Sheldon Zimmerman
Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman is a rabbinic leader in Reform Judaism. He is a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. In 2000, Zimmerman was suspended from the CCAR following an inquiry regarding inappropriate sexual conduct in "personal relationships." He subsequently resigned as the 7th president of HUC-JIR which he had led from 1996–2000.
Previously, Zimmerman had been the senior rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York City, 1972 - 1985, and Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, Texas. Rabbi Zimmerman was born in Toronto, Ontario and attended the University of Toronto. He was ordained from HUC's New York Campus in 1970 and is the 11th generation of rabbis in his family. His son, Rabbi Brian Zimmerman, currently the regional director for the Union for Reform Judaism's Southwest 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.
After leaving HUC, Zimmerman worked as executive vice president of the popular Birthright Israel program. In 2003, United Jewish Communities hired Zimmerman as vice president of Jewish Renaissance and Renewal. He was the rabbi of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons until he retired in the summer of 2017. He currently is living in Plano, Texas.
