Susan Davis: “I rise to speak in praise of Marla Ann Bennett, the young San Diegan who was killed in the July 31 terrorist bombing…”

“I rise to speak in praise of Marla Ann Bennett, the young San Diegan who was killed in the July 31 terrorist bombing attack at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Marla was an extraordinary woman who touched the lives of many people in her all-too-brief lifetime. Her brutal murder left a terrible void in those lives and brought forth an outpouring of grief from the Jewish community where she lived: in Berkeley, where she attended the University of California; in Jerusalem, where she continued her studies and found a spiritual home as an American Jew in the Jewish homeland; and in San Diego, where she grew up and planned to return once her studies were completed. At Marla's memorial service, which was attended by over 2000 people, and in more intimate meetings with her family and her friends, I have shared the community's terrible grief at Marla's death, but also the great joy that she felt in life and shared with others. It is that joy and in the words of Rabbi Martin Lawson, "Marla's legacy of caring, of Jewish learning and teaching, of smiles and optimism, of warmth and hope," that I want to share with my colleagues and the American people.”