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July 23, 2004/Av 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 44
Hadassah heats up the Valley
VICKI CABOT
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 Panelists, from left, Bob Carpenter, Kellyanne Conway, Doug Usher and Jeffrey Pollack, and moderator Mark Shields, listen as Conway speaks during "Point and Counterpoint: Election 2004," a plenary session held during the 90th annual Hadassah Convention in Phoenix. Photo by Michael Miklofsky |
The 90th annual Hadassah National Convention sizzled with the power of nearly 2,000 Jewish women who gathered at the Desert Ridge Marriott July 11-14 to reignite their commitment to Hadassah's Zionist mission and domestic agenda.
Conference participants traveled from around the country to attend the meeting - a first for both the Valley and its 2,600-member Hadassah Valley of the Sun Chapter - to revel in Hadassah's accomplishments and be inspired to do more.
HVOS provided 300 volunteers to extend Southwestern hospitality to delegates; Sheilah Wagner and Ellen Silverman coordinated the effort along with local convention chairwoman Lee Levine.
"All our Hadassah members put themselves out, and our volunteers went a step beyond," enthused Levine. Volunteers manned the conference information and message centers and worked as ushers and guides; Hadassah men's associates worked as cashiers at the conference boutique.
"They were unbelievable," said Levine.
Speakers, programs, panels and workshops engaged delegates in a broad cross-section of issues and concerns. They highlighted the ever-expanding services and programs in Israel that Hadassah has provided since its founding in 1912 to promote "practical Zionism." Today the Hadassah Medical Organization, with two hospitals, outpatient clinics, a community health center and soon-to-be-opened Center for Emergency Medicine, as well as nursing, medical and dental schools, is the centerpiece of a vast network of health, educational and social services.
Conference participants heard firsthand from prominent Hadassah doctors and researchers, including Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, HMO director general, about work being done at both its Mount Scopus and Ein Karem campuses. At the opening plenary, Mor-Yosef emphasized Hadassah's commitment to serve the entire community in Israel, including Jews, Muslims and Christians.
"They all get the same treatment at Hadassah hospitals," said Mor-Yosef. "That is why Hadassah is special."
Participants also heard heart-rending stories from recipients of Hadassah services, such as Michal Jacobson, a young student who was severely injured in a bus bombing in Jerusalem in November 2002. Doctors at Hadassah Ein Karem performed an intricate 11-hour surgery to repair Jacobson's severed carotid arteries.
Jacobson, quietly self-assured, a thin wisp of a woman dressed in pale green and white, told the audience, "I am full of gratitude to God, first of all, and to the doctors and the many hands that saved my life."
She went on to say that she "chose life" during her long recuperation and recovery and feels compelled to speak.
"How can I help?" she asked. "I can help by telling my story."
For many, the stories were the highlight of the conference.
"They brought Israel here," commented Paula Mark, of Boca Raton, Fla.
Keynote speakers ranged from former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dennis Ross to CBS foreign correspondent Dan Raviv to Rear Adm. Susan J. Blumenthal, U.S. assistant surgeon general, to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Sessions ran the gamut from the upcoming U.S. elections to bioethics to terrorism to stem cell research.
A high point was the telephone call placed at the July 13 plenary by Hadassah national president June Walker to the White House advocating stem cell research.
"It was 2,000 women telling the president that we have to do something about stem cell research," said Linda Stark, a delegate from Lake Worth, Fla.
Sharan Bonder, attending her first Hadassah national conference from Woodmere, N.Y., said the meetings "empowered me as a woman." Gail Stoll, from Patchogue, N.Y., commented, "It rejuvenates my feelings for Judaism, for Israel and for women's issues."
Stoll appreciated the opportunities the conference provided for learning, a comment repeated by a host of delegates. Many welcomed opportunity to reconnect with friends from other communities.
"It was a great honor to have the convention here," said Fredi Brown, president of the Hadassah Valley of the Sun Chapter. "It is exciting to be the home community."
Brown was gratified with the outpouring of local volunteers and confident that the sizzle the conference generated would spark greater support for Hadassah's mission.
"What we are at base level is a bunch of Jewish mothers doing the work that comes naturally - but there are 300,000 of us," she said.
At one session, "Double or Nothing: Love, Sex and Marriage," three Jewish social experts collaborated on a panel exploring the realities and dangers of mixed marriage.
Dr. Sylvia Barack Fishman, author of "Double or Nothing: Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage," opened the panel with some sobering statistics. She revealed that 40 percent of Jews ages 25 to 49 are married to non-Jews, and that Jewish women who inter-marry get married three years later than Jewish women who do not intermarry, suggesting that Jewish women try to find a Jewish spouse first, but are more open to intermarriage as they get older.
Dr. Steven Bayme, director of the Jewish communal affairs department of the American Jewish Committee, said that in order to lower the intermarriage rate, the Jewish community needs to promote three ideas: that marrying a Jew is better than marrying a non-Jew; that conversion of a non-Jewish spouse is the best outcome to an interfaith marriage; and that raising children exclusively as Jews is necessary and important.
Finally, Rabbi Bradley Artson of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Bel Air, Calif., gave an impassioned call to action against intermarriage.
"Are you committed to Jewish survival?" Artson demanded. "Does the continuity of the Jewish people matter to you?" The crowd answered with a resounding "yes."
Another session, "Point and Counterpoint: Election 2004," pitted conservatives against liberals in a 2004 general election debate that could have easily passed for a high school pep rally.
On the right were Kellyanne Conway, CEO and president of The Polling Company and Bob Carpenter, vice president of American Viewpoint, a public opinion research firm.
On the left was Jeffrey Pollock, president of Global Strategy Group, who is working for the John Kerry campaign.
Also on the left was Doug Usher, vice president of The Mellman Group, who worked on the John Edwards for President campaign.
Pollock garnered most of the attention as his mother, a Hadassah national board member, presided over the debate. When both sides shared similar views, those on the right faced silence, or a round of boos. The crowd was more outspoken regarding the left-leaning views, whose representatives often received standing ovations, laughter and applause.
But there was one opinion that both sides agreed to: Israel is important to the Middle East and the world and deserves the support of the United States.
Staff Writers Jennifer Goldberg and Michael Miklofsky contributed to this article.