Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization Of America
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Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer
women's organization This is a list of women's organization by civics International * All India Democratic Women's Association – founded in 1981 to achieve women's emancipation in India Yes Helping Hand– Founded in 2009 for empowerment and employment of Women, D ...
. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with nearly 300,000 members in the United States."Building towers in the sky"
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Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
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Hadassah fundraises for community programs and health initiatives in Israel, including the Hadassah Medical Organization, two leading research hospitals in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. In the US, the organization advocates on behalf of women's rights, religious autonomy and US–Israel diplomacy. In Israel, Hadassah supports health education and research, women's initiatives, schools and programs for underprivileged youth.


History


Origins

At a meeting at Temple Emanu-El in New York City on February 24, 1912, Henrietta Szold together with other Zionist women, proposed to the Daughters of Zion study circle that they expand their purpose and embrace proactive work to help meet the health needs of Palestine's people. The goal was to promote the Zionist ideal through education, public health initiatives, and the training of nurses in what was then the Palestine region of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Because the meeting was held around the time of
Purim Purim (; , ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews, Jewish people from Genocide, annihilation at the hands of an official of the Achaemenid Empire named Haman, as it is recounted in the Book of Esther (u ...
, the women called themselves "The Hadassah chapter of the Daughters of Zion," adopting the Hebrew name of Queen
Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...
. Henrietta Szold became the first president. Within a year, Hadassah had five growing chapters in New York, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago and Boston. Its charter articulates twin goals: to begin public-health initiatives and nurses training in Palestine, and to foster Zionist ideals through education in America.


The first years: Establishing healthcare in Palestine

In 1913, Hadassah sent two nurses to Palestine, Rose Kaplan and
Rae Landy Rae Landy (June 27, 1885, Lithuania – March 5, 1952, Cleveland, OH) was a nursing pioneer. She was one of the first two American nurses (along with Rose Kaplan) sent to Palestine by Hadassah in 1913. Early life Landy (born Rachel) was the d ...
. They set up a small public health station in Jerusalem to provide maternity care and treat
trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium '' Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea ...
, a dreaded eye disease rampant in the Middle East. The core of future Hadassah education programs emerged when
Jessie Sampter Jessie Sampter (March 22, 1883 – 1938) was a Jewish educator, poet, and Zionist pioneer. She was born in New York City and immigrated to Palestine in 1919. Biography Jessie Ethel Sampter was born in New York City to Rudolph Sampter, a New ...
founded The Hadassah School of Zionism in New York in 1915. The school required chapter leaders to take courses, instituted a correspondence course and inspires other Hadassah chapters to create their own Schools of Zionism. Sampter published "A Course in Zionism," a collection of facts, essays, and reading lists financed by prominent American Zionist, Judge
Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis ( ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to ...
. By 1916, Hadassah established the Palestine Purchasing and Supplies Department (later the Hadassah Supplies Bureau) to buy and ship items unavailable in the yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine. Although Hadassah's first two nurses were compelled to return to America in 1915, the physicians with whom they had co-operated– Dr. Avraham Ticho and Dr. Helena Kagan – as well as the midwives and probationers were able to carry on their work. Hadassah established the
American Zionist Medical Unit American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
(AZMU) in 1918, which was composed of 45 doctors, nurses, dentists and sanitary engineers. The sole female physician in the group was
Sophie Rabinoff Sophie Rabinoff (1899–1957) was a Jewish pediatrician, public health educator, and researcher. She was known for her contributions to the field of preventative medicine. Sophie served as a health official in various hospitals and centers in ...
. The unit was set up to combat the intolerable health conditions of postwar Palestine and to create permanent health and welfare programs. From the beginning, it established a principle that it would serve all with equal care, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity or nationality. The AZMU helped to establish six hospitals in Palestine which were then turned over to municipal authorities. Led by Alice Seligsberg, the unit sailed for Palestine in June, bringing desperately needed drugs, medical instruments and supplies, linen and clothing. That year, Hadassah also founded a nursing school to train local personnel and create a cadre of nurses. Over the next few years, the unit, based in the old Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem, initiated American-style health and welfare programs with intensive campaigns to wipe out malaria, cholera, trachoma and scalp diseases in many Jewish communities in the yishuv. The unit organized a sanitation program and founded Hadassah hospitals in
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
,
Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
, and
Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...
, as well as opened the Nurses Training School at the Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem. The first 22 young women graduated from Hadassah's Nurses' Training School in 1921. In 1924, the unit's name is changed to Hadassah Medical Organization."History of Hadassah"
In 1919, Hadassah organized the first School Hygiene Department in Palestine to give routine health examinations to Jerusalem school children. During the Arab riots of 1920, Hadassah nurses cared for the wounded on both sides. Henrietta Szold also moved to Jerusalem that year to develop community health and preventive care programs. Back in New York in 1920, Alice Seligsberg formed Junior Hadassah, which provided innovative programs for young women who wanted to participate in Hadassah's Zionist mission. In the same year, Henrietta Szold moved to Palestine to lead the medical work started by the unit. She remained based in Jerusalem until her death in 1945. In 1921, Hadassah nurse Bertha Landsman created Palestine's first permanent infant welfare station, Tipat Halav (Drop of Milk), in Jerusalem. The overwhelming success inspired Hadassah to expand the program, delivering fresh milk to needy families by "donkey express." Hadassah also opened a hospital in Tel Aviv, the city's first hospital. Under Hadassah's philosophy of "devolution," it initiated and developed a number of facilities and projects and then transferred them to the appropriate municipalities. Hadassah transferred administration of this hospital to the Tel Aviv municipality in 1931. 1923: Hadassah instituted a school lunch program to teach nutrition and serve healthy meals to children and teenagers in Palestine. Pennies are collected by American Hebrew school students to fund this project, which is devolved to the Israeli government in 1950, with Hadassah's support ending in 1954. 1924: Nathan Straus contributed $10,000 with which Hadassah develops its Infant Welfare Stations into a complete network, extending from Jerusalem to Tiberias. Pamphlets were distributed to all Hadassah chapters for five cents each. 1925: Junior Hadassah assumed sole support of the Meir Shfeyah Children's Village, a youth village housing World War I orphans and socially disadvantaged children (devolved to the Israel Ministry of Agriculture in 1953, with Hadassah continuing limited financial support). 1926: Hadassah forms a partnership with the Jewish National Fund (JNF), also known as Keren Keyemeth LeYisrael (KKL), an organization established in 1901 by the Fifth
World Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( ''HaKongres ...
to purchase and transform land in Palestine for Jewish farming, housing, roads, and recreation. JNF became, and has remained, a major Hadassah project in Israel. Hadassah opens Palestine's first tuberculosis ward in its Safed hospital, which becomes the region's tuberculosis center in 1935 (devolved to the Israeli government in 1957). 1927: The cornerstone is laid at a solemn ceremony for the Nathan and Lina Straus Health Center in Jerusalem, conceived as a model for future health centers in Palestine, with funding from Nathan Straus. According to Dr. E. M. Bluestone, then Director of the Hadassah Medical Organization, this center would serve as the headquarters of the Health Welfare Department of the Hadassah Medical Organization, with space devoted to new health activities. Through the decades many preventive health programs were housed in this building - a dental clinic, children's exercise programs, and Nathan Straus' milk pasteurization plant among others. 1928: Hadassah's urban recreational activities program begins with the supervision of the Guggenheimer Playgrounds, with funds from the estate of Bertha V. Guggenheimer. By 1950, when the playgrounds were devolved to the Israel Government's Department of Education, the program had grown to fifty playgrounds throughout the country where urban children had a safe, sanitary place to play. 1929: Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) opens the Nathan and Lina Straus Health Center to serve Jerusalem's growing population, made possible by a large gift from the Straus family. (Operates today as an outpatient facility in downtown Jerusalem)


