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"Hadassah nurses are fortunate to be part of the family, founded and supported since 1913 by Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America (HWZOA)," said Dr. Rely Alon, director of the Division of Nursing & Health Professions at the Hadassah Medical Organization, at the annual ceremony awarding scholarships to outstanding nurses at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem.
Two of these six scholarships, commemorating soldiers who fell in the October 7, 2023, war — husbands of Hadassah nurses — were provided by HZWOA’s dedicated endowment funds. These recipients were Liba Ofer, deputy head nurse in the Vascular Surgery Department, and Moshe Adler from the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
Ofer received the scholarship in memory of Master Sergeant Eyal Meir Berkowitz, who was
killed in the Gaza Strip during a mission to recover hostages in December 2023. Berkowitz,
who was 28 when he fell in combat, was supposed to start his second year of medical
studies at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical School when the war began. His wife, Michal, is a nurse in the Hematology Department at Hadassah Ein Kerem.
Ofer is a mother of eight. She left a career in law to become a nurse.
"As a mother of a combat soldier, receiving a scholarship in memory of a soldier who fell in combat is all the more significant to me," she told the Berkowitz family, present at the ceremony.
Adler received his scholarship in memory of Sergeant Major Daniel Kasau Zegeye, who fell in the Gaza Strip in January 2024. Zegeye, an electrical engineer, was 38 when he was killed along with 20 combatants. He left behind his wife, Angwach, a nurse in Maternity C at Hadassah Ein Kerem, and two young children.
"Daniel loved to learn, progress and advance," Angwach remembered. "He was a source of pride to his parents and an inspiration to his siblings."
Adler said, "Daniel was not satisfied with his success only but pushed others to succeed too, and he always put others before himself. I meet this value in my work every day. This scholarship is a direct continuation of Daniel's way — of someone who devoted himself for the benefit of others."
Said Dr. Alon: "We are privileged to have members of HWZOA honor the memories of these soldiers in whose name these scholarships are given. May we be worthy of these heroes."
The four additional recipients of scholarships were awarded to Maternity C nurse Keren Or Ella, Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus delivery room midwife Rachel Ararat, Hadassah Mount Scopus rehabilitation nurse Yulia Portnoy and Hadassah Ein Kerem Orthopedics B nurse Malkaim Tsaga.
"We can't always heal, but we can be there for the patient, listen, extend a helping hand and let them know they are not alone," said Tsaga.
Yulia Portnoy received a scholarship bequeathed by now-106-year-old Hadassah nurse Judith Steiner-Freud, who headed the Henrietta Szold Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Nursing.
Steiner-Freud would recount that Hadassah founder Henrietta Szold taught her to dream, Portnoy said, "but along with this, she taught her to take steps in order to make these dreams a reality. I deeply identify with this message: turning the vision into concrete action."
