Marla
Favorite traditional Jewish food: Matzah ball soup
Favorite Jewish holiday: Passover How would you describe the work that you do at JCUA? I oversee our organizing initiative and building our membership base of Jewish people around the Chicagoland area. Four or five years ago, JCUA shifted gears. We are a long-standing organization, but they really wanted to rethink how they were working and how to make the greatest impact and stay strong, relevant organization. People said, “Where are your people? We want to see you bring the power of the Jewish people to bear!” Since that time, we have been organizing Jewish people to be a powerful voice in social justice, specifically coming at different issues and looking at the root cause. Working on issues systemically as opposed to more service or charity. That is the framework. On the day to day, I oversee four other staff and work closely with our executive director. |
How would you describe your identity?
I have a disability. I’ve been an amputee since I was an infant, but most people would never know. The identities that factor most into my life are being a woman and being disabled. I am Jewish through my mother’s side of the family, so I am Jewish, but for many reasons, it didn’t always figure into my life a lot. My role at JCUA for these last number of years has been really where I have lived the most Jewish-ly in my life, which is kind of fascinating! I never would have thought that that would happen. I would say that those three areas are very important. Also, at certain points in time, not feeling at the same socioeconomic place that others in my world are in. Do you feel like your looks and experiences are included in the general picture of what a Jewish person is? I think so. A lot of people didn’t know that I was Jewish because my dad’s name is not a Jewish name. I think it fits, but people also don’t immediately think that I am Jewish if it isn’t in the context of working at JCUA. How have these experiences affect your feelings about Judaism? I guess I am fine with it for me, but I would imagine if I felt that people didn’t believe that my Judaism was real for whatever manifestations, that would really bother me. But that is not my experience. |
" I would imagine if I felt that people didn’t believe that my Judaism was real for whatever manifestations, that would really bother me." |
Do you feel like you have been generally welcomed in Judaism? Why or why not?
Yes, I do. I feel like I fall within a number of ‘norms’ or ‘majorities’, being married, being straight, being white-presenting, I have a college degree. I think it is more in my own mind where I feel like I don’t have a lot of education about the Jewish world.
Can you talk about the role Judaism played in your life growing up?
My parents said that my brother and I could decide, which really meant that there wasn’t very much religion. My dad wasn’t religious at all and my mom observed some [Jewish] holidays, but more so as cultural traditions. It also depended on where we lived. When I was young, we moved around a lot. When we were by my grandparents on my mom’s side, we would go to temple and there would be much more observance. In later years growing up, like junior high and high school, I grew up in Niles-Skokie, which was very Jewish. [Judaism] was kind of in the air that you breath, but I wasn’t practicing. When my parents divorced when I was in third or fourth grade, our economic situation declined. Even though we moved back to a very Jewish area, my mother had to work two jobs for a while after not working for years. She said we never joined a congregation because of the money. I would go to bar and bat mitzvahs, but I wouldn’t get much teaching or learning other than what I gained from osmosis.
Are there times you have felt excluded because of your various identities?
No, not Judaism as a tradition or a religion. I have felt like a lot of [Jewish] people had more than I knew, and that was hard sometimes, feeling like you are in a different place than your peers in junior high and high school.
Does Judaism play an important role in your life?
Working at JCUA, it does so much and it is so real. I find the work that we do and the people I work with, I care a lot about. I can’t say that I’ve joined a congregation, but I have started going again for high holidays. I have a little bit of a shabbat on Friday nights. That is meaningful, but if I didn’t work here, I don’t know how much I would have. Judaism is a part of my identity, but I know it is a much more critical part for others.
What is your favorite part about being Jewish?
It is a whole world. It is fascinating! It is very intellectual! There are a lot of spiritual avenues I didn’t know about before. It is a lot more complex than I ever knew. It is a vast network that I didn’t know existed.
Working at JCUA, it does so much and it is so real. I find the work that we do and the people I work with, I care a lot about. I can’t say that I’ve joined a congregation, but I have started going again for high holidays. I have a little bit of a shabbat on Friday nights. That is meaningful, but if I didn’t work here, I don’t know how much I would have. Judaism is a part of my identity, but I know it is a much more critical part for others.
What is your favorite part about being Jewish?
It is a whole world. It is fascinating! It is very intellectual! There are a lot of spiritual avenues I didn’t know about before. It is a lot more complex than I ever knew. It is a vast network that I didn’t know existed.