Youth Aliyah

1933:
Recha Freier Recha Freier (Hebrew: רחה פריאר) born Recha Schweitzer, (October 29, 1892 in Norden, East Frisia – April 2, 1984 in Jerusalem) founded the Youth Aliyah organization in 1933. The organization saved the lives of 7,000 Jewish childre ...
begins Youth Aliyah (Jugendaliyah, Aliyat Hano'ar) in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, working with German youth leaders to resettle Jewish children in Palestine. Henrietta Szold is appointed the first Director of Youth Aliyah by the governing council of the Yishuv, the Va'ad Le'umi. 1934: Youth Aliyah's first 43 wards arrive in
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
. In what becomes a lifelong practice, Henrietta Szold greets them at the dock and accompanies them to Kibbutz Ein Harod. The cornerstone is laid on
Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or "Mount Syenite") is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Jerusalem. Between the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...
for the Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital (RHUH) and new quarters for Hadassah's Nurses' Training School. 1935: Spearheaded by National President Rose Jacobs, Convention delegates accept Youth Aliyah as an official Hadassah project and establish Hadassah as its sole American sponsor. Palestine's first social-service programs begin when Hadassah opens the Nettie Lasker Social Service Department in Jerusalem. 1936: In honor of Henrietta Szold's 75th birthday, the name of the nursing school is officially changed during graduation ceremonies to the Henrietta Szold Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing. October 21 is the Groundbreaking ceremony for the Hadassah-Hebrew University Hospital and Medical School on Mt. Scopus, attended by Henrietta Szold,
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
, hospital architect
Erich Mendelsohn Erich Mendelsohn (); 21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German-British architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinem ...
and others Young Judaea, the oldest Zionist youth movement in the U.S. (founded 1909), joins the Hadassah family when Hadassah agrees to provide partial funding for the movement. The British Royal Commission, known as the Peel Commission, praised the work of Hadassah in its 1937 report:
The Hadassah Medical Organization has developed a widespread system of clinics in Jewish centres and hospitals in the principal towns...Though naturally the Jewish population benefited most, the Hadassah medical services were available to all the communities in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
and many of the poorer classes amongst the Arabs received much assistance from the work of the organization. This disinterested philanthropy of Hadassah deserves recognition: it was a real step towards the promotion of good feeling between the two races; but unhappily the effect of its work was impaired by other influences.
1939: The Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital on Mount Scopus, the first teaching hospital and medical center in Palestine, opens on May 9. New Scopus quarters for the celebrated Henrietta Szold-Hadassah School of Nursing are also dedicated. When
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
begins in Europe on September 1, Hadassah begins war emergency shipments of medical supplies, equipment, food, drugs and clothing to Palestine. Hadassah began the Palestine Supplies Bureau in the 1920s.


Advocacy in the U.S.

