Last night we saw the film “Who Are The Marcuses?” at the Jewish film festival here in Washington. I will tell you who they are. They are the remarkable couple who gave more than $500,000,000 to Ben Gurion University of the Negev several years ago, the largest gift ever made to an Israeli institution. I was involved with Ben Gurion University for a period of about 20 years when I was a board member of American Associates, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, and for six of those 20 years, I was the organization’s treasurer. I have been to its campuses in Beersheva and Sde Boker 8 or 9 times, and only once to its campus in Eilat, on the Red Sea. I never met the Marcuses, but I do know their daughter Ellen quite well, who served with me on that board.

The film was made a few years ago and, particularly with COVID and all, and because I left the board a few years ago, we had not had the opportunity to watch it until last night. While I cannot tell you what I would have felt about the film if I didn’t have the background that I do have, I can tell you that I was disappointed in the film when I saw it.

First, the story. Then, my disappointment. Howard and Lottie Marcus were both refugees from Germany, each of whom left the country shortly after Hitler came into power and wound up in New York City. Howard was a dentist, who was able to establish a practice in New York. Lottie was a young woman who was able to gain employment, make friends, and create an active life in her new country. They met. They married. And Howard’s practice began to earn him a good living, and he wanted to set aside some money to save for the future.

Benjamin Graham was a British born Jewish economist who became a mentor to a young man from Omaha, Nebraska named Warren Buffet. Graham was also a friend of young Lottie; they were both members of a New York based ski club. Graham became a dental patient of Howard Marcus. Marcus knew of Graham’s reputation in finance and asked him how he should invest his money. Graham suggested his young protege, Buffet.

The rest is history. The Marcuses began investing money with Buffet shortly after Buffet began helping people invest their money, kept doing so, and never touched the money they invested. It grew and grew.

Meanwhile, Howard kept up his dental practice, although the Marcuses at some point decided to move west, and relocated to San Diego. They had only one daughter, Ellen. They lived very modestly.

At some point, as the Marcuses aged, their estate lawyer said that they had better plan what they wanted to do with their money, and learned that they had never discussed their financial situation with their daughter, by then a mature adult. You can imagine how surprised she was to learn that her parents’ estate would be worth several hundred million dollars. She told them that, while she wanted them to leave her enough so that she would never starve or be homeless, and the same for their one granddaughter, that she did not want to have to deal with hundreds of millions of dollars, and that they should find a place to give it away.

Eventually that led to Ben Gurion University, a growing and progressive university in Israel that, among other things, was at the forefront of the study of water resources and water recycling as a necessary key to the future of humanity. And eventually, the Marcuses made this enormous gift to the university, which had to wait patiently because both of the Marcuses lived long lives, Howard living to 104, and Lottie to 99.

It’s a wonderful story. But what about the film? The main problem with the film, I thought, is that it tried to do too much, which would have been impossible even if Cecil B. DeMille had directed the film. And Cecil B. DeMille did not direct the film.

“Who Are The Marcuses?” tried to do at least four things: (1) tell the story of the Marcus family and their gift, (2) tell the story of water research and accomplishments not only at Ben Gurion University, but throughout all of Israel, (3) tell the story of modern large scale philanthropy and its importance, and (4) tell the story of the University in general. Talk about biting off more than you can chew!

Yet the film provided a teaser for all of this. Stories and photos of the Marcus family, largely narrated by Ellen. Stories about Israeli water management, largely narrated by Seth Siegel, the author of the remarkable book, Let There Be Water, which really does tell the complete story. Stories about large scale philanthropy in general, largely told by Warren Buffet, who spoke warmly of the Marcuses and much more. And stories about BGU, told by three University presidents, Avishai Braverman, Rivka Carmi and Danny Chamovitz. as well as a number of BGU faculty members, and Doug Seserman, the executive director of Americans for Ben Gurion University.

You can see why I can’t tell how someone unfamiliar with these topics would react to the film. From my perspective, knowing a fair amount about each topic, all I could think about is how much better and more completely each story could have been told.

But maybe for someone new to all of this, the movie would have been an eye opener. For that reason, I absolutely think you should see it the next time you see that it is playing near you. I always want people to understand what an important place BGU is, and this film at least gives you a hint of that.

I don’t mean to be too hard. There is nothing in the film that I disagreed with. I just wish it would have been better. Maybe, for me, that feeling would have been inevitable, irrespective of whether the film succeeded for others.