A “tiny but mighty artist-at-large,” an activist from Toronto – that’s Marla Buck.
A passionate Zionist and philanthropist, she believes in the power of using one’s talents to help others. Doing something of value for the greater good is what makes her feel “alive and worthwhile,” she says.
Buck believes that “behind an expression of any art form, there needs to be an emotive, even transformative, message.” Her aims are “to awaken passion, give voice to the unspoken, and bring color to an otherwise black-and-white world.”
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, 2023, she has donated “100%” of her works to raise funds and awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recovery and hostage family support.
Buck has been to Israel many times and plans to make aliyah soon. “Israel is my place. There’s meaning [there], and I can do things that have an effect in the world.”
Her most recent work – a piece commissioned by a Canadian supporter of United Hatzalah – is Ner Tamid (Eternal Flame), which fuses stained glass with an Iron Dome missile head, a metaphor for creating light out of darkness. An artistic collaboration with Israeli-South African stained glass artist Barak Uranovsky, this piece of art will be displayed at the new United Hatzalah Headquarters being built in Sderot.
Donors from around the world are being invited to participate in commissioning similar eternal candles, bringing new light and hope to the communities in the South that are being rebuilt. The project aims to raise over $500,000 in support of United Hatzalah.
Buck also says that 1,700 synagogues around the world have been selected to receive new Torah scrolls, each dedicated to the memory of one of the many of those fallen, wounded, or kidnapped since Oct. 7. She believes that with donor participation, the Ner Tamid project can have the same impact as the Torah scroll initiative and can help reignite the spirit of each community while supporting the brave and tireless efforts of United Hatzalah.
Buck’s artwork represents the ability to break and to heal, especially during challenging times. In her words, “All the shows that I do are about being broken and whole.”
In April last year, her sold-out show at the Petroff Gallery in Toronto raised impressive awareness and funds for two pre- and post-PTSD programs in Israel: Brothers for Life, and Shield of Resilience, run by Thank Israeli Soldiers.
The artist herself has personal connections to the Oct. 7 massacre. Her cousin was a first responder who was badly wounded at Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas attacked. He was airlifted to hospital and made a miraculous recovery.
Ela, a 16-year-old girl from Kibbutz Be’eri, went to speak at Buck’s synagogue in Toronto about her experience on Oct. 7 and the horrors she witnessed. Like so many, Ela’s story is painful and tragic, recounts Buck as she describes the impact it had on her.
“We forget... I think even Israelis forget. Now we know the stories, so we know what happened, but when people just got there, they didn’t know what was going on. We have perspective now. So it was really freaky.”
BUCK’S MOST recent project, “Chanukah 2024 – Give Hostage Families The Gift of Hope and Light,” a one-night “Jewish-artist-with-passion-shuk,” as she calls it, took place in Toronto on November 21, 2024, and far exceeded her fundraising expectations.
Earlier this month, I was honored to travel with Buck to Kibbutz Hatzerim (a temporary home for residents from Be’eri) to meet Ela’s mother, Sharona, and personally deliver the funds to Ela’s and other affected families in Be’eri, as well as to several families of hostages.
Buck also gifted Ela a necklace from her current collection, created in collaboration with jeweler Shirley Zafir, along with a promise that they would stay connected. Each necklace bears the name of one of the hostages.
Bring them home
“All the work that I’m doing for this is to ‘bring them home,’ and all the money goes to the hostages’ families,” she emphasizes.
Buck has met many of the hostages’ mothers on her visits to Israel and emphasizes the importance of remembering each name.
“When I came back from Israel, two weeks after the war started, I gave each person I met one picture of one hostage because I found that when I would pray for the return of ‘the hostages,’ it became a catchword, a concept, not a son, a daughter, a parent, a friend.
“Of the two hostages I prayed for (who look like my two kids), one was returned home, baruch Hashem, but we still wait and pray for Omer Shem Tov, who just ‘celebrated’ [she turns the word into a question] his second birthday in captivity. Omer’s picture lives on my table, ‘upon my doorpost and upon my gates.’”
“Bring them home now so we will dance again, so we can begin again...,” Buck prays.
One hundred percent of the profits will be donated in support of hostage families in their efforts to help secure a safe return of their loved ones and all hostages. Contact Marla Buck at marla.buck@me.com for information on how to participate in these various initiatives.
This article is dedicated to Omer Shem Tov ben Sheli and each hostage who we pray to be released.