1940: Hadassah and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) form the American Zionist Youth Commission, establishing Hadassah as Young Judaea's co-sponsor. Hadassah forms an American Affairs Committee, the core of today's American Affairs programs, reflecting Hadassah's concern with the ideals of democracy, freedom and justice in the U.S. and in the yishuv. War relief and defense of democracy are two immediate committee projects. Former Hadassah national president Rose Jacobs starts the Committee for the Study of Arab-Jewish Relations to promote "
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
's unfinished agenda", co-existence between Palestine's two major populations.


1941–1970: Building healthcare in Israel

1941: Hadassah sends an American neurosurgeon, Dr. Henry Wigderson, to Palestine to create the Hadassah Medical Organization's first Department of Neurosurgery. At age 81, Henrietta Szold establishes the Child and Youth Welfare Organization to coordinate the activities of public and voluntary child and youth welfare services. Hadassah, the Va'ad Leumi and the Jewish Agency fund the project. In 1945, after her death, the organization is renamed the Henrietta Szold Foundation for Child and Youth Welfare. In 1948 it becomes autonomous, with Hadassah participating on the board of directors. In 1960, on the centennial of Szold's birth, the Israeli government, together with Hadassah and the Jewish Agency, undertake to contribute to the budget of the foundation, now renamed Machon (or Mosad) Szold, the Szold Institute.


Hadassah women in WWII

1942: After the U.S. enters World War II, Hadassah immediately mobilizes to support the American war effort. Members establish blood banks, sell war bonds, volunteer in their local communities, while National Hadassah continues to ship food, drugs and medical supplies to Palestine. At the behest of Henrietta Szold, Hadassah begins its vocational education initiatives, later called the Hadassah Vocational Education Services (HVES), by establishing the Alice L. Seligsberg Trade School for Girls, the first school of its kind in Palestine; 35 girls enroll. 1943: Due in part to Hadassah's relentless efforts, the Teheran Children, a group of more than 800 young Polish Jewish refugees, arrive in Haifa, after four years of wandering from Poland through the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to a squalid refugee camp outside
Teheran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District. With a population of around 9.8 million in the city as of 2025, ...
. Youth Aliyah accepts these young Holocaust survivors and helps them adjust to their new lives. 1944: Hadassah opens the Apprenticeship Department at the Brandeis Vocational Center, named in honor of Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. The Fine Mechanics Workshop is joined two years later by the Apprenticeship School of Printing. Opening of the Hadassah Vocational Guidance Bureau in Jerusalem (later, the Hadassah Vocational Guidance Institute, renamed Hadassah Career Counseling Institute CCIin 1989). Youth Aliyah observes its tenth year of youth rescue. 1945: Henrietta Szold, age 84, dies of pneumonia on February 13 (30 Shevat 5705) at the Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital. Her funeral is attended by some of the thousands of Youth Aliyah children and nursing students whose lives she touched. She is mourned throughout the world. Hadassah and the American Friends of the Hebrew University initiate a $4 million fundraising campaign to build the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine. Hadassah is awarded a citation recognizing the sale of $200 million worth of U.S. government defense bonds during World War II.


Impact of UN Partition Plan

1947: In the wake of the UN partition plan of November 29, which calls for the establishment of independent Jewish and Arab enclaves in Palestine within a year, travel to and from Mount Scopus becomes increasingly dangerous. Hadassah and Hebrew University personnel are compelled to commute by armed convoy. Part of the process in making their decision involved a visit by members of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) to various facilities throughout Palestine, including the sophisticated Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital on Mount Scopus.


=Hadassah Medical Convoy Massacre

= 1948: While attempting to reach Mount Scopus on April 13, a convoy of Hadassah and Hebrew University doctors, nurses and other personnel are ambushed. Besieged and under fire for hours, in the end 78 people are killed, among them HMO Director Dr. Haim Yassky. Unable to guarantee the safety of its patients or staff, Hadassah evacuates all its facilities on Mount Scopus, relocating all departments to five makeshift hospitals in temporary quarters around Jerusalem. Hadassah's access to Mount Scopus is lost for the next 19 years.


Israel's birth

1948: The State of Israel is born. HMO tends the thousands of wounded soldiers pouring into Jerusalem, plus the usual high numbers of civilians seeking aid. 1949: As " Operation Magic Carpet" rescues and brings 45,000
Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...
to Israel, HMO creates an emergency hospital in Rosh Ha'ayin for the care of new immigrants, as requested by the new Israeli government. With their resources stretched to the limit, the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem asks the Hadassah National Board to provide six American nurses who would work for a year at the Rosh Ha'ayin immigrant camp. Youth Aliyah opens Ramat Hadassah Szold Youth Village near Haifa as a reception center and to receive refugee children from Arab countries, Turkey, Hungary and elsewhere. Today it serves Israeli-born and immigrant children, ages 11 to 15, who require intensive remedial education programs. Hadassah establishes the Henrietta Szold Award as its highest honor, to be presented annually. Eleanor Roosevelt is named the first honoree for her efforts on Hadassah's behalf, most notably as World Patron of Youth Aliyah. HMO opens the Lasker Mental Hygiene and Child Guidance Clinic in Jerusalem (today part of HMO's Department of Psychiatry). Hadassah opens the Hadassah-Yassky Memorial Hospital in Beersheva (devolved to Kupat Holim in 1960). 1950: Two years after the evacuation of Mount Scopus, the Hadassah National Board votes to build a new, state-of-the-art medical center on the hillside above Ein Kerem, a small village west of Jerusalem. A fundraising campaign for this medical complex begins in 1953. As part of its continuing policy of devolution, Hadassah transfers its Nutrition Department, including the school lunch program, to the Israeli government.


