Although they live on opposite sides of the country, a shared passion for education unites them.
Karen Bloom from California and Gail Hammerman from New York serve together as co-chairs of the Hadassah Educators Council that launched one year ago, helping grow the group to more than 3,000 members and counting. The Council is a community of empowered educators who are provided with the tools needed to support the future and stability of Judaism, Zionism and Israel through education.
After kicking off on January 31, 2023, with the virtual event "Hadassah Loves Educators," joined by hundreds of attendees around the country, the Council has been helping to advance the work of Hadassah ever since, addressing the topics that resonate with educators the most. Throughout the Council’s inaugural year, antisemitism was a prominent subject.
"We feel proud that we have been able to attract over 3,000 members to this new Educators Council for Hadassah, and we are still growing,” said Bloom, an active middle school math teacher, and Hammerman, a retired adjunct political science professor. “The participation in each of our programs has been robust and enthusiastic. We have engaged educators of all types and ages, from early childhood to adult education, from active to retired, from a wide variety of educational environments, from all over the country."
Sarah Ruden of Maryland is a life member of Hadassah and is on the Steering Committee for the Hadassah Educators Council. In her blog post in The Times of Israel, Ruden said, “I am excited to be a part of the Hadassah Educators Council. The founder of Hadassah, Henrietta Szold, started out as a teacher, and the Council is a wonderful way to continue her legacy. I hope that the Council helps build connections among other Hadassah members across the country who are teachers and allows experienced teachers like me to become mentors to first-year teachers and high school and college students who aspire to become teachers.”
Most recently, to show solidarity with Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, Council members have been sending messages of support to their education colleagues in Israel, specifically those at Hadassah-supported Youth Aliyah villages, as part of E2E: Educator to Educator Messages of Support. And their support of Youth Aliyah doesn’t stop there. The Council has raised funds for the Joy of Judaism project and the Mother/Daughter Shabbaton program.
Said Bloom and Hammerman: "We are grateful that the Council decided to make Youth Aliyah the philanthropic project of the Council. We have already raised funds and awareness of our wonderful Youth Aliyah villages and the amazing work that they do."
The Council prioritized taking a stand against the National Education Association’s (NEA) problematic pro-Palestinian propositions of 2022. The Council worked with the Jewish Affairs Caucus (JAC) of the NEA to strategize and spread the word to its educators and to the public in order to voice strong opposition to the pro-Palestinian agenda. Bloom and Hammerman wrote a letter to Council members expressing their concerns and offered action steps. They also wrote an op-ed for Jewish News Syndicate. At the summer 2023 NEA meeting, the JAC submitted a resolution denouncing antisemitism that was adopted by the entire body of the NEA. In conjunction with Hadassah’s Education & Advocacy Division, the Council also presented an Advocacy for Educators and Antisemitism Workshop, providing their members with the information and tools needed to address this issue, individually and collectively, in schools and communities. According to Bloom and Hammerman, the Council will continue to monitor the situation and respond as needed, working with the NEA and the JAC to advocate for Israel and Zionism.
During an Open Educators Council meeting on November 2, Council members were provided with the tools and background information to help them in their fight against antisemitism, including advocacy guidelines for educators prepared by Bloom and Hammerman, the Hadassah study guide "Antisemitism: Define It. Diffuse It.," the IHRA definition of antisemitism and information about the HEAL Act. Bloom and Hammerman say that the Council’s educators are in a unique position, armed with the information and tools, to speak up and take an active role in the communities in which they live and teach.
In addition to the Educators Council, Hadassah has councils for Attorneys and Judges, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals, and Physicians. This is a free add-on benefit for Hadassah members and Associates of these professions.
Learn more about the Hadassah Educators Council.
Learn more about all of Hadassah’s professional councils.