Hadassah Northern New Jersey

From our President

I returned from a President’s Mission trip to Israel in May bursting with pride to be a member of Hadassah. The things that we have accomplished in the 105 years of our existence are a credit to us and to our predecessors.

Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was completed in 1934 and we were the ones to introduce modern health care to Israel. But one month before Israel declared independence in May 1948, Arab fighters killed 78 doctors, nurses, patients and faculty members from the Hebrew University who were heading to Hadassah Hospital. At the end of the War of Independence, Jerusalem was divided and our hospital was now inside Jordanian lines.

Did we close our doors or stop our fundraising? No. Hadassah Medical Organization formed an alliance of hospitals and medical centers throughout Jerusalem until we completed our hospital in Ein Kerem in 1961. It took 13 years to construct the Round Building on the western edge of Jerusalem.

In 1967, Israel had to defend herself again in the Six-Day War. When it was over, Jerusalem was reunited and Hadassah regained access to the hospital on Mt Scopus. We pledged to rebuild and to rededicate it. Did we say no, we just finished building the Round Building in Ein Kerem? Did we say we could not possibly raise the money needed to open the doors on Mount Scopus again? Of course not. Hadassah Mount Scopus re-opened in 1975.

Hadassah is older than the State of Israel, but we share a common history. Our love for Hadassah is synonymous with our love for Israel. Now, we celebrate 50 years since the reunification of both Jerusalem and Mount Scopus. Hadassah and Israel are forever linked together.

While we applaud the medical breakthroughs and successes at Hadassah, more work remains to be done. For example, the Round Building is now 56 years old and needs to be modernized.

During our visit, we were stranded in an elevator in the Round Building for 15 minutes. While it was a mild nuisance to us, a doctor who was stranded with us, was concerned about reaching his patient. The Round Building urgently needs to be renovated. The wiring is old, the rooms are crowded and patients are lined up in the hallways. As Hadassah Medical Organization sees one million patients annually, the Round Building needs a facelift and more beds to accommodate the growing population. So, are we to say that we just finished building the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower and cannot ask our members to fundraise so soon? We did it before. We can do it again!

There are many stories I can tell you from my recent mission. But one story stands out, because it was so random. A few of us went on a walking tour to visit four different synagogues on Shabbat in Jerusalem. The only head coverings we had were our Hadassah hats. After one of the temple visits, we went outside to discuss the service, the architecture of the building and the people who prayed there. One woman followed us outside and spoke to us about her granddaughter. The baby was born nine months ago with Down Syndrome and a hole in her heart. At the age of three months, Hadassah doctors operated on her heart and saved her life. I think we all had tears in our eyes as the grandmother continued to thank us. One small patient, but to me this represents what we do.

We are the women who DO

THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DO FOR HADASSAH
Warmly,
Gail
Gail Black
President Hadassah Northern NJ

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