Aside from Chernow, the Broadway

ON THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD

The Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts mourns the senseless murder of George Floyd. This is the latest in a long line of unarmed black men and women who have died at the hands of those who were sworn to protect them. These murders outrage us, as does a system which too often allows the perpetrators to go unpunished, even when the crimes were caught on video for the world to see. As the wave of protests erupts across the world, we are disturbed, too, by the dozens of documented incidents of police brutality. There is video evidence of countless “less-lethal” weapons being used against non-violent, unarmed protesters and against the press, including tear gas, clubs, and rubber bullets. We have recently marked the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, where the 1989 Democracy Movement protestors encountered tanks and guns, ending in the deaths of hundreds, perhaps thousands of Chinese citizens. We are now living through a dark historical parallel where some of our own government leaders are threatening to use our military to quell this American uprising. What are we to do? As a Jewish community, we share a collective memory of the deepest and most violent consequences of inequality and oppression. We understand the importance--the necessity--of a strong response; a response to the systematic injustice and oppression of the black community and a response to the authoritarian rhetoric from the top levels of government. This is a time when we all must stand together, to show our support for the larger community, to support responsible law enforcement, and to add our voices to the chorus demanding reforms. It is our duty to oppose all forms of prejudice and oppression. It is our responsibility to repair the world. We can do that with our time, with our enthusiasm, our words and activism. This is a critical moment for our nation. Our history as the Jewish people and our shared values demand that we reach out to those who are working towards a more just, tolerant, and safe America for us all, and to make it known to the world that we all stand together.

Chesterfield woman leads her sled dogs on a historic expedition through Alaska

BY STACEY DRESNER

Marla Brodsky, owner of Hilltown Sled Dogs in Chesterfield, runs a camp at her kennel each summer, where kids choose one of her 20 dogs and learn the basics of training an Alaskan Malamute.

Due to Covid-19, her camp this summer will be “shorter and smaller – four hours long with eight campers, ages 10 and up, wearing face masks and gloves the whole time except when eating lunch,” Marla said. “Social distancing will be maintained in dog yards, at fire pits and in puppy playpens. So, hopefully we will help some families out and the sled dog team will get to have some fun with the kids too.”

Modifying the camp, a welcome stream of revenue for the kennel, may be a bit of a disappointment, but it takes more than a pandemic to rattle Brodsky.

Free-spirited and determined, she has pursued several dreams over her 60 years and never gives up.

“I’ve lived my life by making my dreams a reality,” she said.

In March she fulfilled one of her fondest dreams -- running her team of sled dogs through Alaska in the 2020 Serum Trail Run Expedition, a 674-mile trek from Nenana to Nome.

“I was like, ‘I made it!’ I always wanted to do it and I did,” she exalted.

More than fulfilling a dream, Marla said this accomplishment also means a lot to her as the mother of 15-year-old daughter, Ruby.

“I feel like I’ve been a role model for my daughter [showing her that] if you really want to do something, you can. You just have to work hard and you have to put your mind to it. ”

She has been doing that since childhood.

Born and raised in Cheltenham Township, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia, Brodsky was active in her Conservative synagogue, Germantown Jewish Center, growing up. At a time when most Conservative synagogues were not yet that egalitarian, Germantown Jewish Center was, and Marla received an excellent Jewish education. After flawlessly performing and leading her entire bat mitzvah service, the

temple’s Cantor Ben Maissner told her mother that she was gifted and should begin voice training.

“My mom sought out a local teacher from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and, at 13, I started studying classically. You hear stories of blues singers being nurtured by the church, because they started with gospel and then crossed over to the blues or jazz; I was nurtured by my synagogue.”

She remained involved at temple, chanting on the High Holidays and as the only youth in the temple’s adult choir.

“The cantor at my synagogue gave me a lot of opportunity to sing,” she recalled. “That was pretty instrumental in my upbringing. My synagogue was the foundation of my upbringing, certainly musically.”

MARLA BRODSKY, AKA MARLA BB

Brodsky went to Emerson College in Boston and got her BFA in Drama, but also studied with a voice teacher at the Berklee College of Music.

“I studied music from 13 to 25 and then I decided it was time to really develop my own sound and I stopped,” she said.

With the dream of being a performer, she moved to New York in the early 90s, began using the name Marla BB – which she still goes by most of the time -- and for 25 years toured all over the country with her band, Marla BB and her Sassy Mama Blues Band.

In 2000 she moved to Western Mass. “for a relationship.”

“When I moved up here, the blues scene was not so hot,” she said.

In 2005 her partner gave birth to their daughter.

Wanting to cut down on touring, Brodsky – who had taken up Tae Kwon Do years earlier to stay in shape on the road -- opened her own Tae Kwon Do studio in town.

But it was while on a month-long tour of Alaska in 2007 that she completely fell in love with sled dogs and mushing.

On her days off from performing she visited as many “dog yards” as she could and became friends with champion mushers Aliy Zirkle and Allen Moore. The next year she apprenticed for them and handled their Iditarod teams. At the end of the season, they gave her one of their sled dogs, Betty, and that was the beginning of Brodsky’s kennel of sled dogs, which she has bred and raised herself.

“Once I got into mushing, I closed the [martial arts] studio, I ended up separating from my partner and moving across the road… So now I live on 17-plus acres with my Hilltown sled dogs and my daughter 50 percent of the time.

“Basically, now my world is all about mushing because when you have 20 some sled dogs, you have to have a passion and your passion becomes your life, so my life has been dogs and daughter,” Brodsky said.

She says it has also been important for her to give her daughter a strong Jewish upbringing.

“I wanted her to have the foundation I had and Northampton offers so much Jewishly,” Brodsky explained. “She went