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Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, celebrates its 70th anniversary in 1982. It was founded on Purim (February 24th) 1912 by Henrietta Szold, daughter of a famous rabbi. The name "Hadassah" which is the Hebrew name of Queen Esther, associated with the saving of her people, is also the Hebrew name for myrtle, a plant indigenous to the soil of Zion. Hadassah's motto - "A ruchat Bat Ami - the healing of the Daughter of my People" is taken from the book of Jeremiah (8: 22).
Miss Szold's aim in founding Hadassah was to raise the level of Jewish consciousness of American women and, at the same time, to take practical steps to alleviate the appalling health conditions which she and her mother had found on a visit to the Holy Land in 1909. Today, with 370,000 members throughout the United States, Hadassa h is the largest women's voluntary organization in America and its members play a leading role in all aspects of the lives of the communities in which they dwell. The organizational framework is based on local and regional voluntary groups with a national office in New York.
As part of the world Zionist movement, Hadassah members are engaged in activities concerning a just and lasting peace in the Middle East in addition to their involvement in issues relating to the American and world scene.
A year after its founding, Hadassah sent two American-trained nurses to Eretz Israel to establish a welfare station in Jerusalem for maternity care and the treatment of the dreaded communicable diseases afflicting the population, such as trachoma, dysentery, typhoid fever, malaria and tuberculosis. During World
War I, Hadassah sent over a 50-strong American Zionist Medical Unit (AMZU) which consisted of physicians, dentists, nurses, and other medical and scientific personnel.
It was AMZU that introduced 20th century medical techniques into the country. Hadassah founded hospitals in Jerusalem, Tiberias, Haifa, Safed, Tel-Aviv Rosh Ha-Ayin and Beersheba, but in the years following the establishment of the State of Israel, all of these, with the exception of the hospital in Jerusalem, were handed over to the Israeli authorities.
Hadassah's two Medical Centres - the Hadassah - Hebrew University Medical Centre at Em Karem and the Hadassah University Hospital on Mt. Scopus - have obtained world-wide recognition as being among the best in the world. In 1918 Hadassah founded Israel's first school of nursing which this year will be graduating its 61st class. Hadassah also helped establish the first School of Occupational Therapy.
Hadassah also has to its credit the establishment of a number of educational institutions such as:
- the Alice Seligsberg Vocational High School for Girls (1942), in Jerusalem and the Louis D. Brandeis Vocational Training Centre for boys.
- the Hadassah Community College, Jerusalem(1970)
- the Hadassah Vocational Guidance Institute (1944) designed to help young people find their correct niches in Israeli education, society and the economy. The Institute is unique in that it includes an Assessment Centre, a computerized Occupational Information Department and a Research Department.
- in 1949, a Medical School was established by Hadassah, in partnership with the Hebrew University, followed by a dental school, in partnership with the University and the Alpha-Omega Fraternity. In addition to all these activities Hadassah was also the principal American agency supporting Youth Aliyah which, under the leadership of Henrietta Szold, was responsible for saving thousands of Jewish children from the Holocaust and helping thousands of young immigrants to Israel to find their place in their new country. All in all, over 170,000 children have passed through the hands of Youth Aliyah.
Through its co-educational youth movement, "Hashachar" (formerly "Young Judea"), Hadassah reaches thousands of young Americans between the ages of 9-25, providing them with a fully Zionist-oriented programme which includes work-study-touring programmes in Israel.
An integral partner in the work of the Jewish National Fund since 1926, Hadassah has provided more funds for land projects than any other organization. In addition to its tree-planting activities throughout the land, Hadassah has helped reforest the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Centre sites at Em Karem and Mt.Scopus.
Hadassah is never static. It changes to meet new needs. On the wall of the Henrietta Szold room on Mt.Scopus is inscribed one of Miss Szold's most profound sayings, "There is no ending that is not a beginning... "Hadassah, at 70, starts out on another period of service to Israel and the Jewish people.