New medical center

1952: Hadassah transfers its network of 134 health welfare stations throughout Israel to the Israeli government, retaining its 32 stations in Jerusalem and surroundings, which it devolves to the government in 1963. The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine graduates its first class of physicians. The groundbreaking is held for the new medical center at Ein Kerem. Hadassah's educational youth programs in Israel, previously grouped under Hadassah Youth Services, changes name to Hadassah Vocational Education Services.


Operation Reindeer

1953: Hadassah participates in "Operation Reindeer", a U.S. government program to alleviate food shortages within Israel, particularly within immigrant populations. The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, founded in cooperation with the Alpha-Omega Dental Fraternity, opens. Students train at HMO's Jerusalem dental clinic. 1954: HMO pilots Ya'al, the "Helping Hand of Hadassah", a volunteer auxiliary of women who serve in Hadassah's medical facilities. This innovative Israeli "first" becomes a model for volunteerism in Israel. HMO opens Israel's first cardiac surgical unit and its first Department of Psychiatry at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine. 1955: Youth Aliyah begins its day center program with services for youth from Israel's rural and development areas. The program rapidly expands to encompass urban youth as well. The national headquarters of HWZOA moves into its first "house", a Hadassah owned and occupied building on East 52nd Street in New York City. 1956: HMO pilots a community health station in the Arab village of Abu Ghosh. Young Judaea opens its first Year Course in Israel for high school graduates. 1958: Construction of the new medical center at Ein Kerem accelerates. First Hadassah pilgrimage to Israel. 1959: HMO introduces open-heart surgery to Israel, installs the cobalt bomb for cancer therapy and graduates the first ten Israel-trained dentists from the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. As part of Israel's ongoing commitment to aid developing nations, the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine begins training African and Asian doctors in cooperation with the World Health Organization and Israel's Foreign Ministry. The initiative later expands to include South American doctors. 1961: Hadassah-Ein Kerem opens on June 6 with a joyous moving day. Supervised by HMO senior staff, the Israeli Army meticulously and efficiently transports every patient in each of Hadassah's five temporary hospitals to a preassigned bed at the new medical center. 1962: Hadassah turns 50 and celebrates its golden jubilee year. The Fannie and Maxwell Abbell Chapel (synagogue) at Hadassah-Ein Kerem is dedicated.
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
's magnificent 12 stained glass windows, each representing one of Israel's 12 tribes, grace the synagogue. Former National President Dr. Miriam Freund-Rosenthal is responsible for enlisting the noted artist and seeing the project to completion. 1964: The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine moves into its new quarters at Hadassah-Ein Kerem. Chaim Gross' bronze "Mother and Child" sculpture is installed near the entrance to Hadassah-Ein Kerem. 1965: The U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) announces its first grant to Hadassah: $335,000 for Hadassah-Ein Kerem and the Alice L. Seligsberg High School. Today Hadassah continues to receive generous AID grants earmarked for HMO. The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine moves to new building facilities at Hadassah-Ein Kerem.


Israel's first open heart surgery

1967: An HMO surgical team completes Israel's first successful two-valve open-heart operation. Hadassah Associates is founded as the fundraising arm for American men who want to provide support for Hadassah's work. Rebecca Shulman, the only National Board member in Israel during the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, is given a seat in the first Hadassah Medical Organization car to travel to the hospital on Mount Scopus immediately after the war ends. For the first time since 1948, the Hadassah flag was raised at the damaged hospital buildings. At the end of the Six-Day War, National President Charlotte Jacobson and HMO Director-General Dr. Kalman Mann travel to Mount Scopus to receive the keys to Hadassah's hospital. At the request of the Israeli government, Hadassah agrees to rebuild its first "hill of healing" as a state-of-the-art general hospital for the surrounding community. Hadassah accepts sole sponsorship of an expanded, co-educational Zionist Youth Movement. Young Judaea and Junior Hadassah are merged as Hashachar (the Dawn) for ages 9–18. Young adults, ages 18–25, become members of Hamagshimim (the Fulfillers). The movement as a whole is referred to as "Young Judaea."


Israel's first kidney transplant

1967: HMO performs Israel's first successful kidney transplant. 1968: The official restoration of Hadassah-Mount Scopus begins when Hadassah plans a 260-bed hospital for the entire community and agrees to build a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center within. Fundraising Campaign for the restoration of Hadassah-Mount Scopus. HMO pioneers 24-hour emergency units at Hadassah-Ein Kerem for acute respiratory and coronary care, burns and trauma. At the first National Board Mid-Winter meetings held in Israel, ground is broken at Hadassah-Ein Kerem for the Siegfried & Irma Ullman Building for Cancer and Allied Diseases, which will house the Moshe Sharett Institute of Oncology (opens 1976). 1970: Hadassah establishes a youth center on Mount Scopus, for Young Judaeans participating in Israel programs, in the building that was intended for the Nurses' Training School before 1948. The building, where Henrietta Szold lived during her final illness, the first on Mount Scopus to be renovated, is renamed the Judith Riklis Building (Beit Riklis).Hadassah establishes the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Occupational Therapy, housed in the Edith and James Ross building on Hadassah-Mount Scopus. The Hadassah Community College, Israel's first American-style community college, opens in the Brandeis Vocational Center complex with 124 day and 84 evening students (renamed Hadassah College Jerusalem CJin 2006). The Alice Seligsberg Comprehensive High School merges with Brandeis (see 1944) to become the co-ed Hadassah Seligsberg-Brandeis Comprehensive High School (devolved to the Jerusalem municipality in 1988).


