Rabbi Morris Esformes

Pillar of Education. International Humanitarian. Torah Legacy.

Those were just some of the awards bestowed on Rabbi Morris Esformes. A leading philanthropist in Chicago’s Jewish community, Esformes donated extensively to Jewish institutions throughout his lifetime.

He died on Dec. 25, at 76.

“It was always apparent that Rabbi Morris Esformes’s involvement in community was motivated by a sense of Ahavat Yisrael-a love of all Jews,” said JUF Executive Vice Chairman Dr. Steven B. Nasatir. “I will always remember his vital leadership in helping create the Day School Guaranty Trust Fund, which by design has greatly benefited a unified coalition of Orthodox, Conservative, pluralistic, and non-denominational Jewish Day Schools. Unfortunately, such coalitions are rare outside Chicago, but for Rabbi Esformes unifying community by bringing Jews together while supporting differences was a deeply held conviction.”   

Esformes was passionate about Jewish education-funding yeshivas in the Chicago area, across North America, and in Israel. Locally, he supported the Hebrew Theological College, Telshe Yeshiva, the Joan Dachs Bais Yaakov Elementary School-and the Arie Crown Hebrew Day School, where he had formerly been a rebbe and assistant principal. Esformes also taught Hebrew school at Lincolnwood Congregation.

Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, Esformes attended what is now Ida Crown Jewish Academy. He then studied at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel, which he would later support. For college, he attended Roosevelt University in Chicago, receiving his smicha at Skokie Yeshiva under Rabbi Aharon Soloveitchik.

His support of medical facilities was personal. He funded Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where the medical staff had saved his father’s life. And he endowed a medical professorship at the University of Chicago, having been a cancer patient in its hospital.

Esformes supported many Jewish organizations beyond Chicago. Among them: A Jewish center in Alaska, a Holocaust Museum in California, a Chabad facility in Florida, dozens of synagogues nationwide, and a children’s home in Odessa, Ukraine.

He will be remembered for his generosity.

Morris Esformes was the father of Yechiel Esformes, Rivkie Bass, and Rachel Chavin, and the grandfather of 8. He was the brother of Mrs. Flora Weiss.