last word
Becky Markowitz
SASHA ROGELBERG | STAFF WRITER
B ecky Markowitz is the type of
person to send a handwritten
“thank-you” note after even
the smallest courtesy, said Lori Motis,
Atlantic district president of Women of
Reform Judaism.

After more than 20 years of service
in the organization, it’s now Markowitz
who’s receiving the personalized
thanks. On May 13, WRJ honored Markowitz,
a Newtown resident and Shir Ami
congregant, with the Women’s
Empowerment Award. Eleven other
WRJ members also received the award,
including three from the Atlantic
District. The national award, created in
2019, honors “women who strengthen
the voices of others, with a focus on
empowering women and girls, and who
promote progressive Jewish values,”
according to a press release.

Markowitz has served two terms on
WRJ’s board of directors and has been
a member of its executive committee.

She is co-chair of the Chai Society to
encourage board alumnae to remain
involved in WRJ.

Locally, Markowitz was the WRJ
Atlantic District past president and is
the board’s alumnae chair. She was the
Sisterhood president and board mem-
ber of Temple David Congregation in
Monroeville, New Jersey. Markowitz
is also on the board of Women of Shir
Ami, having served as the group’s pres-
ident for two years.

Markowitz is a Realtor at Berkshire
Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach
in Bucks County.

Motis, one of the WRJ members to
nominate Markowitz, said Markowitz’s
time at WRJ is defined by her mentor-
ship. “She just brings a lot of positivity to
every interaction and really makes you
believe in yourself,” Motis said. “She
believes in herself, and she just makes
you believe in yourself.”
28 MAY 19, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
For Markowitz, the power of the
Sisterhood organization comes from a
unique trust and sense of community
within the group that can inspire oth-
ers to make change.

“When you throw a stone in the
water — think in your mind, close your
eyes right now and watch the water rip-
ple and ripple and ripple,” Markowitz
said. “And that’s what empowerment
is.” When Markowitz was a young
woman growing up at Rodeph Sholom
Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the oppor-
tunities for empowerment were not as
plentiful as they are now. Girls in her
community were not usually bat mitz-
vahed; Markowitz doesn’t remember
being particularly religious.

“To wear a yarmulke or tallis to
Rodeph Sholom in those days would
have been unheard of,” she said.

It wasn’t until Markowitz was 15
and invited to a youth group event
that she began to feel a strong sense of
Jewish community. Among a group of
singing young Jews — led by renowned
singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman —
Markowitz felt a sense of belonging.

“When I went to that first youth
group event, the songs and the music
and the prayers and the and the com-
munity — it just felt like you were part
of something,” Markowitz said. “And I
think I was really drawn to that.”
From that point, Markowitz com-
mitted herself to community-building
in synagogues around the country.

In the 1990s, Markowitz lived in
California’s San Fernando Valley and
was a member of a synagogue that
hosted a Christmas dinner for home-
less individuals in the area.

At the event, area producers and
filmmakers involved in the event would
dine side-by-side with the homeless
guests. “You didn’t know who was the pro-
ducer and who was the mashed potato
person and who was the turkey per-
son,” Markowitz said.

When Markowitz chaired the event
one year, she opted against the event’s
usual long, rectangular table and set up
smaller, round tables with nice table-
cloths. She reached out to Ben & Jerry’s
to have the company donate ice cream.

“It was such a great lesson of how we
can all do our part,” she said.

However, Markowitz’s priori-
ties lie in the support of Sisterhood,
which remains at the core of her and
WRJ’s work. While WRJ helps fund
Sisterhood organizations in the Reform
movement, Markowitz believes the
organization’s magic takes place in the
relationships formed there.

“Sisterhood gets a bad rap, and I
think we should work on making it
positive because sisterhood is beau-
tiful; it’s a fantastic thing, and we
all need that; we’re all searching for
that,” Markowitz said. “What we build
together as women is just a very wel-
coming environment,” she said.

As she continues her involvement
in WRJ, Markowitz hopes the prog-
ress within the Reform movement will
afford her 2-year-old granddaughter
more opportunities than what she had.

“We all need to realize that, in
order to leave this world better for our
grandchildren, and our sisters and our
whatever, we can never stop working,”
Markowitz said. JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Becky Markowitz
NAMED WRJ WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AWARD HONOREE



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JEWISH WAR VETERANS POST 305:
2022 MEMORIAL DAY OBSERVANCES
12:45 – Assemble @ McDonalds, Bond Shopping Center,
State R & Lansdowne Ave, Upper Darby, PA19082.

(We are at the JWV memorial at each location; times are approximate):
1:10 – Har Yehudah, 8400 Lansdowne Ave,
Upper Darby 19082.

1:45 – Mt Sharon, 502 E Springfield Rd, Springfield 19064.

2:15 – Mt Jacob, 700 Oak Lane, Glenolden, PA 19036
2:40 – Mt Lebanon, 1200 Bartram Avenue,
Collingdale, PA 19023
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 29