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HOPE
AGAINST
HATE
Building Resilient
Jewish Communities in
the Face of Threat
Monday, May 8th
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
A unique one-day conference, that examines
the challenges—and potential solutions—
facing Jewish communities today.
Tamarack Camps, Temple Israel and
Hillel Day School with the gener-
ous support of the Jewish Women’s
Foundation.
SOMETHING FOR ALL WOMAN
Why should women choose
Hadassah?
“I’m so glad you asked that ques-
tion,” Ogusky says. “We talk end-
lessly about how to engage young
people. We want continuity and
strength in our numbers. And, here
we are, so happy to have two new
chapters installed this year, sug-
gesting that we are indeed filling a
need for new members to join our
ranks.”
All it takes is the power of one. As
Ogusky explains, the newest chap-
ter of Hadassah Greater Detroit
started when Melissa Liverman,
a young woman from Montreal,
walked through the door and asked,
“Do you have a Hadassah group for
me?”
The answer: “Yes, we do now.”
As Ogusky recalls, “We put our
heads together, made some calls,
gathered our friends, including past
president Beverly Fine, who was
eager to serve as adviser. Today, we
have a wonderfully cohesive group
of women and a chapter named
Leorah — named after Melissa’s
grandmother. How sweet is that?”
The second group to officially
become a chapter this year can be
described as “born again.” They
were Hadassah members from
four previous groups that had dis-
banded.
“All it took was an invitation,”
Diskin says. “We had a core group
of women with interest in starting
anew, and when we invited them
continued from page 12
Fight or Flight: A Conference on the
Modern Jewish Community
Offering a variety of in-depth sessions on the challenges
and opportunities facing Jewish communities today.
Event Schedule:
12:00 – 12:45pm Kosher Lunch & Welcome
12:45 – 1:45pm Opening Plenary with Deborah E. Lipstadt
2:00 – 3:00pm Breakout Session 1
• From Bosnia to Berlin: The
Journey of a European Jew
• The Rise of Neo Fascism
3:15 – 4:15pm Breakout Session 2
• Confronting Anti-Semitism: A
Local Perspective on Hate-
Speech and Threats
• The Upside of Crisis: Defining European Communities in
the Face of Challenge
• Squeezed from Both Sides: Young Adults and the
Challenge of BDS and Anti-Semitism on Campus
4:30 – 5:00pm Closing Plenary with Alan Gill
In 1980, Hadassah members Mary Saidman, Diane Klein, Doris August, Ellen Rothenberg and
Annette Meskin were among those who collected dimes in “eye banks” to help wipe out
trachoma, an eye disease.
her father to buy it. She and her friends
then went door to door to earn enough
money to repay the loan.
When anti-Jewish riots broke out in
Palestine in 1929, resulting in the deaths
of 150 Jews, Hadassah’s Detroit Chapter,
like other chapters nationwide, wanted
to do more to support Hadassah’s medi-
cal facilities
Instead of holding bake sales and
bazaars, they started an “Honor Roll
Campaign” and solicited the 1,000
Detroit Hadassah members directly for
gifts of cash. The year-long drive ended
with a lunch program, attended by 600
women, where it was announced they
To learn more and register,
visit: jewishdetroit.org/hope
For more information, contact Margie Davis
at 248-205-2551 or davis@jfmd.org
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had raised the unprecedented sum of
$15,000.
In 1934, Hadassah became the sole
American agency for Youth Aliyah, which
Henrietta Szold had founded. Youth
Aliyah brought children and teens flee-
ing Europe to Palestine, and Hadassah
became its largest supporter. The Detroit
chapter helped publicize and fund the
program. Members also supported other
programs in Israel, including a home for
delinquent girls, a vocational school for
girls, a mechanical training program for
boys and the first Youth Aliyah kibbutz,
Ramat Hadassah Szold.
For several years, Hadassah held a