Carrying Forward Leo Martin’s Dream
Posted on 09/12/2025 @ 06:00 AM
Friends of the March of the Living 2025 Trip
This has been a rough news week with the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the shootings at Evergreen High School, and the bombing of Hamas leaders in Qatar.
Life feels fragile… chaotic… unsafe. Because that’s the big news. But on the smaller, more local level, I’m feeling surprisingly uplifted and grateful.
Two weeks ago, we wrote about The Urgency of Memory: Ensuring Teens Walk with Survivors.
This week we would like to shine a light on The Friends of the March of the Living.
This past year, the Friends helped raise much needed funds in scholarships for student participants, as well as other program expenses.
Without the Friends, the Leo Martin March of the Living in Miami would simply not be able to take place due to the ever- increasing costs of running a trip of this size and complexity.
With the Friends as partners, CAJE can confidently offer our 12th graders a transformative educational experience that strengthens them before college and lasts a lifetime. - Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar, CAJE Executive Director
Educator Mark Baranek leads a group on the Adult March of the Living.
CAJE’s Leo Martin March of the Living is a transformative program that teaches Jewish teens the importance of remembrance — ensuring that the horrors of the Holocaust are never forgotten, while also celebrating the strength and continuity of Jewish identity.
Participants typically travel to Poland over Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Israel over Yom HaZikkaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzma’ut (Israel’s Independence Day), confronting both the painful history and the vibrant resilience of the Jewish people.
Leo Martin’s Vision
Behind this life-changing experience stands one remarkable man: Leo Martin z”l, a Holocaust Survivor from Lodz, Poland.
Leo knew what it meant to witness humanity at its worst — and resilience at its finest.
When he first joined the March of the Living in 2000, he was deeply moved by the sight of young Jews carrying forward the torch of memory. So deeply, in fact, that he returned several times in the years that followed, convinced that the March was vital to the future of Jewish identity.
But Leo did more than participate. With extraordinary vision and generosity, he founded the Friends of the March of the Living, Inc., creating a foundation dedicated to ensuring that Miami’s teens would always have the chance to take part.
Leading with both heart and action, Leo Martin contributed nearly $1 million himself — setting a powerful example for all of us.
Mel Mann, Executive Director of the Friends of the March of the Living with Rabbi Ed Farber.
Building a Foundation for the Future
Since then, the Friends have carried Leo’s dream forward, raising more than $2 million to sustain the program.
Their efforts—through grants, bequests, individual gifts, and beloved community events like the annual Golf Tournament — make it possible for CAJE’s Leo Martin March of the Living to continue touching lives year after year.
And the impact goes beyond teens. The Friends also lead an adult March of the Living, allowing adult members of our community to walk this path of remembrance and resilience themselves.
Why Your Support Matters... Each year, fewer Holocaust Survivors remain to tell their stories in person. It is our responsibility to ensure that their voices echo through the generations, carried forward by those who join the March.
Thanks to the dedication of leaders like Mel Mann, President Howard Schneider, and so many generous supporters, the Friends are keeping Leo Martin’s dream alive.
But they cannot do it alone.
By supporting the Friends of the March of the Living, you are not just funding a trip — you are investing in the future of Jewish memory, identity, and resilience.
You are ensuring that our teens, and our community as a whole, never forget the past and always choose hope for the future.
Together, we can honor Leo’s vision and safeguard this sacred legacy for generations to come.
SAVE THE DATE! BARBARA C. ALTMAN CLASSIC 21st ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
SUNDAY – DEC. 7 12:30PM TEE OFF
Miami Beach Golf Club 2301 Alton Road - Miami Beach, Florida
Registration Deadline: Dec. 1, 2025
Learn more and register at friendsmotl.org/events/golf-tournament-2025
