I recently had the opportunity to bring a group of young (in their 30s, 40s and 50s) Jewish women together to form a new chapter of Hadassah, a philanthropy organization raising money for advocacy, healthcare and Jewish youth in Israel.

At our chartering ceremony, we were very fortunate to have Hadassah’s outgoing CEO, Janice Weinman speak about the importance of philanthropy both in her life and career. After her inspiring speech, I began our philanthropic work with the following words:

“Wow. We did it! This feels like the moment in Formula 1 where they spray champagne on all the spectators!

I am completely overwhelmed by all of the stories of the incredible women on this zoom today. I have to tell you that I have met the most wonderful people on this journey - in addition to strengthening and deepening friendships that began with the simple circumstance of my children going to a particular Jewish preschool. As Jessica mentioned earlier, this journey began stuck in the mud on a giant bus loaded with Jewish ladies outside the Meir Shfeya youth village in Israel. As you can imagine, there were squeals, peels of laughter and a lot of opinions about how we should proceed. I am confident this will be the continuing vibe of my Hadassah journey and I am very excited about it.

I returned from my Momentum and Hadassah-sponsored trip to Israel very inspired by the work of Hadassah and in particular, the story of our founder, Henrietta Szold. The story of a woman recognizing a problem and shaping an organization that conquered that particular problem and continues to grow and lead in so many avenues including advocacy, medicine and at-risk youth in a country that welcomes all Jews and where my kids and all people can be outwardly and unapologetically Jewish is a powerful story.

Henrietta Szold started this organization by going into living rooms of women and passing a tzedakah box - and look at us now in this moment - sitting in our houses, gathering in front of our computers and tablets to continue this work of fellowship, community and tzedakah.

All of this takes time. I realized in the pandemic, one of the most precious things one can give an organization or each other - is the gift of their time. The pandemic reignited the national conversation around how women use their time and the ludicrous gender inequalities in what is called invisible work. And the people that suffer most because of these antiquated systems are the women themselves, resulting in burn-out and no time for self-care and development. For me, Hadassah has become a place in which I calendar time to see my friends, to develop my leadership skills and to further define why I believe in the concept of Israel and can advocate for the work of Hadassah.

Connecting with each other and networking is the way we grow our Kesher Oak community in this way, we’re recharging ourselves in order to achieve our own goals - including the continuance of philanthropy work and being of service to our community. It also makes me feel good to be able to model this behavior for my daughter (and my son. When you have twins, you can’t just name one without the other. They get offended.)

I interviewed some of our members and their mothers for a video I was hoping to include in today’s chartering. The video was a victim of my lack of time in the past six weeks and I will finish it this summer when my kids go to camp, but in the meantime, the themes that presented themselves in these interviews were extremely powerful and prescient. These women, side by side with their daughters speaking of memories of friendship, community building. Not just memories but their best memories - of lifelong friendships and working together to raise money for an organization they wholeheartedly believe in while strengthening their Jewish communities and identities. It’s a gift and a legacy they were overwhelmed by and eager to gift to their daughters.

These interviews made me emotional, as I am today in front of you all witnessing the creation of a new link in a long chain and legacy of Jewish women supporting other women, equity and social justice.

I’d like to thank you all for your time - for all the time you’ve given to this organization and for your time today. It’s important to recognize that your time is precious and your choice of being here today in support of Hadassah and our new chapter is such a gift. Thank you for the support!”