Dr. Shloimie Zimmerman transforms the taboo into a toolbox for growth and greatness

Photos: Naftoli Goldgrab

When Dr. Shloimie Zimmerman embarked on his groundbreaking project to help parents guide their sons to find the very real greatness that lies in the struggle for kedushah, he faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Only his belief in the necessity of what he was doing helped him to persevere. But even he could not have imagined how great a need his work would fill, as legions of parents rushed forward to grasp the ammunition they needed to arm their sons for history’s last stand

The soft ombre of turquoise and aquamarine on the front cover connoted a tranquil approachability, entrée to a world of serenity. But its title, From Boys to Men, stamped in bold sans-serif type, demanded candidness. A similar sense of forthrightness is exuded by four small words typed in Hebrew toward the cover’s top: Zeh hakatan gadol yiheyeh (this small one will become great).

It’s a contrast reflecting a series of tensions that run throughout the book’s content. This work presents a distinct and unafraid guide with full recognition of the gravity of its subject, while simultaneously insisting on sensitivity, sympathy, and understanding.

Dr. Shloimie Zimmerman, the book’s author, gained international acclaim within weeks of the book’s debut appearance, becoming the face of what can be justifiably termed a movement, a radical shift in the way we educate our children and students at the most crucial stages in their lives.

But his peerless success can only be explained by the final line on the book’s cover: “Foreword by HaRav Aharon Feldman.”

While Dr. Zimmerman could have drafted a brilliant work based solely on his experience and expertise as a mental health professional, he chose otherwise. Every stage of its development was discussed in-depth with gedolei Torah and it is their vision and perspective that the book seeks to execute.

It covers a wide range of subjects, all of which revolve around, or stem from, the vast challenges teenage boys endure with inyanei kedushah as their minds and bodies rapidly develop and hormone levels fluctuate wildly. It provides a wealth of insight into the psychology behind so many of these struggles along with numerous antidotes and preventative measures.

Dr. Zimmerman insists that the blazing nisyonos presented by today’s decadence are not random: Hashem chose us, this final generation, to haul history through its closing chapter.

And then a humble nation who fought mightily to stave off an enormous enemy will stand tall and proud.

Zeh hakatan gadol yiheyeh.

Facing the Pain

“I saw pain everywhere.” As Dr. Zimmerman recounts what drew him into the mental health field, even today, some 20 years later, the pain he witnessed continues to lace his voice.

Becoming a mental health professional wasn’t a childhood dream of his.  In fact, it wasn’t until his early twenties, when he was in his fourth year of beis medrash, that the notion began to percolate in his mind. Sitting together in his Flatbush office, over a much-needed tall cup of black coffee, he shares how it all began.

Born and bred in Brooklyn, a young Shloimie Zimmerman attended  Mesivta Tiferes Yisroel for high school, the Brooklyn branch of the Chofetz Chaim network of yeshivos. Following graduation he continued on the Chofetz Chaim track, joining its Queens-based beis medrash program.

“I was learning with extreme intensity,” he recounts. And he reiterates, “Like, very extreme.”

But this did not alarm him. It wasn’t until a specific incident that he began to take greater note of its import — and its impact.