Postwar

1972: The Hadassah Community College graduates its first class with
Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...
as guest of honor. Hadassah incorporates the high school, the college and the guidance center under one project, named Hadassah Israel Education Services (HIES). 1973: Graduates of the Young Judaea Year Course in Israel lead a group of olim ("new immigrants") and native-born Israelis and establish Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava region of the Negev. HMO medical teams rapidly mobilize, treating more than 4,000 casualties during the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...
. During and after the war, HMO concentrates on the rehabilitation of the severely burned and wounded, relying heavily on pace-setting rehabilitation services offered through its newly opened Trauma Unit. 1974: After Congress passes legislation, which helps tens of thousands of
Soviet Jews The history of the Jews in the Soviet Union is inextricably linked to much earlier expansionist policies of the Russian Empire conquering and ruling the eastern half of the European continent already before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. "Fo ...
to immigrate to Israel during the 1970s and '80s, the National Board allocates $1 million to retrain Russian doctors, nurses and other health professionals at HMO. In honor of Youth Aliyah's 40th anniversary, Hadassah allocates more than $1 million to provide new residential and innovative day centers for Youth Aliyah.


UN General Assembly Resolution 3379: "Zionism Equals Racism"

1975: On October 21 Hadassah rededicates the rebuilt and refurbished Hadassah University Hospital at Mount Scopus. The Arab bloc succeeds in passing
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379, adopted on 10 November 1975, "''Determines'' that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination" with 72 votes in favour, 35 votes against, and 32 abstentions. It was revoked by Resoluti ...
"Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination", better known as the "Zionism Equals Racism" resolution. Hadassah works passionately for its repeal, and it is ultimately rescinded in 1991. Hadassah introduces the Bachelor of Nursing Sciences program at the Henrietta Szold Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing, Israel's first four-year degree program in nursing. Hadassah pledges to help Youth Aliyah absorb 3,000 disadvantaged Israeli youth and allocates $200,000 to build new dormitory space, its first program to focus exclusively on native-born Israelis. This program continues today as Youth Aliyah's Children at Risk. 1976: Hadassah welcomes its 100,000th Life Member. The newly reopened Hadassah-Mount Scopus hospital receives its first 100 patients in April, almost 28 years after the convoy massacre of 1948. Hadassah and JNF celebrate 50 years of partnership by completing Hadassah's 16th JNF project, "Greening of the Desert," in three development towns, and by dedicating Hadassah Plaza in the JNF Bicentennial Park near Jerusalem. The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Rehabilitation Pavilion, the first of its kind in Israel, opens at Hadassah-Mount Scopus. The
Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett (; born Moshe Chertok (); 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was the second prime minister of Israel and the country’s first foreign minister. He signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence and was a principal negotiator in th ...
Institute of Oncology and Allied Diseases opens in the Siegfried and Irma Ullmann Building at Hadassah-Ein Kerem. Hadassah moves its national headquarters from West 52nd Street to 50 West 58th Street, New York, its current location.


Israel's first EMI scanner

1977: Hadassah installs Israel's first EMI scanner at HMO's Radiology Department and opens the Rosalie Goldberg Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Israel's first NICU, at Hadassah-Mt. Scopus. The NICU soon receives its first one-pound baby. The Aleen and Lawrence Schacht-Hadassah Day Care Nursery opens at Hadassah-Ein Kerem to care for 100 preschool-age children of hospital personnel. 1978:Hadassah Community College opens Israel's first two-year dental technicians' course, in cooperation with the faculty of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. HMO performs Israel's first successful bone marrow transplant. In the euphoria following the previous year's visit of Egyptian President
Anwar el-Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 Oc ...
to Jerusalem, Hadassah convenes its 64th National Convention—its first in Israel— bringing 2,500 participants to Jerusalem. Hadassah establishes a tradition of holding periodic National Conventions in Israel.
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
's sculpture, "Tree of Life", is unveiled at Hadassah Mount Scopus. 1979: Hadassah's Aliyah Department, organizes Israel Family Live-In programs for work-study-travel participants. National and local Hadassah leaders march for Soviet Jewry in the Solidarity Sunday parade in New York. 1982: HMO receives casualties by helicopter and ambulance convoy throughout the first war with Lebanon. Despite the war, Hadassah holds its 68th National Convention in Israel, the organization's second Israel convention. Hadassah-Ein Kerem becomes one of five world centers capable of performing test-tube conception. A year later, Jerusalem's first test-tube baby (a girl) is born there to a "high risk" mother. 1984: HMO receives casualties by helicopter and ambulance convoy throughout the first war with Lebanon. Despite the war, Hadassah holds its 68th National Convention in Israel, the organization's second Israel convention. Hadassah-Ein Kerem becomes one of five world centers capable of performing test-tube conception. A year later, Jerusalem's first test-tube baby (a girl) is born there to a "high risk" mother. 1986: The Ina and Jack Kay Hospice, Jerusalem's only Jewish hospice, opens at Hadassah-Mount Scopus, in response to a critical need by Jewish patients. HMO opens a regional AIDS testing center at Hadassah-Ein Kerem.


Building hospitals in Africa

1988: At the invitation of U.S. AID, HMO medical staff members help plan, construct and open a hospital in Kinshasa, Zaire. Hadassah advocates for increased health services for those infected with
HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
and adequate funding for AIDS research in the U.S. The Hadassah Seligsberg-Brandeis Comprehensive High School is devolved to the Jerusalem municipality and relocates to East Talpiot. Expansion of Hadassah Community College begins.


