“People would come into his office with shoulders slumped and leave with their head held high”
Reb Morris Esformes was an extremely special individual, and that manifested itself in the way he dressed, in the way he acted, and in the way he dreamed. He was a visionary who took the city of Chicago to new levels. He believed in chinuch and he acted on that belief, supporting yeshivos and schools, kollelim, and shuls. There isn’t a mosad in Chicago that didn’t benefit from his support in one way or another.
His philanthropy wasn’t limited to Chicago. He built yeshivos and shuls in Eretz Yisrael. He was good to his friends, and supported them in their dreams and aspirations; many of the buildings in Yerushalayim with his name on them have their foundation in a friendship with Reb Morris. He learned in Kerem B’Yavneh for one year and later dedicated seven buildings of to the yeshivah.
He raised the bar on giving tzedakah to mosdos, pushing himself and others to maximize their abilities in supporting and building Torah, chinuch, and chesed. When a young rosh kollel passed away, Reb Morris singlehandedly supported the kollel for 15 years until the rosh kollel’s son was old enough to take his father’s place. No one ever knew about it; it was all done with no fanfare or publicity. And just several months ago, he donated millions to the Chofetz Chaim affiliate in Florida.
He loved Jews of all stripes, and viewed all Yidden as one big family. He gave enthusiastically and with a full heart to every Jew in need, to every shul and school and organization who reached out, looking out for the yechidim as well as the rabim. But his giving wasn’t restricted to money; he knew how to build people up with words of encouragement.
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