Resilience, Community & Our Strength, Post October 7

By Carol Ann Schwartz

It’s three years later, yet the horrors and devastation of October 7 still feel fresh in my mind, as we live with the aftermath every day. As we honor those lost on October 7, it is just as necessary to solidify the bond that ties us together, across the sea and over the years.

For our Hadassah community, for our Zionist community and for our Jewish community, October 7 must evermore be a day of unity, a time to stand in solidarity.

So much has unfolded in these three years. The survivors are healing. The message from Israel that We Will Dance Again has come across loud and clear.

As we pause to mark the deadliest day in Israeli history, we must keep our eyes focused on the future, to paraphrase our founder Henrietta Szold, who in the face of the Holocaust led Hadassah to lifesaving action.

Today, the Israeli spirit and the Hadassah spirit are forward-facing. We prepare for the worst. We respond to the worst. But we stay committed to making hope and healing a reality, not just a mantra. That reality shines through every day, perhaps most brightly at Hadassah hospitals and our youth villages. Our hearts are with them on the anniversary and every day. Especially for those who suffered personal loss but kept (and keep) giving.

Thanks to our supporters, we’ve been able to ensure that when Israel is under fire, our underground hospital facilities will keep our patients of all faiths safe; that when mass casualties happen, our hospitals will treat the trauma wounds, both physical and emotional; and the Gandel Rehabilitation Center will help those who survive build again. And with our cutting-edge new Maternity Ward C at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, we are helping bring the next generation of Israelis into the world.

To be sure, we feel the weight of October 7 added to what we carry, of what we must never forget. But the Jewish story is bigger, one defined by resilience. We create it. We harness it. We cultivate it.

And so, I hope that tomorrow, across the United States, Hadassah members, supporters and Associates will come together — in person, in communities across the country — as we think and say, “Am Yisrael Chai.”