Marching for abortion legality in the U.S.

1989: At a historic pro-choice rally of 300,000 in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, Hadassah marches with women and men from across the U.S. With the end of the Cold War and the gradual collapse of the Soviet bloc, hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews begin to leave for Israel; Hadassah prepares to meet their needs and to absorb many of them as employees. HIES is restructured: Hadassah Community College is renamed the Hadassah College of Technology (HCT), today Israel's foremost technology institute (now called Hadassah College-Jerusalem). The Hadassah Vocational Guidance Bureau is renamed Hadassah Career Counseling Institute (HCCI). The city of Jerusalem honors Hadassah by dedicating Hadassah Square, a small city square on Rehov Ha-Melekh George (King George Street), near Agron Street. HMO's Complementary (alternative) Medicine Department opens in downtown Jerusalem (moves to Hadassah-Ein Kerem in 2001).


Operation Exodus

1990: As "Operation Exodus" brings waves of Jews to Israel from the dissolving Soviet Union, Hadassah takes part in these ways: 1. HMO begins to absorb and retrain groups of health- care professionals. 2. HCT becomes the first institution in Israel to retrain the immigrants by using both Russian and Hebrew courses in dental and laboratory technology, and translating its materials into Russian. HCCI trains Russian career counselors and offers Russian-language occupational materials to immigrants. 3. Youth Aliyah starts its first ulpan (Hebrew language program) for Soviet students. 4. Young Judaea invites Soviet teen immigrants living in the U.S. to attend its leadership camp, Tel Yehudah. Hadassah meets an additional JNF pledge to replace 100,000 trees destroyed by arson, and pledges to provide JNF recreational facilities in a Galilee development plan. Within one two-week period in a remote area of Kenya, HMO eye surgeons operate on 400 blind people, giving sight to many for the first time. 1992: During the Persian Gulf War ("
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
", 1991), Iraqi Scud missiles assault Israel. HMO treats casualties and helps distribute health information and gas masks to the population. Despite the risks, 45 National Board members, led by National President Carmela E. Kalmanson, travel to Israel on their scheduled mission, demonstrating Hadassah's solidarity with Israel's besieged people. "Operation Solomon" brings thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel; 14,500 arrive within a single day. Hadassah contributes $3 million to Youth Aliyah over three years, enabling it to adapt its programs to meet the needs of this newest group of olim. HMO formally opens two major interdisciplinary units for liver disease and diabetes, both with state-of-the-art inpatient wards, outpatient clinics, laboratories, and facilities for day care, patient education, teaching and research. Kiryat HaYovel opens a special clinic to extend care to 700 Ethiopian immigrants. Hadassah initiates Hadassah Cares, an ongoing breast health awareness and education program for American women of all ages. This program includes Hadassah's award-winning Check It Out program for high-school girls, and today offers testicular cancer education for teenage boys.


Israel's first heart-lung transplant

1993: HMO performs Israel's first successful heart-lung transplant. 1994: Hadassah, WZOA, receives the approval of the Zionist General Council for special status as a member of the World Zionist Organization, ensuring that Hadassah will be granted participation in all activities of the World Zionist Organization, as well as in every Congress, with a fixed delegation of 32 members.


