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April 13, 2001/Nisan 20, 5761, Vol. 53, No.28
Hadassah frames lifelong friendship
LENI REISS
Senior Contributing Editor
Sharon Briskman and Bonnie Lipton
Photo by Leni Reiss |
When childhood classmates Sharon Weinstein and Bonita (Bonnie) Hiller were growing up in Chicago in the early 1950s, they shared sleepovers and they shared leadership qualities. They were even catalysts for the creation of special service awards at Sullivan High School. Recalls Bonnie with a grin, "We volunteered for everything - and between the two of us - we were presidents of everything!"
Fast forward to the present.
It's early on a sunny March morning in Phoenix and the two of them, now Sharon Briskman and Bonnie Lipton, are skimming the pages of their yearbook, laughing together about long- ago memories, and pondering the similar paths that they have followed through the years.
Briskman, a longtime local Jewish professional and volunteer, served for many years in various federation posts. But today her Hadassah connection is at the forefront. "I've come back to Hadassah and I feel as though I've come home," she says. Briskman is among the committee members shepherding her former classmate, now the national president of Hadassah, to various events planned in Lipton's honor.
These include gatherings at private homes and the Keepers of the Gate event, Tuesday evening, March 27 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. Also scheduled is a meeting with Arizona legislators at the State Capitol.
But at this moment Lipton and Briskman are recalling how they reconnected after many years, thanks to Hadassah.
"We actually had been in each other's weddings, but had lost touch," Briskman says, acknowledging that she was a dreadful correspondent, and "in those days, we wrote letters."
But as both women rose in the ranks of Hadassah, they met by chance in a crowded hotel lobby in San Francisco in the early 1970s at a national convention. At the time Briskman was chapter president here and Lipton headed her group in Pittsfield, Mass. They were determined to travel together to Israel for the rededication in 1975 of the Hadassah Hospital at Mount Scopus, which had been rebuilt after its liberation in the 1967 Six-Day War. They have maintained contact since then.
Briskman, who has just become a member of the national board, is co-chairing the Hadassah Leadership Academy here as well as serving on the Keepers of the Gate Committee (for minimum annual contributors of $1,000),which raises funds for Hadassah Medical Organization research in gene therapy and cancer.
Lipton, a self-described "natural fund-raiser," was installed as Hadassah's 22nd national president in July 1999, after having held many senior positions for the Western New England Region and serving in myriad capacities in the Jewish communal world.
Hadassah, she says, has always been ahead of the curve in leadership development and opportunities for personal growth. "I've watched women nurtured through Hadassah who have achieved success in a variety of career paths. Leaders must continue to learn," she says. "You can hone your abilities, but the truth is that a great deal comes from within." She cites Briskman as an example. "Her accomplishments symbolize what a natural leader can achieve. Where we started when we first met has come full circle in our lives."
As the head of the largest women's, largest Jewish and largest Zionist organization in the United States, Lipton says her philosophy of leadership is to "give support, to build coalitions."
"I don't have any magic qualities, vision or wisdom," she says, "but I'm willing to take responsibility and to share my vision, to bring people along with me, to inspire their trust."
Lipton acknowledges that she serves as a "role model" for Hadassah members, "not a royal one, but a real one. I connect with people," she says. "That is my strength. So I make connections for Hadassah." This often results in obtaining major financial support for organizational projects and includes numerous gifts in the millions of dollars.
One goal she has set during her tenure is to encourage within the Hadassah ranks "respect for the professionalism of the volunteer. We have to depend on our (paid) support staff," she says, "but I do not feel that because one person collects a paycheck she is more professional than one who doesn't."
Lipton also aspires to encourage more family-oriented programming, "so that young women don't have to make the choice between family and volunteerism. The needs are different, and we must stay current," she avers.
Of her achievements to date, Lipton says she is most proud of having chaired the actual building of the Mother and Child Center at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
Additionally, she signed the contract for the renovation of the Gottesman Learning Center, one of the landmark buildings of Hadassah's College of Technology in the Jewish state. "It's just completed, we bought it in under budget, and it's due to open in the fall."
Lipton expresses disappointment at "the difficulty of getting people to Israel."
"The fact is that life goes on," she says, "and it is critical for the Israelis to see us and to feel our support. Hadassah will have its convention there in August. We are continuing to do what we do as a matter of course.
The ebullient Lipton says that she is determined, "but not very successful so far," in relegating time "just to have fun."
Her message to the 2,500 Hadassah members here in the Valley, she says, is to know "that although you may be physically distanced from the national headquarters in New York, we know you are here and are well aware of all that you do." She sends out a challenge to each member "to bring us a new member - and to help to raise the dollars necessary to maintain Hadassah's level of excellence."
"Having a good time doing it is important as well," she adds. And with a smile and a nod in Briskman's direction, she says, "You too may be blessed to enjoy lifelong friendships framed in Hadassah."
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