Ruth Popkin (13 June 1913 – 2 January 2015) led Hadassah and the Jewish National Fund. [1] In 1978 she was co-chair of Hadassah’s first national convention in Israel. [2] She was president of Hadassah from 1984 to 1988 and served as a Hadassah delegate to seven Zionist Congresses from 1966 to 2002. [2] She was president of the Jewish National Fund from 1989 until 1993. [3]
She was also the first woman to be Chair of the Presidium and President of the World Zionist Congress, being elected to both positions in 1987. [2]
The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine has a Ruth and Morris Popkin Chair in Health Administration, and the dining room at the Hadassah Neurim Youth Village is named for Ruth Popkin. [2]
The World Zionist Organization, or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the First Zionist Congress, which took place in August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The goals of the Zionist movement were set out in the Basel Program.
Henrietta Szold was an American-born Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine dedicated to a binational solution.
Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with nearly 300,000 members in the United States. Hadassah fundraises for community programs and health initiatives in Israel, including the Hadassah Medical Organization, two leading research hospitals in Jerusalem. In the US, the organization advocates on behalf of women's rights, religious autonomy and US–Israel diplomacy. In Israel, Hadassah supports health education and research, women's initiatives, schools and programs for underprivileged youth.
The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress and World Zionist Organization (WZO), respectively. The World Zionist Organization elects the officers and decides on the policies of the WZO and the Jewish Agency, including "determining the allocation of funds." The first Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897. Any Jew over age 18 who belongs to a Zionist association is eligible to vote, and the number of elected delegates to the Congress is 500. 38% of the delegates are allocated to Israel, 29% to the United States of America, and 33% to the remainder of the countries of the Diaspora. In addition there are about 100 delegates which are appointed by International Organizations affiliated with WZO.
Hadassah Medical Center is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Its declared mission is to extend a "hand to all, without regard for race, religion or ethnic origin."
United Israel Appeal (UIA), a subsidiary of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), is a link between the American Jewish community and the people of Israel. An independent legal entity with 501(c)(3) charity status, and a Board of Directors, United Israel Appeal is responsible for the allocation and oversight of funds raised by United States Jewish federation campaigns on behalf of Israel for use by its operating agent, the Jewish Agency for Israel. It also secures and monitors U.S. grant funds for the immigration and absorption of Jewish refugees and humanitarian migrants to Israel from countries of distress. Partnered with the Jewish Agency for Israel, United Israel Appeal assists American Jews to fulfill their ongoing collective commitment to contribute to and participate in the upbuilding of the State of Israel. United Israel Appeal has offices in New York City and Jerusalem.
Irma L. Lindheim (1886–1978), born in New York, was a Zionist fund-raiser and educator.
Michal Har'el, was the second Miss Israel, a women's rights activist, and one of three lifetime honorary presidents of Women's International Zionist Organization.
Lillian Bilsky Freiman, nicknamed The Poppy Lady, was a Jewish-Canadian philanthropist, and Zionist. In 2008, she was designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian Government for being "a gifted organizer and philanthropist who worked to improve the health and welfare of her fellow citizens."
Bernice Tannenbaum was an activist with Hadassah. She joined Hadassah in 1944. She was Hadassah's president from 1976 until 1980, and while president she began Hadassah's practice of periodically holding its annual convention in Israel, with the first such Jerusalem held gathering in 1978. She was chairwoman of the Hadassah Medical Organization from 1980 to 1984.
Ida Silverman was a Jewish philanthropist, who with her husband helped found approximately 100 synagogues, mostly in Israel. She is the only woman to have served as vice president of the Zionist Organization of America and the American Jewish Congress.
Miriam Kottler Freund-Rosenthal was an American civic leader, best known for her contributions as President of the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America.
Tamar de Sola Pool, was an Israeli-American academic and zionist who served as president of the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America from 1939 to 1943. Born in Jerusalem to Rabbi Chaim Hirschenson and Eva (Cohen) Hirschenson, the family moved to New Jersey in 1904, and Rabbi Hirschenson became a congregational rabbi. In 1917, Hirshenson married David de Sola Pool, the rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York. She died in 1981.
Faye L. Schenk was an American Zionist activist and leader. She was the president of Hadassah from 1968 to 1972. She was also the president of the American Zionist Federation from 1974 to 1978.
Denise Tourover Ezekiel (1903-1980) was an American lawyer who served in various executive positions for Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America from the 1930s until her retirement in 1976 including as Hadassah's Washington D.C. representative beginning in 1939 and as a coordinator of Hadassah's food surplus distribution programs from 1950 to 1974.
Rose Luria Halprin (1896–1978) was an American Zionist leader and National President of the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. In addition to her two terms as Hadassah president, she also served on the Zionist General Council, American Zionist Emergency Council, American Jewish Conference, and the Jewish Agency for Palestine. As part of the American section for the Jewish Agency, she was involved in discussions that led to the establishment of the State of Israel.
Alice Lillie Seligsberg was an American Zionist, social worker, and president of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America from 1921 to 1923.
Frieda Warburg was a Jewish-American philanthropist and communal worker from New York.
Shulamith Schwartz Nardi was an American-born translator, writer, editor, and educator, based in Israel after 1950.