Not many people can donate an ambulance to Israel — which start at $115,000 — so it’s even more notable that a 90-year-old Rockville resident donated two.
Marilyn Hammerman recently funded two basic life support ambulances for Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service, in honor of her late parents. The funds come from a family foundation set up by Hammerman’s parents, Abraham and Freida Hochberg.
“Their connection to the Jewish community was very, very important, and … helping the Jewish community was paramount for them,” Hammerman’s daughter, Lorre Goldberg, said. “This is a continuation.”
“It’s a responsibility to help the Jewish people and make a better world,” Hammerman said of donating to Israeli organizations.
The “highly unusual” contribution comes at a fraught time in the Middle East, as Israel and Iran remain at war.
Hammerman, her husband, Murray, and their extended family gathered at the Hammermans’ Rockville home on May 21 for a double ambulance dedication ceremony, including family members who flew in from Israel.
Two brand-new ambulances sat in the driveway to represent the emergency vehicles that will soon be inscribed with the Hammermans’ names “in honor and memory of Abraham and Freida Hochberg.”
Equipped with medical facilities, oxygen, IV fluids, first aid, CPR equipment and a defibrillator, the ambulances will be shipped to Israel, where they will speed to respond to medical crises and disasters, deliver blood and even transport breast milk to infants in need. MDA deploys its emergency vehicles every 22.8 seconds on average, according to MDA’s 2025 summary.
(Photo credit: Zoe Bell)
After brief remarks and a family photo shoot with the ambulances, Hammerman cut a large red ribbon to symbolize the dedication.
“[Hammerman’s gift] matters more than people might think, because Magen David Adom is not funded by the government,” said Ira Gewanter, American Friends of MDA’s Mid-Atlantic director of major gifts. “Committed people from around the world in a very one-to-one way support Israel’s emergency medical services.”
He added that “really all” of the more than 200 MDA stations, infrastructure and vehicles are donor-funded.
In December, Hammerman contacted AFMDA looking to do something meaningful with her half of the family foundation — her brother inherited the other half.
“She said her parents, Abraham and Freida Hochberg, wanted their legacy to be making the world a better place with an emphasis on giving back to the Jewish community,” Gewanter said.
“It felt like an urgent time,” Goldberg said, referencing the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas at the end of 2025.
“They needed ambulances,” Hammerman said.
Ambulance dedication ceremonies typically take place one year after that initial conversation, according to Gewanter. But because Hammerman is dealing with significant health concerns, Gewanter worked with her to expedite the process.
“As she’s nearing the end of her life and thinking of her legacy, she wanted to make a grand gesture by rather than passing down the foundation to the next generation, she wanted them to see the spirit of what the foundation’s about in a really major way,” Gewanter said.
He described the double ambulance donation as “reinforcing the bonds of global Jewish people.”
The Hochbergs similarly cared deeply about Jewish peoplehood and Israel. Throughout their lives, the Chevy Chase couple donated to both Jewish and non-Jewish causes, including MDA, Hammerman said. They also gave to United Jewish Appeal and Jewish National Fund, sponsoring “an entire forest” of trees planted in Israel, according to Goldberg.
“Let’s also celebrate your share in every life that will be saved because a medic arrives on time in one of your ambulances and every chain of goodness that’s set in motion because lives were preserved,” Gewanter said. “It truly takes a village and we’re all connected in our shared humanity.”
Hammerman and her family will see the ambulances’ impact firsthand — AFMDA provides donors with the vehicle’s license plate numbers and an annual report with all of the calls that ambulance attended: car accidents, terror attacks and medical emergencies.
But it’s not only traumatic events.
“You get reports on how many babies were born on [that particular ambulance] — they call it a Stork Report — so it’s kind of beautiful,” Gewanter said.
“In some traditions, a person’s ledger of good deeds closes at the moment of their passing, like a tab that’s settled,” Gewanter said in his May 21 remarks. “But Jewish tradition teaches something beautifully different: that our merits continue to accrue in perpetuity.”
The Hammermans’ granddaughters said this charitable gift isn’t unusual for their grandparents.
“We’ve known them our whole life as being very philanthropic,” said Aimee Goldberg, who lives in central Israel.
“They’re always giving back,” said her sister, Eliana Goldberg.
Marilyn and Murray Hammerman are active members of Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, where Marilyn donated her handmade tallitot. Murray Hammerman launched a scholarship foundation to help Jewish medical students attend college, said granddaughter Rachelle Aviv.
The gift of two ambulances is particularly meaningful for the Hammermans’ children and grandchildren, who see emergency vehicles all the time in Israel.
“As an Israeli, it’s really comforting to know that people care enough to donate ambulances to Israelis,” Aimee Goldberg said. “The fact that it’s my grandparents just makes it much more meaningful and close to home.”
“The fact that we live in Israel, we know that [the ambulances will] directly affect people,” Lorre Goldberg said. “It’s really special.”
“It’s a little piece of them in Israel with us,” Aimee Goldberg added. “We don’t get to see them as often as we would like to, so it’ll be really meaningful to think that there are two ambulances with their names on them driving around and saving people’s lives. It’s like having a little piece of them close to us.”
“Although our health prevents Murray and me from traveling to Israel, we feel as though we will be riding along with the ambulance crews who spring into action, bringing hope and life-saving care to Israelis when they need it most,” Hammerman said in her remarks.
