My heart is crying. One of the best people I’ve known was prematurely taken from us. My beloved friend Tally Kritzman-Amir, an international human rights, immigration, and refugee law scholar of global renown, was beaten at 43 by a ferocious, aggressive cancer, leaving behind her husband, our dear friend Yoni, and their two young daughters, the wonderful Orr and Shir. She also leaves behind a loving extended family and thousands of friends throughout the world, many of whom benefitted from her selfless, pragmatic contributions.
Tally’s cynical, sometimes dark sense of humor belied a heart of pure gold and an uncanny capacity to find the most practical and effective way to do good in any situation. She devoted precious time to legal and economic interventions on behalf of the most disempowered, desperate people on the planet. A few weeks before her untimely death she befriended Gloria, a refugee from Africa seeking treatment for aggressive cancer in Israel, and successfully fundraised for her treatment. It is so typical of Tally to turn the world upside down even in her last breaths to improve someone else’s lot, to see her own horrific affliction as a gateway toward empathy and connection with others. All this with no fanfare, no social media bullshit, no performance or self aggrandizement whatsoever. Just a pure soul and a perfectly calibrated moral compass.
My family and I had the great joy to be close friends with Tally and her family at Cambridge, where we considered them our family. At every corner of our Harvard journey, she was there, building community for us, gathering items, facilitating annoying errands, looking for housing, and walking me through campus bureaucracy. She was at the heart of a vibrant community, drawing connections between people, her kind heart and razor sharp mind working in concert to connect A’s bounty to B’s needs, always selflessly, humbly, without asking for praise or recognition.
On the very day that she was laid to rest, an Israeli judge approved a visa for a couple of Ukrainian refugees, citing Tally’s work and paying tribute to her goodness and solid principles. When people pass away, I often say, “a great light has dimmed.” So great was the light that shone purely from Tally’s soul that it continues to illuminate the world after her departure. I will miss my beloved friend very, very much and send my deep condolences to Yoni, Orr, Shir, the family and friends, and the entire world, who has lost a fierce warrior of love and belonging.
3 Comments
Very accurate depiction of Tally.
I was one of Professor Tally Amir’s students at Harvard in the Spring of 2021. Her class has had one of the greatest influences on me. This news comes as a surprise to me today and I am so sadden by it. I respected and admired her deeply. She taught me lessons that will last lifetimes, lessons that I continue to pass on to others when the moment arises. Her class, teaching process, lens, and evident dedication to justice has forever changed me. I wish I could gather better words at this moment to express our shared experiences. I hope her daughters will always know how fierce, moral, ethical, caring, and incredible she was
I am devastated, utterly gutted, to have just learned of the death of Professor Tally. I was, this morning, looking for her contact details, that I might write her a quick email about something. She had been my professor at Harvard and I wanted to reconnect to her about linking her back to the director of a film that she had us watch in class. I cannot express how painful this news has been. It is not an exaggeration to say that I adored her. I admired so much her brilliant legal mind, her disciplined scholarship, and her deeply principled character. She was so warm, kind, compassionate, and had a very wonderful sense of humour. My deepest sympathies to Yoni, Tally’s daughters, her parents, and her sister. Sincerely, Sonya Lee Kelly, MD
01/13/2023