Deborah Markowitz €“ 12-July-2005- To Life! A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women

About this film

At the core of whatever Deborah Markowitz does in her private and public life is the Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam, a Hebrew phrase that means, 'repairing the world.' Deborah, born in Tarrytown, NY in 1961, grew up in White Plains. Both sides of her family emigrated in the early part of the 20th century from the Ukraine and Slovakia. They had absolutely nothing when they arrived, but all the children grew up and became professionals. Music was important in their lives. Her grandmother was an opera singer in Chicago and her mother played folk guitar. She took the family to Jewish folk festivals and filled the house with Jewish music. Her father grew up Orthodox, her mother conservative, but they joined a Reconstructionist synagogue when they were married. Deborah went to religious school until she was bat mitzvahed and then attended Hebrew High School. A graduate of the University of Vermont and Georgetown Law School, she practiced law when she first moved to Vermont, and then became the founding director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Municipal Law Center. "Serving Vermonters is the best job anyone can have," Deborah said. Vermont was a place where she could have more…

Directors & creators

DAVAR: The Vermont Jewish Women's History Project

Subjects

Vermont; tikkun olam; Municipal Law center; Vermont Secretay of State

View on archive.org ↗