Marcia came to our southern Indiana town in 2003 to meet with our Brit Tzedek chapter and speak at an event held at our university town synagogue. Although we were a small chapter in a relatively Republican state, Marcia was warm and generous with our group, posing for photos & treating us with seriousness—as if there were no place else on Earth she would rather be. What I remember most was her energy and encouragement of our work.
In the first half of 2007, both Marcia and I were in Tel Aviv and arranged to meet at an outdoor cafe. By then, I was a Brit Tzedek Board member and had watched Marcia in action many times both behind-the-scenes and in public, and was struck by her determination and purpose. I’ll admit that I was slightly nervous hanging out with her one on one (eating, as I recall, really good hummus & salad), but after an initial awkwardness we fell into a lovely conversation about family, writing, and life outside the struggle. We spent a couple hours moving seamlessly between work and not-work in a surprisingly sweet way. I was bummed to get in the car to leave.
Marcia could be difficult (can’t we all?) and I hope she came to the end of her life knowing she made a difference in so many ways and with so many of us.
May her memory be a blessing.
Sue Swartz
Julie Bloom, Catherine Goldstein, Don Lichtenberg z’l, ?, Marcia z”l, Jenny Bass, Rita Lichtenberg, Madi Hirschland & back row, Bruce Solomon, Audrey Heller, Larry Moss, Shana Ritter, Jordan Shifriss, Sue Swartz.
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