Advocating for the Violence Against Women Act

1995: Congress passes the Violence Against Women Act, creating programs and greater legal recourse for survivors of domestic abuse. Hadassah, an early advocate on behalf of victims of domestic violence, intensifies its programs on domestic abuse, both in the U.S. and in Israel. The National Committee of Hadassah Associates is formed to encourage men to take a more activist role in its membership enrollment and fundraising activities for the benefit of the Hadassah Medical Organization. Reflecting the world's high hopes for peace in the Middle East, Hadassah honors Prime Minister Rabin and Foreign Minister Peres with the Henrietta Szold Award, presented at the national annual convention held in Jerusalem. Hadassah dedicates its $23 million, state-of-the-art Mother and Child Center at Hadassah-Ein Kerem during the annual National Convention. Comprising the Julia Goldwurm Maternity Pavilion and the Wolfson Children's Pavilion, the center is built with the physical, mental and social well-being of the sick child in mind. It offers the latest care to its patients, in a child friendly atmosphere. The Center is named the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Mother and Child Center in 2003 in honor of New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...
's mother. 1996: Elsie Roth galvanizes her Hadassah Nurses' Council colleagues to spearhead a relief drive for war-torn Bosnia. Hadassah members collect over 100 tons of supplies. Roth and fellow volunteer, Sherry Hahn, personally deliver them to Bosnia's people. Hadassah's National Commission on American Jewish Women publishes Voices for Change: Future Directions for American Jewish Women, a landmark study that directly questions Jewish women about their needs, hopes, and desires. Hadassah initiates grassroots community service with READ*WRITE*NOW!, a U.S. volunteer literacy program. Hadassah transforms its historic 19th-century Villa Rosemarie in Jerusalem's German Colony into Merkaz Hamagshimim, an absorption/community center and residence for young adult olim from English-speaking countries 1997: In honor of Hadassah's 85th Anniversary, Hadassah's first Women of Distinction Awards are presented in Israel (January) and in the U.S. at Purim (March) at Temple Emanu-El, where Hadassah's first meeting was held in 1912. Hadassah joins a broad-based national coalition lobbying for federal legislation to prevent genetic discrimination by health insurance carriers and employers. The Henrietta Szold Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing forms a historic partnership with the University of Maryland School of Nursing to create a clinical master's program at Hadassah. Future projects include graduate programs in trauma/critical care, geriatric nursing and oncology nursing. Young Judaea forms ATID (future, in Hebrew), an educational and action partnership with Israel's Tsofim (Scouts) and Britain's Federation of Zionist Youth (FZY), its sister movement. Impelled by Voices for Change, Hadassah founds the International Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University, now known as the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute (HBI). 1998: In honor of Israel's 50th Anniversary 1. Hadassah allocates $3 million to make JNF's American Independence Park Israel's first completely handicapped-accessible park. Eight more such Hadassah-funded parks are scheduled for necessary renovation. 2. Hadassah's Jewish Education Department publishes "Zionism: The Sequel", examining the state of the Zionist movement and Israel, its greatest creation. 3. Hadassah sponsors a special Miracle Mission to Israel, led by former National President Ruth Popkin. Youth Aliyah's Meier Shfeyah Children's Village receives the Israel Prize in Education. Hadassah initiates the Hadassah Leadership Academy (HLA), which then pilots its first multi-year program in Jewish women's history, Zionism and Israel, community leadership, and social advocacy. Hadassah's National Board formally establishes the Hadassah Foundation with a $10 million endowment to address societal needs in Israel and the U.S., outside the traditional Hadassah project framework. The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy is established at Hadassah-Ein Kerem, enabling HMO to become a leader in genetic therapy and gene research. The Young Judaea Alumni Study, undertaken to gauge the youth movement's long-term impact on participants, reveals that active membership in Young Judaea exerts a powerful positive influence upon adult Jewish identity and increases Jewish involvement. HMO health professionals Professor Dan Engelhardt and Professor Yoel Donchin, activated IDF reservists, bring medical equipment and eight tons of medical supplies to Macedonian field hospitals to assist refugees trom a devastated Kosovo. 1999: At National Convention in Washington, D.C., 2,000 Hadassah delegates from across the United States visit
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
, bringing Hadassah voices to their senators and representatives - Hadassah's largest "Day on the Hill" ever.


"To Save a Life" program

2000: The Hadassah College of Technology turns 30 and graduates its first academic class. Hadassah introduces Pikuah Nefesh – To Save a Life, a program created to increase awareness of the need for organ and tissue donations. In support of stricter gun control legislation, Hadassah members and friends join the Mother's Day Million Mom March in Washington, D.C., and around the United States. The Al-Aksa Intifada erupts on the
Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...
on September 28. Violence engulfs the territories and the entire land of Israel. HMO mobilizes to treat the wounded, whild HWZOA provides new programs, speakers, materials and action alerts for its members in the United States. Hadassah partners with
Birthright Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel (), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a free ten-day heritage trip to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adults of Jewish heritage between the ages of 18 and 26. The program is spon ...
, a philanthropic initiative to foster connections with Israel by giving every Jewish youngster/student between the ages of 18 and 26 a free, first-time trip to Israel; some programs are to be provided through Young Judaea. Hadassah hospitals at Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem are declared smoke-free zones in accordance with Hadassah's mission to protect and promote health.


Since 2001


ECOSOC recognition

2001: Hadassah is approved by the U.N. Economic and Social Council (
ECOSOC The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...
) as a non-governmental organization (NGO), enabling Hadassah to lend its medical and social expertise to the international body. As JNF celebrates its centennial, Hadassah, its partner for 75 years, designates $3 million to help improve Israel's water situation with a new reservoir in the Jordan Valley. The Esther Gottesman Center for Technology, housed within HCT's restored "Arches" building, is dedicated. It includes the new Henrietta Szold Center for students with special needs and challenges 2002: In response to the growing need for state-of-the-art trauma medicine, Hadassah launches a major fundraising program to expand the Center for Emergency Medicine at Hadassah-Ein Kerem. 2004: With many months of recovery and reconstruction work needed to repair the devastation left by Hurricane Charley on the southwest coast of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, Hadassah launches a special appeal to raise assistance funds. Researchers at HMO show that human embryonic stem cells can improve the functioning of a laboratory rat with
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
. The research team is headed by Prof. Benjamin Reubinoff, director of Hadassah's Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell research at the Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy and the Department of Gynecology, and Prof. Tamir Ben-Hur, senior physician in Hadassah's department of Neurology, the Agnes Ginges Center for Human Neurogenetics. The research was funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and stroke (NINDS), a component of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States. 2005: Hadassah dedicates its newest facility, the Judy and Sidney Swartz Center for Emergency Medicine at Ein Kerem. The $50 million center has the capacity to treat 100,000 to 120,000 patients annually, an increase of 41 percent above previous use, and includes an expanded trauma and resuscitation unit, an acute and critical care facility, adult and pediatric emergency units, and an observation unit. In 2005, the two Jerusalem hospitals of the Hadassah Medical Organization were nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
, citing areas in which they promoted peace: * Maintaining equal treatment for all regardless of religion, ethnicity and nationality * Setting an example of cooperation and coexistence by maintaining a mixed staff of people of all faiths * Initiatives to create bridges for peace, even during periods of active conflict between Israel and one or more of its neighbors 2006: Hadassah staff from the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem volunteer to travel the 112 miles north to Katyusha-struck
Nahariya Nahariya () is the northernmost coastal city in Israel. As of , the city had a population of . The city was founded in 1935 by Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Etymology Nahariya takes its name from the stream of Ga'aton River, Ga'aton (riv ...
every weekday during the missile bombardment during the summer. They travel in teams composed of a physician (usually an internist), a child psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, a social worker and a medical clown, clad in helmets and bullet-proof vests, moving through the town from shelter to shelter, reaching out to Nahariya's traumatized residents.


