972-1985) reported that she had also been subjected to predatory sexual behavior during his time in the congregation. This led to a new investigation being conducted, which led to additional reports of sexually predatory behavior by Zimmerman. In the aftermath of the announcement from Central Synagogue, Temple Emanu-El of Dallas fired Zimmerman from his position with the congregation in May 2021. The CCAR and HUC both stated in early 2021 that they are continuing to investigate the allegations. On November 3, 2021, Hebrew Union College published a report of an investigation made regarding past reports of sexual misconduct at HUC, which included three accounts of such conduct by Zimmerman.Lewis, Kaitli
"Decades of sexual harassment, misconduct found at Hebrew Union College" ''Cincinnati.com'' (Nov. 20, 2021)
Accessed Dec. 5, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Sheldon 1942 births Living people American Reform rabbis Rabbis from Toronto 20th-century American rabbis Child sexual abuse scandals in Judaism Sex scandals in Canada 21st-century American rabbis