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February 21, 2003/Adar1 19 5763, Vol. 55, No. 26
Hadassah hostel
Breaking ground for the future
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
Bess Rothbaum, past national Young Judaea chairwoman, left, and Seema Liston, national chairwoman for Youth Commissions, participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem in January.
Photo courtesy of Hadassah Offices in Israel
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In a measure of hope for the future, 180 members of Hadassah's national board broke ground for the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem on Jan. 24.
Seema Liston of Phoenix, the national Hadassah chairwoman for Youth Commissions, calls it "proof of Hadassah's belief in the future of our Jewish youth."
Also present at the groundbreaking was a delegation from the current Young Judaea Year Course of 127 post-high-school students, including Arielle Zupnick of Mesa and Synthia Wills of Scottsdale.
"With this milestone, we are sending a message to our children and our grandchildren that we were here on this spot in Jerusalem breaking ground for the Judaean Youth Hostel and that Hadassah will be here always," said Bonnie Lipton, Hadassah national president, in a press release.
Designed by Jerusalem architects Yakov Molcho and Haim Lotner, the hostel, near the Jerusalem Mall and Tisch Family Zoo, will serve as a center for Young Judaea and other youth in Israel. It will house lecture and conference rooms and eventually an auditorium, sport center and swimming pool.
The board was in Israel for their midwinter meetings Jan. 22-28. During the visit, the group also visited various Hadassah projects, including hospitals in Mount Scopus and Eim Karem, The College of Technology, Kibbutz Meir Shfeya and the Hadassah Career Counseling Institute.
"We covered the country in five days," Liston says.
Guest speakers included Amir Eisenstein, the director general of Intel, who spoke about Israel's high tech industry and Mor Yoses, director general of the Hadassah hospital, who spoke about war preparedness, biological war and new security plans.
Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement sponsored by Hadassah, has programs in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Scottsdale.
Call Karen Goodman, Young Judaea regional director, at 480-607-9411 or the Hadassah Valley of the Sun chapter office at 480-998-1880.
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