When Marshall was just 21 years old, his mentor, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, suggested that he take the summer to study hebrew at Camp Ramah in the Poconos. It was on the bus ride into camp where he met his future wife, Naomi Friedman, who was only 14 years old at the time. Marshall fell in love with Naomi in that moment and just four years later, on June 19, 1955, they were married.

Marshall was born on March 25, 1930, in Brooklyn, and raised in Norwich, Connecticut. Marshall attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and was ordained as a Rabbi in 1958. During his time at JTS, Marshall worked as a secretary to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Marshall and Naomi Meyer before sailing to Buenos Aires in 1959.

Meyer led an extraordinary life until his passing in December 1993. After becoming ordained and without speaking any Spanish, the Meyers arrived in Buenos Aires by steamship on August 10, 1959. They had only planned to stay for a couple years but instead founded a new synagogue, Comunidad Bet El, a Hebrew day school, and Latin America’s first rabbinical seminary. He also founded a local branch of Camp Ramah which has inspired the “Majane” in Argentina today.

You can read more about Rabbi Meyer’s life in Haaretz or on The Forward.