Fighting antisemitism with Marie Fischer

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A prominent conservative Jewish woman and a winner of the prestigious Diana Waters Republican Woman of the Year Award in 2018, Marie Fischer is determined to educate those both in and outside of her party of the dangers of antisemitism.

Fischer, 53, represents conservative Jews, particularly conservative Jewish women, across the country. She serves as a member of Hadassah, a Zionist organization focused on women; Jexit, which believes that Democrats are not doing enough to combat antisemitism; and Kamochah, an organization of Black Orthodox Jews.

Marie Fischer
(Courtesy of Marie Fischer)

Born in Memphis, Tenn., Fischer was always interested in Judaism and the Jewish community from a young age. She expressed interest in converting to her parents at 13, though she would not formally convert to Judaism until she was 25. Initially, she converted to Reform Judaism, but her hunger for knowledge about the religion and her vested interest in it led her to explore more conservative branches until she eventually joined the Orthodox community.

Black Orthodox Jews may not be a community that many people think about when they think about Judaism, and as a result they face their own unique set of challenges, said Fischer, who lives in Baltimore. Antisemitism affects all Jews, but in the case of Black Orthodox Jews, it can be inextricably linked with racism.

“People often don’t realize I’m Jewish and will often make antisemitic statements,” Fischer said. “And they’re not aiming it at me, because they don’t know I’m Jewish, but they don’t realize that’s still a form of antisemitism. You are Jewish. You really feel for the Jewish people and are proud of the Jewish people. And what they think [about Jewish people] will hurt you, no matter what.”

While her main line of work is in the IT field, which she has worked in for around 20 years, Fischer is better known for her political leanings. She has previously run for a position on the Frederick County school board. In addition to running her own campaign, she also worked on the campaigns of Craig Wolf for Maryland attorney general and Kelly Schultz for governor.

She also previously served as vice president of the Maryland Foundation of Republican Women. Her work included social media management, an outlet that helped them generate interest and draw in new members.

Perhaps most notably, Fischer spoke at the #JEXIT rally in 2019. For members of the organization, Jexit represents Jews leaving the Democratic Party due to the party’s perceived failure to support Jewish causes, such as some Democratic politicians who have taken a pro-Palestinian stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Fischer had met event organizer Alexandra Levine, and while Fischer was not a member at the time, Levine asked her to speak at the event.

“My speech got a lot of press, and Breitbart singled me out and made a clip of it that went viral,” she noted.

“From there, I got involved with Jexit because I do speak out about antisemitism and racism,” she continued. “And a lot of people want to separate the two, but the reality is that it’s still the same. Because a lot of the people who are spewing racism are also spewing antisemitism.”

Fischer plans to wind down her career in partisan politics, but she still aims to educate about antisemitism and the reality of being a Black Orthodox Jew in America.

“Jews come in all shapes, colors and sizes,” she said. “We are such a rainbow of people. I like for people to think out of the box — nobody fits the stereotype.”

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