HADASSAH NEWS
Like-Minded Women in Action Changing lives and finding meaning | Stories compiled by Marlene Post of women—especially Hadassah women!—are desperately needed. I can’t wait to see how much more we’ll be able to accomplish together.”
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Connecting the Dots Between Power, Purpose and Engagement
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ow do we find purpose and how do we integrate that purpose into our daily, busy lives? Deriving meaning from something greater than ourselves was explored at Hadassah’s Power of Purpose Conference, held virtually on January 9 and featuring an array of impressive female entrepreneurs, social activists and health workers. Before the day of panel discussions and workshops kicked off, the nearly 300 participants heard from emcee Lesley Stahl, the pioneering CBS journalist, and NBC TODAY show personality Jenna Hager Bush; Janice Weinman, immediate past CEO of
Hadassah and chair of the Power of Purpose Committee; and Rhoda Smolow, national president of Hadassah. “There are few things I can think of,” Smolow told the audience, “that are more exciting than the feeling of fulfilling one’s purpose and doing so alongside like-minded women.” That camaraderie was underscored in the conference’s four panels—and in concluding remarks delivered by Naomi Adler, Hadassah’s new CEO/executive director. “At a time when our world faces so many crises and challenges,” Adler said, “I am convinced that the leadership, intelligence and vision MARCH/APRIL 2022
oderated by attorney Brooke Goldstein, founder of the Lawfare Project, panelists Mandana Dayani and Tamar Manasseh shared their different paths to advocacy and the value they see in their work. Dayani, an Iranian Jewish immigrant, drew on her family’s experience of finding safety and success in America in discussing her interest in encouraging civic participation and voting through her “I am a voter” initiative. For her part, Manasseh, a newly minted rabbi who lives and works on the South Side of Chicago, recounted how she came up with the idea for Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings in the wake of neighborhood gun violence, and explored how the Black and Jewish communities can be better allies in the fight against racism and antisemitism.
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istorian and israel educator Rachel Fish joined Israeli-born actress and producer Noa Tishby in conversation—led by Israeli tech executive Lee Moser—about how to defend the Jewish state in a world of rising antisemitism, especially in the wake of the May 2021 conflict with Hamas, which sparked a significant rise of anti-Jewish sentiment on
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