Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer was a Conservative rabbi born in Connecticut who found himself living in Argentina, where he led a shul and founded the Conservative rabbinical school in Buenos Aires. As a part of his rabbinate, particularly while living during the “Dirty War” in the 70’s, he was a human rights activist and worked to uncover many of the atrocities that occurred under the military dictatorship in Argentina between ‘76 and ‘83.
In 1985 he left Argentina and moved to New York, where he was tasked with revitalizing an old and dying Conservative synagogue called B’nai Jeshurun. He quickly brought in one of his students from Argentina, Roly Matalon, to become his intern and assistant, while Roly was in rabbinical school. Marshall died in 1993, and as the synagogue grew, Roly created a rabbinic fellowship in his memory, the Marshall T. Meyer Rabbinic Fellowship. I’m incredibly proud to have been a part of this Fellowship and to carry Marshall’s legacy with me as an MTM Fellow. This year is his 25th yahrtzeit, and all of the Fellows will be coming to New York in January to learn from each other and highlight the ways that we’ve been impacted by his legacy.
I remember learning, early on in my 4 years at B’nai Jeshurun, that when Marshall arrived there he expected the synagogue to create a homeless shelter. This baffled most people, particularly when they barely got a minyan on Shabbat mornings. He told them that a synagogue, to truly live up to its mission, must take care of the poor. In the last few months, as conversations here have developed about Beth Sholom creating a Room in the Inn shelter, I’ve been thinking about Marshall’s legacy.
Ruth Newstok, who will become a Bat Mitzvah next month, has put together a committee at Beth Sholom to navigate the many elements of coordinating a shelter, even one that will only meet a few times this winter. There are many incredible tzedakah and chesed projects that our shul takes on, and I’m so proud that we are adding this shelter to list of impactful and meaningful things that happen here. I hope that you’ll consider being a part of these efforts in various ways.
Marshall was my teacher’s teacher, and Ruth is my student, and I marvel at the ways their teachings converge, right here in Memphis.
