Honoring Rabbi Marcy Gelb Delbick, z”l
My Coach, My Rabbi, My Friend
My sister Marcy:
In the days since my sister Marcy was struck by and succumbed to a massive stroke, I have heard from so many people who were touched by her. Things I didn’t know or vaguely knew about. In conversations with my family, we remembered so many other things that she did.
To me, Marcy was brilliant. Her artistic and deep mind gave her a unique view of the world and her enormous heart spurred her to use those gifts to help, teach and love others.
I want to tell you about her extraordinary life and invite you to contribute to our new arts center in her memory.
I am one of six kids blessed to still have my parents. For years now, although spread throughout the country, we have gathered weekly via Zoom to study Torah. Each one of us would take turns leading and the discussions were invigorating. It is true that sometimes it took Marcy a while to reach her point, but it was worth it. She would often bring up something that would leave me shaking my head saying, “How did she see that?” It was deep; it was usually about how we treat one another, and it was awesome.
Marcy did hard things. She was incredible in pastoral care and helped many through tough life cycle events. She had patience and boundless love. We grew up in Laramie, WY, and long after moving away she served as high holiday rabbi there. Those relationships led her to help a family whose young mom was dying of cancer. She went to Laramie to officiate at the funeral.
Marcy was an organ donor. On Sunday, they tell me, she gave the gift of life to eight people. I, along with much of my family, was able to participate in the honor walk from the ICU to the operating room saying tehilim (psalms) along the way. I am so proud of her generosity.
She coached my little league team. By patiently teaching them how to play, she built their confidence. In a small town, most teams had five to six players who could play a little and around three who couldn’t hit. She taught the kids to hit and encouraged them to try, in contrast to most other teams where the coaches taught the bottom three to take pitches and work walks.
In the championship game, with our team down a run late in the game, our bottom three guys all got on base and the top of the lineup knocked in the runs. In the final inning, the other team, aptly named Stryker’s Mortuary, tried the take the walk strategy. They all struck out looking. We won.
Marcy was a great athlete – she brought the heat. My glove would pop playing catch with her.
She loved working at Ramah and dedicated many summers to teaching ceramics. She helped so many kids realize their artistic abilities. She had so many friends in camp and in the art room.
She loved to help people. She would spend hours and hours making sure everything got fired in the kiln. A new staff member from this summer just shared that Marcy taught her how to throw clay and make her first pot. Inspired by Marcy’s patient teaching, she has signed up for a semester class back home.
Marcy connected to all the different communities at camp. She taught art, she gave divrei Torah and she built deep friendships among the staff. She was a popular destination for our Israeli staff when they went on their post-camp trips to California; they would stay with Marcy and her husband Paul. One of them told me how Marcy kept in touch this year through all the challenging times to make sure he was okay.
I think Marcy loved to teach omanut (visual arts) at Ramah because it was an experiential way to teach Jewish values and creativity. She was in her element.
As many of you know, we are currently in a capital campaign. One of our significant projects is building a new Mercaz Omanut (arts center). When completed, it will allow us to centralize all our arts in one building and allow our campers to explore the arts. It will be a much larger and more comfortable space year-round, with air conditioning and heat.
I am committed to making this project happen as quickly as possible. To do so, we need to raise $600,000 in new pledges. If we can accomplish this in the coming months, we may be able to open the new arts center in 2025. If we can make this happen, I would love to dedicate the building on Marcy’s first Yahrzeit. If you would like to contribute to this cause, you can make donations here. You may also send a check to our winter address: 1206 Boston Providence Hwy, Suite 201, Norwood, MA 02062.
If you wish to make a multiyear gift (capital gifts can be paid over five years) or discuss the project, please reach out to Rhonda Parker, our Development Director. All gifts are greatly appreciated and are deeply meaningful to me and my family.
I will miss her deeply and camp will never be the same without her.
In loving memory of my sister,
Rabbi Ed Gelb