Hadassah makes dreams come true

Joyce Toub, Collier/Lee Hadassah President

One of the prime benefits of being a Hadassah member is receiving the award-winning Hadassah Magazine in your mailbox every other month. It features engaging, in-depth reporting and commentary on a wide variety of topics. The most recent edition offers articles on subjects ranging from abortion to Ukraine, along with updates on the most recent medical advances at our hospitals in Jerusalem. Let me share some with you.

Roe v. Wade

Writer Letty Cottin Pogrebin engages us with a harrowing, first-person account of what life was like before Roe v. Wade. In 1973, that landmark Supreme Court decision gave us 50 years during which women had control over their bodies. Since the Court overruled Roe in June, Hadassah has been reaffirming its unwavering support for full and complete access to reproductive health services and a woman’s right to make health decisions according to her religious, moral and ethical values.

Depicting the Russian invasion through art

Israeli artist Zoya Cherkassky responds to the Russian invasion of Ukraine through her work. She made aliyah in 1991 and has become known as “one of the pillars of contemporary Israeli art,” synthesizing a variety of styles from pop art to Soviet realism. Her work has been exhibited throughout Israel and the United States. She selected 10 drawings from her childhood — bright, humorous pieces, which are compared to the present ones, depicting foreboding and pain.

Hospitals in the field

Hadassah’s involvement on the Polish border of Ukraine helps treat refugees at field hospitals and refugee centers in Przemysl. Poland has not had to deal with trauma patients from war-torn countries for many, many years. Acts of terror requiring trauma care are different and Hadassah had to teach the basics of disaster and mass casualty management. They produced a training simulation and set up real-time trauma guidance networks. These protocols are now globally recognized.

Women in the Maccabiah Games

Hadassah Magazine readers also learn about the latest Maccabiah Games, a two-week Olympic event that began July 12. More than 2,000 of the 10,000 athletes are women and some of the top female athletes from the U.S. are profiled. The games bring together the best Jewish athletes from across the world, uniting our people, despite denominational, political and socioeconomic differences.

Legacies that matter

A heartwarming story comes from my own backyard — Saratoga Springs, New York. Iris Jourdan bequeathed a portion of her estate to Hadassah. Then, just before she died at the age of 87, she requested that her antique violin be gifted to an Israeli musician. The valuable violin, made in Italy over 100 years ago, was given to Ukrainian-born Ksenia Kozodoi, a graduate of Hadassah’s Meir Shfeyah Youth Aliyah Village. Now a violinist in the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Kozodoi calls the gift, “my dream come true.”

Dreams do come true! With a lot of hard work and ingenuity, Hadassah can make it happen!

If you aren’t yet a Hadassah member, please contact me so you can join us in making more dreams come true.