Ensuring We Never Forget
As antisemitism plagues our communities, we are reminded of the Holocaust and
what happens when hate is allowed to spread. The Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia keeps our promise to never forget by caring for Holocaust survivors
and educating the next generation to ensure that history does not repeat itself.

Caring for Holocaust Survivors
45,497 Holocaust survivors worldwide served through
organizations and programs supported
by the Jewish Federation
14,602 Holocaust survivors received food deliveries
and assistance through programs supported by the
Jewish Federation
Meet Sultana
Sultana is a Holocaust survivor who lives in a small house in
Kiryat Gat, Israel. She suffers from osteoporosis, heart disease
and mobility issues. Due to increased falls, Sultana was unable to
use the stairs to access her backyard. Latet - Aid for Life, supported
by the Jewish Federation, recently created a ramp for Sultana to use, so
she can once again enjoy her yard.

Latet - Aid for Life provides Holocaust survivors with low socio-economic
backgrounds the means to live out their lives with dignity. Clients receive a
monthly food box and hygiene products as well as access to an emergency fund
for unforeseen and urgent needs, like medical services. Additional services include
in-home social support and home repairs and renovations.

#StandUptoJewishHate Jews only make up 2.4% of the American population yet are the victims of 55% of religious-
based hate crimes, recorded by the FBI Hate Crime Reports and according to the Pew Research
Center. This is why the Jewish Federation is proud to launch the #StandUpToJewishHate campaign in
partnership with the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. Designed to mobilize all Americans, especially
non-Jews, to combat antisemitism, community members can support this national initiative that raises
awareness of current day Jewish hate by sharing the # ■ across social media.

Learn how the Jewish Federation is helping Holocaust
survivors and those in need at jewishphilly.org/impact.

Join us at the Jewish Federation’s Philadelphia Holocaust Memorial Ceremony on April 16, 2023
to commemorate the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust and to honor the Survivors
in our communities, featuring candle lighting, music, readings, prayers and special guests.

For more information and to register, visit jewishphilly.org/yom-hashoah-2023.

10 APRIL 6, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT



YOU SHOULD KNOW ...

Carly Zimmerman
Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
Jarrad Saffren | Staff Writer
I n October, Carly Zimmerman won the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia’s Blanche Wolfe Kohn Award for young leadership.

The 35-year-old Center City resident is a Federation board
member, a vice chair of its women’s philanthropy division and the
chair of Women of Vision, which gives grants to organizations that
help women and girls.

At the time, Zimmerman told the Jewish Exponent that she did this
work for her young daughter, Norah.

“If I can leave the world better for her, that will make it all worth it,”
she said.

Zimmerman’s daughter is already noticing her effort. The young girl
is experiencing it, talking about it and even doing a school project
on it.

“I think she does see it,” Zimmerman said. “My husband Michael
(Zimmerman) and I try really hard to talk about the work that we do in
our community with her.”
At the end of the summer last year,
the family helped the Jewish Relief
Agency deliver meals to city residents
in need. The Zimmermans wanted to
bring their daughter along. Norah was
nervous before the event.

“I told her we’d be going to people’s
doors, maybe meeting them, saying
hi,” Carly Zimmerman said.

But as they knocked on door after
door, people were happy to see a
6-year-old delivering food. About two
weeks later, Norah had to draw a
picture for a Rosh Hashanah project at
an after-school program. She sketched
a family giving away boxes of food to
people at their doors.

“That was one of my most powerful
moments of realizing that she got it,”
Zimmerman said. “It was very differ-
ent from her day-to-day and a very
positive experience.”
But it was not the first time that Norah
noticed. When the mother and daughter
attend Jewish events together, Norah
sees her mother talking at length with
person after person. When the daughter
walks in during her mother’s Zoom calls
for Women of Vision, she talks to her
mom about what she is doing: helping
women and girls.

During the 2021-’22 school year,
Norah had to leave a pre-K program
that kept closing due to COVID.

Zimmerman reached out to friends
at Society Hill Synagogue on Spruce
Street, and they got her daughter into
a pre-K program there in the middle of
the school year.

Norah loved it.

“Being part of the Jewish community
is why it happened,” Zimmerman said.

“It was an immediate fit.”
Norah is still only 6. But she can
recognize her mother’s capabilities
and connections. The daughter often
tells her mother, and other people, that
“Mommy knows everybody.”
“What I think she means is Mommy
has a lot of friends. As a 6-year-old,
her biggest day-to-day is who are her
friends? Who are her best friends?”
Zimmerman said.

The Zimmermans are not synagogue
members, but they do reinforce the
importance of their faith and commu-
nity at home, too. On Rosh Hashanah
this past year, Zimmerman hosted family
members. The trio tries to spend most
Jewish holidays with its extended family.

Carly grew up in a Reconstructionist,
interfaith household in Harrisburg. She
went to Hebrew school, had a bat
mitzvah and then did not rediscover
her religion until her college days at
the University of Pittsburgh, where she
joined Hillel and became one of its
leaders. Judaism remained important
to her as she graduated and started
her adult life. For six years, Zimmerman
was the CEO of Challah for Hunger, an
organization that worked to decrease
food insecurity on college campuses.

“I think it’s walking the walk in a
sense,” Zimmerman said. “We’re trying
to show her volunteering and giving
back and, when the holidays come,
making sure they are observed right.”
Zimmerman also wants to show her
daughter what her mother showed her:
That women can do it all. Zimmerman’s
mother, Margie Adelmann, worked
for Goodwill, the National MS Society
and the Jewish Federation of Greater
Harrisburg. Today, Zimmerman is the
vice president of business develop-
ment at her father’s company, Larson
Lightning Protection, which installs
materials on roofs to protect buildings
against lightning strikes.

And at home, Carly Zimmerman
and Michael Zimmerman split duties.

If Carly Zimmerman walks Norah to
school, her father picks her up. If
Carly Zimmerman did the last load of
laundry, Michael Zimmerman does the
next one. Both parents have nights
when they are home alone because
the other is out working.

“I went back to work three months
after having her, and actually Michael
took off three months then. So we
even split parental leave. I think
when she sees us both working, she
doesn’t think any differently of it,” Carly
Zimmerman said of her daughter. ■
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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