By Mike Caputo
She continually listened to her grandparents rave about the possibility of a Jewish state. Today, rather than simply listen, the newly elected Hadassah national president Falchuk gets to act on the needs of Jewish women across the country and the world.
Falchuk, 63, laughed as she recounted Woodmere as it was during the '50s and '60s - an area she described as filled with open spaces and a community deeply rooted with the Jewish culture. The former Five Towner, who moved from the area after she attended college in upstate New York, fondly remembered spending religious holidays at the synagogue and being able to spend them with most of her friends and neighbors.
However, the key element that inspired Falchuk to make a splash in Hadassah was from the presence the organization had in her own home as a child.
"I always saw my mother and her friends doing very practical work in making differences in people's lives," Falchuk said. "So thatís what intrigued me. It wasnít that people were just either talking or raising money and that they were involved - they were educated and they felt they could make a difference in a land far away."
Falchuk, now of Newton Center, Mass., was elected Hadassah national president during the organization's national convention in July. She enters her new position with a long resume of involvement with the national organization, including membership on the Hadassah National Board Honorary Council, the Hadassah National Executive Committee and as the national coordinator of the Development Division of Hadassah.
Although Falchuk is extremely dedicated to Judaism and Zionism, she possesses a deep pride in nursing. After moving from the Five Towns as a young woman, Falchuk studied nursing at Russell Sage College and eventually moved to Massachusetts to work as a nurse.
Over the years, Falchuk found a way to combine her two devotions. One of her many accomplishments in Hadassah was when she founded the Hadassah National Center for Nurses Council, which is the first and only national professional organization for Jewish nurses. Falchuk continued her medical and religious pursuits by serving as the founding and ongoing member of the Hadassah Medical Organization Board of Directors from 1995 to 2004. She was also a coordinator for Hadassah International, where she traveled through Europe, South America, and Israel and raised substantial funds for the Hadassah Medical Organization while also promoting its work, and creating medical cooperative relationships for Hadassah with other major academic centers.
According to Falchuk, her work goes beyond the realms of women, Judaism, Zionism and nursing.
"I think that in a world today when you travel outside the U.S., a lot of Jewish people live in an environment of anti-Israel and anti-Semitism," Falchuk said. "When you present the best face of Israel through health care and education rather than CNN or wars, I feel very strongly that we have made an impact on not only the Jewish people, but for humanity to see Israel as it should be portrayed: as a democratic country with a lot of the problems the rest of the world has but doing the very best to benefit all."
Falchuk is the daughter of Mildred and Murray Kozinn, who both moved to Florida over 20 years ago. She graduated from the Woodmere Academy and belonged to Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst. Falchuk is married to Dr. Kenneth H. Falchuk, who was born in Venezuela, and is a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The Falchuks have three children and four grandchildren.
