{"id":3157,"date":"2012-10-24T03:49:32","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T09:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=3157"},"modified":"2012-10-25T03:56:59","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T09:56:59","slug":"at-its-centennial-celebration-hadassah-looks-for-donors-new-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/at-its-centennial-celebration-hadassah-looks-for-donors-new-members\/","title":{"rendered":"At its centennial celebration Hadassah looks for donors, new members"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BENSALES<\/p>\n<p>TEL AVIV (JTA) &#8212; Five years before the Balfour Declaration gave Jews their first realistic hope for a modern state in the Land of Israel, Henrietta Szold founded the women\u2019s Zionist organization Hadassah and sent two nurses here to fight disease and provide milk to infants and their mothers.<\/p>\n<p>A century later, Hadassah runs one of Israel\u2019s premier hospitals &#8212; a medical center with two campuses in Jerusalem and a budget of $500 million. The organization also has created and supported Israeli educational, youth and medical programs, built a membership base of 330,000 Jewish women and male associates in the United States, and developed a budget of more than $100 million.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3158\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3158\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3158 lazyload\" title=\"2-Natan Galay Pollim Falchuk\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-300x191.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-1024x652.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/191;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3158\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3158 \" title=\"2-Natan Galay Pollim Falchuk\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-300x191.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/2-Natan-Galay-Pollim-Falchuk-1024x652.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3158\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left to right, Hadassah National President Marcie Natan, Assaf Galay and his wife, Hannah Pollin-Galay, and past Hadassah National President Nancy Falchuk, at Hadassah&#39;s 100th anniversary convention in Jerusalem, Oct. 17, 2012. (Courtesy of Hadassah)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOur activities and our mission have stayed very close to what they were when Henrietta Szold stayed here,\u201d Hadassah\u2019s national president, Marcie Natan, told JTA in an interview while in Israel to celebrate the movement\u2019s centennial. \u201cWhen we see a need, we find a way to try to meet that need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But as it enters its second century, Hadassah is struggling to attract Israeli donors, government funding for its hospitals and young women to its American membership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have tried to create relationships with those in Israel who are in a position to provide significant philanthropic support, not with any great amount of success,\u201d Natan said. \u201cWe are going to need help. We cannot bring in the dollars to support all of what is not covered by the health care system here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to a senior official at the Hadassah Medical Center, the Hadassah organization, which owns the hospital, covers 4 percent of the hospital\u2019s daily operations and 96 percent of its research and development budget &#8212; a total cost of nearly $30 million per year.<\/p>\n<p>Hadassah also is raising funds for the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at its Ein Kerem campus in Jerusalem, an inpatient facility that went operational in March and that Hadassah inaugurated last week at its centennial celebration. The facility costs $363 million, some of which Hadassah has yet to raise.<\/p>\n<p>The struggling U.S. economy has hurt U.S. fundraising and led the hospital to ask the Israeli government for more funding, the official said.<\/p>\n<p>Hadassah Medical Center is unique among Israel\u2019s large hospitals in that it is privately owned, which means that it receives minimal funding from Israel\u2019s Health Ministry, though the ministry is covering 15 percent of the Davidson Tower\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n<p>Hadassah also was hit hard by Bernie Madoff\u2019s Ponzi scheme and had to pay a $45 million in a \u201cclawback\u201d settlement to some of the scandal\u2019s victims. Natan said \u201cthe Madoff scandal is behind us,\u201d but that the organization has had to cut back on its spending.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur ability to continually expand has weakened a bit because Hadassah gives less money,\u201d the official said. He added that the hospital has had trouble expanding its Israeli donor pool \u201cbecause the big money is in Tel Aviv,\u201d whereas the medical center is in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n<p>Getting Israeli philanthropists to support Hadassah is especially hard because Israel lacks America\u2019s culture of philanthropy, according to Itay Greenspan, a Hebrew University expert on Jewish donations to Israeli nonprofits. This stems from historical dependence in Israel on socialist governments and on U.S. donations, he said. Israel&#8217;s tax exemptions for charitable giving also are not nearly as broad as those in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has \u201ca long history of Diaspora support,\u201d Greenspan said. He said that several generations ago, small groups of religious Jews in Jerusalem would receive support from Diaspora sources, and after the state was founded, &#8220;the Israeli establishment adopted the same process. People feel that this is the least that the Jewish Diaspora could do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the paucity of local donors, Hadassah\u2019s projects in Israel are growing. The centennial celebration, which was held over several days last week in Jerusalem, brought nearly 2,000 members and supporters to Israel. The celebrations included tours of Hadassah philanthropic projects and speeches by Israeli government officials such as President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who received an award.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the organization announced a new $10 million gift from Irene Pollin, founder and chairman of Sister to Sister and wife of the late sports executive Abe Pollin, for a cardiovascular wellness center at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Hadassah and Sister to Sister also will collaborate to raise heart health awareness in Israel and the United States.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3159\" style=\"width: 209px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3159\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3159 lazyload\" title=\"Hannah Pollin-Galay\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay.jpg 996w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 199px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 199\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3159\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3159 \" title=\"Hannah Pollin-Galay\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay-682x1024.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Hannah-Pollin-Galay.jpg 996w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3159\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hannah Pollin-Galay presenting a $10 million gift to Hadassah on behalf of her grandmother, Irene Pollin, at Hadassah&#39;s 100th anniversary convention in Jerusalem, Oct. 17, 2012. (Courtesy of Hadassah)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Natan says she\u2019s worried that younger women will not follow their mothers and grandmothers to Hadassah. The organization\u2019s cutbacks on advocacy for U.S. domestic women\u2019s issues has hurt membership recruitment, she suggested. To attract a new generation, Hadassah is looking to expand its missions to Israel and invest more in its local chapters across the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Natan said one of her central goals in recruiting young members is to give them an appreciation for Israel that they may lack.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a generation who never knew a life before the State of Israel and do not have that drive, that don\u2019t understand that without this country the Jewish world will suffer,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need them to feel connected with this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"At%20its%20centennial%20celebration%20Hadassah%20looks%20for%20donors%2C%20new%20members\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25],"tags":[960,68,961,884,8781,378,8790,8795,959,8788,552],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3157"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3161,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157\/revisions\/3161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}