Hadassah Has What You're Looking For

The Charlotte Jewish News, March 2025

By Aileen Greenberg-Kriner

How do you like to spend your free time? Cooking or baking? Hadassah has that. Hosting get-togethers with friends? Hadassah has that. Is advocacy or education your thing? We have those, too. Reading? Learning? Drinking wine? Yes, yes, and yes! Join us!

Why We Do What We Do

We believe in Hadassah’s mission: “Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is a volunteer organization that inspires a passion for and commitment to the land, the people, and the future of Israel. Through education, advocacy, and youth development, and its support of medical care and research at Hadassah Medical Organization, Hadassah enhances the health and lives of people in Israel, the United States and worldwide.”

The Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) includes two Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem that treat one million people a year, regardless of race, religion, or nationality. Hadassah raises funds for the HMO, two Youth Aliyah Villages in Israel for atrisk youth, and scholarships for Young Judaea camps and programs.

Hadassah is passionately committed to Israel and Zionism and has strong networks and programs in the U.S. to advocate for Israel and help combat anti-Zionism and antisemitism. In the U.S., Hadassah members are active in fighting for women’s reproductive rights and health equity, and educating about women’s health and wellness issues, including heart health, breast cancer, and infertility.

Hadassah Charlotte Metro

The Hadassah Charlotte Metro chapter is part of a network of 700 Hadassah chapters, with one in every congressional district in the U.S., and nearly 300,000 members nationwide.

Every year, each Hadassah chapter is given a fundraising goal, and we work hard to meet or exceed it. In the past, we had a multi-year goal to modernize the dermatology department nurses’ station in Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem. Proceeds from our 2024-25 Charlotte Metro Jewish Community Directory will go towards funding a pediatric emergency bay at Hadassah Hospital Mt. Scopus.

To fulfill our obligations, we have large fundraisers, like Celebrate the TaTas, which takes many months of planning and a village to organize, and the Jewish Community Directory, which we first published in 1947.

We have smaller fundraisers, like the one we held in December, in conjunction with a Chanukah party, to raise money to help Camp Judaea in Hendersonville, N.C. recover from the devastating floods from Hurricane Helene. We collect orders for National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) cards, where our chapter earns a donation for every card sold. In 2024, we received more than $3,200 from NMJL, which we sent to HMO. This year, we received orders for more than 500 cards. Thank you to everyone who ordered through our chapter. You did a mitzvah!

Some activities are mostly social, like our monthly Wine & Schmooze night at Vintner Wine Market, new and prospective member Coffee Klatches at various cafés throughout the Charlotte area, Passover Tasting, where everyone prepares a Passover dish, and we share recipes, and Hadassah Preppies, when we cook and package meals for

Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte (see event listing below). These events may not be fundraisers, but they build friendships and sisterhood, connecting and empowering women to effect change.

We have opportunities for you to help with event programming, fundraising, communications, marketing, education, advocacy, and membership. We welcome new members and new ideas. To learn more about joining Hadassah, contact Laurie Sheinhaus at HadassahCLT@gmail.com or (980) 553-1880, or come to one of our events listed below and on our website, www.hadassahcltevents.org. Follow us on Facebook (Hadassah CLT Metro) and Instagram (Hadassah Charlotte Metro).

March Events and Meetings

- Start your day off right! Come to the new and prospective member Coffee Klatsch at Knowledge Perk in Ft. Mill on Sunday, March 2, at 10 a.m.

- Spend an evening with fun-loving Hadassah women at Wine & Schmooze on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. at Vintner Wine Market in the Arboretum. Purim begins at sundown on

March 13 and ends on March 14 at nightfall.

- Short Story Discussion Group meets on March 14 at 11:45 a.m. on Zoom to discuss “Probabilities” by Elizabeth Edelglass in the book “Frankly Feminist: Short Stories by Jewish Women.”

- The next Hadassah CLT Metro Board meeting is Monday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. in person at the Levine JCC and on Zoom.

- Join Hadassah BookTalk on Tuesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. on Zoom to discuss “Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir by Sara Glass.”

- Come to this year’s Passover Tasting Lunch and Board Installation on Sunday, March 30, from noon-2 p.m. Bring a homemade dairy or pareve/ vegetarian Passover appetizer, main course, or dessert to share. Email your recipe to Roz at rcooper133@aol.com by March 23. Check our website for details and location.