BGU&U | SPRING 2022

Their desire to help build the State of Israel explains the Marcuses’ decision to leave their estate to an Israeli university. How that university became BGU – or, to be more precise, who was responsible for bringing BGU into the Marcuses’ life – makes for some of the most touching moments in the film. Philip Gomperts, the South African-born fundraiser for the American Associates of Ben-Gurion University (today A4BGU), could never have imagined, when a donor and neighbor of the Marcuses made the introduction, that he would end up stewarding the gift that would remake BGU. And indeed, he didn’t. As he says in the film, he simply became the Marcuses’ friend, coming to admire them as much as he delighted in their company. As Philip shared his belief in the transformative potential of BGU for Israel and the entire region, the Marcuses began to make a series of small gifts to the University. “They both realized the importance of building and developing Israel, and felt, as I do, that the future of Israel lies in developing the Negev,” Gomperts said. When Ellen encouraged her parents, then in their late nineties, to bequeath their fortune to a cause, it was only natural that it be the one that Philip had championed all those years. Indeed, as Ellen explains, Philip had become for Howard the son he never had,

Lottie and Howard Marcus with Philip Gomperts (center). Photo: Dani Machlis

They always seemed to understand what other, supposedly more qualified people didn’t.

and Howard a second father to Philip, whose own father died when he was in his 20s. When Howard passed away at age 104 in 2014, Philip said Kaddish for the full year of mourning. When the couple announced their intent to BGU a decade before their death, the amount of the gift was $200 million; by the time of the bequeathal, however, the amount had more than doubled. Prof. Rivka Carmi, who served as president of BGU during the Marcuses’ final years, notes in the film that once they had committed their money to the University, they no longer thought of it as theirs. If such selflessness seems only possible in the movies, the film provides plenty of evidence that everyone who truly knew the Marcuses was nonplussed. “It comes as no surprise that they elected to use their financial success to enhance the lives of thousands of Israeli young people,” Buffett says. Now, Mishory and producer Bradford L. Schlei hope that

“The Marcus story is an astounding combination of both the American dream and the Zionist vision,” says Ben Gurion University President Prof. Daniel Chamovitz. “This generous family has enabled David Ben-Gurion’s vision for the future of Israel, which he declared will ‘emerge from the Negev.’”

Who Are the Marcuses? will succeed in obtaining what Howard and Lottie never sought in their lifetimes, namely an awareness of their exceptional vision and character.

Ellen Marcus. Photo: Dani Machlis

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