Biography
Esther Marcus made Aliya from London in 1984. She studied social and community work at Hebrew University and then served in the IDF as a mental health officer for two and a half years. She married Stevie and moved to kibbutz Alumim in the south of Israel where their four children were born. She worked with children and adults in communities in the Shaar Hanegev regional council for 12 years helping them adapt to social changes, personal tragedies and the reality of kassam rocket attacks. After completing her master’s degree in art therapy in Ben Gurion University, she worked with female victims of sexual abuse in Maslan, rape crisis center in Be’er Sheva. For the last few years, she has been working in a boarding school for female teenagers in Kibbutz Saad, both in individual and group therapy. Esther also runs drama groups and writes and directs school plays. In 2009 she wrote the book ‘Colour Red’, a children’s book telling the story of rocket attacks which helps children ‘understand’ the situation, identify their strengths and express their emotions. During the operation “Protective Edge”, Esther wrote a blog for the Times of Israel, helping non-inhabitants of the south of Israel gain an inside perspective into the way of life on the border with Gaza. Currently, Esther is the manager of S’dot Negev Resilience Center Clinic, working with families in the South in the aftermath of October 7th. She, herself, is a survivor of the 7th of October massacre.