Women of Valor
In this festival mainstay, we honor the lives of six San Diego area Jewish women through words, music, and images. Hear their stories and leave uplifted and inspired. Honoring Sara Brown, Debbie Kornberg, Vered Libstein, Rabbi Devorah Marcus, Bev Pamensky, and Dr. Barbara Parker.
“A woman of valor, who shall find?” asks the famous psalm. These 6 inspiring women have made unique contributions to our community. JFest celebrates their lives and accomplishments.
Directed by Ali Viterbi
Written by Sarah Price Keating, Rebecca Myers, Todd Salovey, and Ali Viterbi
Debbie Kornberg is a spice expert and entrepreneur. She owns SPICE + LEAF and teaches weekly Spice It Up with Deb: A Live Cooking Experience workshops.
Dr. Barbara Parker is a professor emerita in the Department of Medicine at UCSD and a medical oncologist at UC San Diego Health. She was the medical director of oncology services and senior deputy director of Cancer Medicine at Moores Cancer Center.
Rabbi Devorah Marcus has been the senior Rabbi at Temple Emanu-El since 2013.
Bev Pamensky is the Executive Director of the Kindness Initiative, an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in the San Diego Jewish community.
Sara Brown is the San Diego regional director of the American Jewish Committee. She was previously the Executive Director of the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights, and Genocide Education, and managed post-secondary education programming for USC Shoah Foundation. She also conducted research and wrote a book on the Rwandan genocide.
Vered Libstein is a survivor of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. Her husband, Ofir Libstein, was the mayor of San Diego's sister city Sha'ar HaNegev, and he (along with their son, her mother, and her nephew) was murdered on October 7. Vered founded the Darom Adom Festival, one of Israel's largest nature events.
