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Woodmere Lailah chapter of Hadassah marks organization's 100 years of commitment
An organization founded in New York City to help what was then Palestine and now is the nation of Israel is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and continues to inspire a passion and commitment for its partnership with both the land and people of the Jewish state.
Hadassah, founded in 1912, is the largest Jewish organization in the U.S., and one of the largest women’s volunteer groups in the world has strong ties in the Five Towns as the Woodmere Lailah chapter remains active and committed. There are more than 300,000 members worldwide and chapters from Canada to China.
The Woodmere chapter, which includes members from past chapters in Cedarhurst, Lawrence and Far Rockaway, held a centennial luncheon at Temple Hillel in North Woodmere on Sept. 12. The luncheon was interrupted by an area power outage that lasted approximately one hour.
“It is a great organization,” Hewlett Neck resident Julia Edelman, co-president with Blossom Mendelsohn of the Lailah chapter, said about Hadassah.
Edelman was introduced to Hadassah by her mother, Miriam Safro. Binnie Stein, the chapter’s media chair, and a former chapter president, was also brought into Hadassah by her mother, Esther Stein.
In 1909, Henrietta Szold and her mother visited Palestine. The impact of seeing so many people suffer from a lack of food and medical care prompted Szold to establish Hadassah three years later.
“It was founded in New York City at Temple Emanu-El on February 24, it was Purim,” said Woodmere resident Binnie Stein, who is also the Lailah chapter’s resident historian. At birth, Hadassah was the name of Esther, the Jewish heroine of Purim.
Szold first sent two nurses to Palestine and they provided pasteurized mile to infants and new mothers, and focused on eliminating trachoma, an easily cured bacterial eye disease, that blinded its victims.
Six years after its founding, Hadassah had a medical unit comprised of 45 doctors, nurses, dentists and sanitary workers providing up-to-date medical care to all in Palestine.
