“Justice, justice shall you pursue,” Jewish tradition tells us. Judy Meisel, a Holocaust survivor who lived by example, was a true seeker of justice. As an important participant of the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara’s Portraits of Survival Program, she selflessly devoted countless hours speaking to groups of students and community members about the lessons of the Holocaust, reminding us of the consequences of unchecked hate in society — and that we must all use our voices to speak up for others. Many summers, we traveled together to local Jewish summer camps and spoke to hundreds of children. Judy freely shared the horrors she experienced in the Holocaust when 146 members of her Lithuanian family did not survive.
But she also spoke of the incredible kindness she found from strangers, especially those in Denmark, who helped her heal after such a dark and terrible time of loss. And when she came to America during the civil rights movement and witnessed the racial inequality in this country firsthand, she felt the call to work for justice, helping to organize the March on Washington in 1963 and working in her own neighborhood near Philadelphia. Judy often spoke of the impact on her life of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King during this time.
My family enjoyed Sabbath dinners at Judy’s table. When my own daughters had their Bat Mitzvah celebrations at the Isla Vista Minyan, where Judy also worshipped, she was sure to bake their favorite cookies for their special day.