March is a month filled with significant milestones of great meaning to us at Hadassah.
It's Women's History Month, when we pay homage to our inspiring forebears, including our beloved Henrietta Szold. Remembering great women aligns perfectly with our celebration of both Purim and Shabbat Zachor, when we acknowledge our organization's founding. This year is our 110th anniversary! This March also marks the centennial of the first bat mitzvah in the US, and you can read some heart-warming recollections from our members.
Find a way to celebrate your own connection to Hadassah — and also help Hadassah's essential healing work — in the listings below.
Ukraine in Crisis: Save Lives at Risk! As the humanitarian crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine intensifies by the day, the Hadassah Medical Organization continues its rapid-response efforts, including sending a medical delegation to Lublin, Poland to assist Ukrainian refugees who are streaming in by the thousands and sending urgently needed medical supplies. Please join us in this very powerful and literal expression of one of the most profound concepts in Judaism, tikkun olam, repairing our world.
If you missed the live update on Hadassah's humanitarian mission you can now watch it here.
Tomorrow night! Join us for this milestone, Hadassah Magazine Discussion: Celebrating 50 Years of Female Rabbis. Executive Editor Lisa Hostein moderates this panel featuring the "four firsts" ordained in their respective denominations: Rabbis Sally Priesand, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Amy Eilberg and Sara Hurwitz. Thursday, March 10, 7 pm ET.
Celebrate Shabbat Zachor: Bring Shabbat Zachor (March 11-12) to your local synagogue. Email zionisted@hadassah.org or use this form to register your synagogue for Hadassah Shabbat Zachor. You can connect this occasion to a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first US bat mitzvah that also involves your synagogue. Share your pride with your community during this special 110th Hadassah anniversary year.
Bat Mitzvah@100: Hadassah is a co-sponsor of the National Commemoration of 100 Years of Bat Mitzvah in America, which will be celebrated in a multi-access virtual and in-person event. Speakers include Dr. Carole Balin, historian and scholar on bat mitzvah; Rabbi Sandy Sasso, the first female Reconstructionist rabbi; Rabbi Joy Levitt, pioneering female rabbi; and many more. Thursday, March 17, 7 pm ET.
Our next book discussion:One Book, One Hadassah: Live with Lisa Barr, author of Woman on Fire. Part thriller and part historical fiction, with strong female characters and a well-researched look into the art world, Barr’s page-turner explores provenance and ownership of Nazi-looted art and asks how far one should go to reclaim a family treasure. Thursday, April 7, at 7 pm ET.
- Keep fighting: Last week, the Senate failed to pass the Women's Health Protection Act. Urge all state and federal legislators to safeguard and prioritize reproductive rights, Don’t sit by waiting for the court to decide.
- Stand with Israel: The anti-Israel UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has established a special Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate past and future allegations against Israel, without end or deference to Israel's sovereignty and highly developed judicial system. Urge Congress to speak out against attempts to delegitimize Israel. The current UNHRC session runs until April 1.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
One Book, One Hadassah: Live with Rachel Sharona Lewis, author of The Rabbi Who Prayed with Fire.
SAVE THE DATE (details to come in future emails):
- Evolve Hadassah presents Faces and Flavors of Judaism: Cooking, Culture and How Food Connects Us, with celebrity chef Einat Admony. Monday, May 16. Details to come.
For past programs see our last Hadassah@home email or our Virtual Programming page. Follow our COVID-19 coverage.