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2002 SESSION

028376776
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 457
Offered February 28, 2002
Commending Hadassah on its 90th anniversary.
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Patrons-- Hull, Abbitt, Almand, Amundson, Athey, Barlow, Baskerville, Bell, Black, Bland, Bloxom, Bolvin, Brink, Broman, Byron, Callahan, Cole, Cosgrove, Councill, Darner, Dillard, Drake, Gear, Hall, Hargrove, Hogan, Howell, Hurt, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, D.C., Jones, J.C., Kilgore, Louderback, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., May, McQuigg, Melvin, Miles, Moran, Morgan, Nixon, O'Bannon, O'Brien, Oder, Parrish, Petersen, Phillips, Plum, Pollard, Purkey, Reese, Reid, Rust, Saxman, Scott, Sears, Sherwood, Shuler, Spruill, Stump, Suit, Tata, Thomas, Van Landingham, Van Yahres, Ware, Watts, Weatherholtz, Welch, Woodrum and Wright; Senators: Barry, Byrne, Colgan, Deeds, Hanger, Hawkins, Howell, Martin, Maxwell, Mims, Potts, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Ruff, Saslaw, Ticer, Trumbo, Watkins and Whipple
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WHEREAS, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, was founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, a Jewish scholar, educator, and founder of the first night school for new immigrants to America; and

WHEREAS, appalled by the conditions she observed during a visit to Palestine, Henrietta Szold organized a study circle, which, within a year, had organized and raised sufficient funds to send two public health nurses to Jerusalem; and

WHEREAS, one year later, those two nurses had treated 5,000 children for eye diseases, and Hadassah’s commitment to health care has grown ever since; and

WHEREAS, during World War I, Hadassah raised funds to send 900 tons of food and medical supplies to Palestine, saving the lives of thousands of women and children; and

WHEREAS, in 1934, Hadassah laid the cornerstone for the Rothschild-Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, and shortly after, Hadassah became the sole U.S. agency to support Youth Aliyah, a program dedicated to rescuing young Jews from the Holocaust; and

WHEREAS, by 1939, Youth Aliyah had saved thousands of European Jewish children from certain death at the hands of the Nazis, bringing them to new kibbutzim and creating youth villages to start new lives; and

WHEREAS, by the 1940s, Hadassah had become involved in vocational education programs, which led to Hadassah Israel Education Services and the Hadassah College of Technology, which now offers more than 1,000 students per year the best technical training in Israel; and

WHEREAS, with the reopening of the Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus following the Six-Day War in 1967, Hadassah operates two major hospitals in Jerusalem, including Hadassah Ein Karem, graced by Marc Chagall’s famous stained glass windows in the hospital synagogue; and

WHEREAS, now one of the largest health care providers in Israel, Hadassah treats more than 600,000 patients a year at its two hospitals, community health center, and numerous outpatient clinics; and

WHEREAS, in the United States, Hadassah enhances the quality of American and Jewish life through its education and Zionist youth programs, promotes health awareness, and provides personal enrichment and growth for its members; and

WHEREAS, for 90 years, Hadassah has remained true to its mission: to heal the bodies, to develop the minds, to nurture the land, and to strengthen the commitment of American Jewish women and their families to Zionism; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend Hadassah on the occasion of its 90th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Bonnie Lipton, National President of Hadassah, in honor of Hadassah’s 90 years of meritorious service to the State of Israel.