Henrietta Szold's induction into National Women's Hall of Fame

2007: Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, is inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY, the birthplace of the American women's movement. As Young Judaea's Year Course in Israel celebrates its fiftieth year, a new Year Course track includes travel to and study about four extraordinary communities with deep-rooted connections to the Jewish people – Marranos in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, the Lemba of
Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...
,
Bene Israel The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the "Teli, Shanivar Teli" () or "History of the Jews in India, Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via t ...
and Bnei Menashe communities in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, and the Abayudaya Jews of
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. Hadassah receives a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator, highly regarded in the philanthropic world for its data-driven analysis that rates charitable organizations on their ability to efficiently manage and grow the organization's finances. Inspired by its historical imperative to continue building the medical infrastructure of Jerusalem, Hadassah raises the first $164 million needed to begin construction of the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower on the campus of Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem. 2008: Nancy Falchuk, National President of Hadassah, is part of the Bush Delegation celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the State of Israel. Research at HMO shows that transplantation of human embryonic stem cells into the brains of mice with
multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
(MS) significantly slows the clinical symptoms and pathological manifestations of the disease. 2012: Hadassah celebrated its centennial in Jerusalem. Hadassah opened the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower, a 500 bed-facility with 20 operating theaters, as well as five below-ground floors for protection from terrorist attacks.


List of National Presidents


Other ventures


Jewish National Fund

The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 by
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...
to secure ownership of land in Palestine for the Jewish people from the Ottoman Empire. This land, the majority of which was uncultivated, was reclaimed to create collective worker's communities that could sustain themselves through agricultural means. As the Jewish National Fund's funding grew, so did their involvement in other facets of cultural improvement, such as creating major city structures, financing the expenses of Jewish scientists, and founding institutions of higher education. Hadassah's partnership with JNF in the 1920s aided in the continuation of like-minded efforts including meeting an additional JNF pledge to replace 100,000 trees destroyed by arson in 1990, a pledge to provide JNF recreational facilities in a Galilee development plan, and allocating $3 million to make JNF's American Independence Park Israel's first completely handicapped-accessible park, among others. Memorial trees and forests are still purchased in individual's honors and given as gifts for major events.


International programs

Established in 1983 by National President Bernice Tannenbaum, Hadassah International is a network of volunteers, including men and women of many faiths and nationalities. Hadassah International does work on every continent save Antarctica. Young Hadassah International is Hadassah International's branch for 18- to 35-year-olds, active in Germany, Australia, Mexico and the United Kingdom, among others.


Hadassah Magazine

''Hadassah Magazine'' is a bimonthly magazine published out of Hadassah, WZOA's headquarters in Manhattan, covering news, politics and cultural topics, primarily for Jewish female audience. It has been in circulation since 1914, and in 1986 had 385,000 paid subscribers to its printed edition. The magazine gained additional readers in the early 2000s when it added its free online edition, though the move also brought a decline in the printed edition readership. The paid print circulation is now estimated at over 250,000. ''Hadassah Magazine'' received more than 350 awards for editorial excellence, including a
National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
nomination in 1993, and multiple Simon Rockower Awards. The magazine was a pioneer in the ban on cigarette advertising "in keeping with the mission and philosophy of the organization"


Madoff scandal

Hadassah invested some $40 million with
Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...
Securities, beginning in 1988 with a $7 million gift from a French donor and adding $33 million over the following eight years. The investment initially proved quite profitable: through April 2007, Hadassah withdrew a total of $137 million. Hadassah's balance of $90 million evaporated in December 2008, when the fund was revealed as a Ponzi scheme. Moreover, because Hadassah had profited from Madoff's scheme, it was targeted for " clawback" efforts by the trustee representing Madoff victims who lost money. After several months of negotiations, Hadassah agreed to contribute $45 million to a fund for Madoff's victims. After testifying at Madoff's sentencing hearing and urging a long prison sentence for the disgraced financier, Hadassah's Chief Financial Officer, Sheryl Weinstein acknowledged a 20-year long adulterous affair with Madoff, during which period Hadassah had been investing heavily with him. As a result, the Young Judaea movement, which was previously solely funded by Hadassah lost millions in funding. The Young Judaea movement became independent of Hadassah in 2011.


See also

* List of investors in Bernard L. Madoff Securities * Health care in Israel *
Economy of Israel An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with ...
*
Education in Israel Education in Israel encompasses compulsory education, which spans from kindergarten through 12th grade, and higher education, which is characterized by a public university system and significant government subsidies. The school education, which ...
* Hadassah Medical Center


References


External links


Guide to the Hadassah Archives on Long-term Deposit
at the
American Jewish Historical Society The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation an ...

Official website

Hadassah Hospital
*
Hadassah International

''Hadassah'' magazine
*
Labor of Thy Hands
' a short film produced by Hadassah in the mid-1950s {{Authority control Charities based in New York City Zionist organizations in the United States 1912 establishments in New York City Women's religious organizations General Zionism Madoff investment scandal Jewish women's organizations in the United States Abortion-rights organizations