Marla Bennett     List of honorees         Louis Rose Society         Jewishsightseeing home

Writings about Marla Bennett

2002—
Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies: Essay that Marla Bennett wrote before her death on living in Israel: http://www.pardes.org.il/alumni/zachor/their-words


2002
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs--Announcement of her death in terrorist bombing at Hebrew University: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-%20Obstacle%20to%20Peace/Memorial/2002/2/Marla%20Bennett

August 9, 2002—Cynthia Citron,  "A Fellow Student Remembers Marla," San Diego Jewish Heritage, Aug. 9, 2002: On Thursday, August 1st, I was at Camp Ramah in Ojai, doing a story for Heritage on the Jewish camping experience.  I was being shepherded around the beautiful, pristine campgrounds by Zach Lasker, the camp¹s assistant director, when his cell phone rang.After a brief, intense discussion he hung up and explained the call.  "Perhaps you heard about the explosion at Hebrew University yesterday?" he asked. I nodded and he went on, "Well, a number of us here were close to Marla Bennett, and we¹re making plans to go down to San Diego for her funeral." Immediately, the interview switched gears.  I asked him how he knew Marla."We met at Hebrew University in 1998," he replied.  "We were both taking our junior year abroad.  She had come to Israel from UC Berkeley and I had come from UC San Diego.  We spent two months together at an ulpan at Haifa University studying Hebrew, and then went on to Hebrew University.  We lived in the same dorms in both places."She was a political science major with plans to go on to law school, he said, but she was also interested in Jewish education.  Eventually, the Jewish education won out, and that, he said, is what led her back to Israel again."She was someone who threw herself passionately into everything she did," he said.  He remembered that they once rented the film "Evita" in Hebrew so that they could read the subtitles and perfect their language skills.  "Eventually, we could sing most of the songs from the movie in Hebrew," he said. He also remembered the day that they and another friend played hooky from their classes and went to Masada. "We climbed to the top," he said.  "It was a memorable experience for all of us. "Marla always took advantage of every opportunity," he added.  "She was a Hillel Scholar at Hebrew University, in the leadership course, and she went with a group of students to the Ukraine to lead Passover Seders for people there who didn't have much contact with Jewish tradition." He considers her death "ironic," since she had such a caring nature." She was the one who took care of everybody else," he said.  "If it was chilly and you were going out without a sweater, she was the one who would remind you to take one.  If you were stepping into a crosswalk when the light was yellow, she would grab your arm and pull you back.  She always made sure people had locks for their suitcases and that everyone took the proper precautions." His voice broke as he concluded, "She touched everyone she met. There are hundreds of people who will miss her very much."

August 9, 2002—Donald H. Harrison.,"Martyr for Peace: More than 1,500 gather in San Diego to remember murdered Hebrew University student Marla Bennett," Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles,  http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=9026

-2003-

2003—
Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies: Report on First Yahrzeit Ceremony for Marla Bennett: http://www.pardes.org.il/alumni/zachor/yahrzeit2003

2003-01-03 Donald H. Harrison, "San Diego family learns of kin's death in West Bank terror," San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, page 13.

July 21, 2003—
Jeff McDonald,  "Parents in anguish turn to Yom Kippur and the High Holy Days to try to find meaning in the incomprehensible" San Diego Union-Tribune, reprinted by Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in connection with a July 21, 2003, memorial service. http://www.johnfry.com/pages/Bennetts.html


-2004-

December 1, 2004—Donald H. Harrison., "Marla Bennett's mother expresses satisfaction over killer's 67 life sentences," jewishsightseeing.com,  http://www.jewishsightseeing.com/dhh_weblog/2004-blog/2004-11/2004-12-01--bennett-bombmaker.htm


-2005-

July 15, 2005—
Marla Bennett is memorialized by her parents, Michael & Linda Bennett, on the website of the Louis Rose Society for the Preservation of Jewish History.

September 2005
—David Greenwald, "Marla's Neshumah," San Diego Jewish Journal: http://www.sdjewishjournal.com/stories/sept05_1.html

September 25, 2005—1) Invitation wording:  ARMDI—American Friends of Magen David Adom—Marla Bennett Memorial Friends Society cordially invites you to brunch and its inaugural presentation of the Marla Bennett Humanitarian Award to Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs, Sunday morning, September 25, 10 a.m., UCSD Faculty Club, La Jolla.  On the back of the invitation it said: "The Marla Bennett Humanitarian Award of American Friends of Magen David Adom was created in memory of Marla Bennett, to keep alive the hope and promise she instilled in the many people she met, inspiring them to work harder, to help others and to always practice peace and understanding. This award is to be presented, on an annual basis, to a community leader(s) who actively seeks to make the world a better place through action, ideals and p