Political Quotes

“I rise today to honor the founding of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. Ninety years ago on the holiday of Purim, Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah, a volunteer women's humanitarian organization that is 300,000 members strong and one I am honored to have worked with on many an occasion. Hadassah's President, Bonnie Lipton has been a great leader and a friend. The holiday of Purim celebrates the story of Esther, who saved the Jews from annihilation by the Persian King Ahasuerus. Esther was Ahasuerus' wife, and when she learned that Ahasuerus' advisor, Haman, convinced him to kill the Jews, at great personal risk she intervened to save the Jewish people. In celebration of this event, Esther, whose Jewish name was Hadassah, instructed the Jewish people to give gifts to the poor. It is appropriate that Henrietta Szold created an organization dedicated to Esther, Hadassah, and Purim: ensuring Jewish continuity and giving the gift of a better life to the poor. Ms. Szold was inspired to create Hadassah when she learned of the conditions of impoverished Jews living in the slums of Turkish-ruled Jerusalem in 1912. By convincing nurses in New York to help in pre-state Israel, Henrietta Szold created a women's institution dedicated to public service and community responsibility. Hadassah continues today to help bring hope to the less-fortunate across the United States and abroad.”