Hadassah Leader Says Her Group Can Help Build a Jewish Community Committed to Israel, Jewish Values

Frieda Lewis, the new president of Hadassah, told the organization’s 66th annual convention here last week that the 370,000 member. Zionist organization has the power “to influence situations” and “improve conditions.”

She was referring to the situation in the United States where “the Jewish family structure is gravely ill. There are tens of thousands of Jewish who are in search of spiritual meaning and direction. There are elderly in the thousands who are victims of changing times and advancing years.”

Noting that her organization reaches into every community in this country, Mrs. Lewis, who was inaugurated as the 17th president of Hadassah, said: “I believe that we can help build a Jewish community committed to Israel — strong in Jewish values — strong in Jewish education — strong and unswerving in unity.”

She said she believes that “we can help assure a better Jewish future for our children and our grandchildren — and for the Jewish people. I believe that we can help create a community healed in spirit and body — fulfilling the vision of the prophet that Zion has been redeemed through justice.”

Mrs. Lewis, of Great Neck, N.Y., who succeeded Bernice Tannenbaum who completed a maximum of four one-year terms in office, has been a member of Hadassah for 32 years. She has held posts from the local to the national level. She is immediate past chairman of the youth aliya department and a former national treasurer and vice president.

Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Zionist General Council of the World Zionist Organization and the executive and national board of the American Zionist Federation. She is Hadassah’s representative on the Commission on Individual Freedom and Jewish Security of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council. Mrs. Lewis has also been a director of the Jewish National Fund, the Hadassah Zionist Youth Commission and the American Foundation for Jewish Culture.