Special Interview the Vitality of Hadassah

Frieda Lewis, who last month became the 17th president of Hadassah, has been an active member in the women’s Zionist organization for 32 years, ever since the State of Israel was established.

“It was inconceivable that I would not be a member of a Zionist organization,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview in her office at Hadassah’s headquarters here. She noted that her father was a believer in the messianic redemption of the Jewish people and her mother had been a member of Hadassah. They gave her thorough Hebrew education.

“I always felt a close spiritual bond with Israel and later translated this into practical terms,” she said.

Mrs. Lewis said that a recent study of Hadassah members and potential members under 40 found that these younger women also put support of Israel high on their list of reasons for joining Hadassah. “These young people don’t have the memory … the personal connection with the Holocaust,” she said. She said this makes it more remarkable that they have the some feelings about Israel.

REASONS FOR JOINING HADASSAH

Mrs. Lewis heads an organization that with 370,000 members in 1550 chapters in the United States is the largest Zionist organization in the world and the largest women’s volunteer group in the United States. One-third of the membership are life members. There are also some 10,000 men enrolled as Hadassah Associates. More than half of Hadassah’s members are daughters or daughter-in-law of Hadassah members.

The poll Hadassah took recently of members under 40 found that 40 percent live in the suburbs, three-quarters are affiliated with synagogues and 60 percent have visited Israel. The survey also questioned potential Hadassah members and found they were mostly younger working women who lived in the cities. She said these women join Hadassah to help Israel, to develop Jewish identity and to seek personal fulfillment.

Mrs. Lewis said that in a time when volunteerism is criticized by some, “I found it most encouraging that the survey shows what I suspected from my own knowledge, that most women do not consider being complete unless they give of themselves without material recompense to a cause they consider significant.”

Mrs. Lewis, who lives in Great Neck N.Y. started her climb on the Hadassah ladder in Great Neck when she was named vice president for education. She herself is a former educator, guidance counselor and administrator. She eventually became president of the chapter, president of the Nassau-Suffolk regional group, and then moved onto the national level as treasurer and vice president. She was chairman of the youth aliya department before becoming president.

Mrs. Lewis is also a member of the Zionist General Council of the World Zionist Organization and the Executive and National Board of the American Zionist Federation. She has served as director of the Jewish National Fund, the Hadassah Zionist Youth Commission and the American Foundation for Jewish Culture.

Mrs. Lewis said she would not have been able to do these things without the support of her husband, Edward, who heads a purchasing firm. She has two sons, Dr. Jeffrey Lewis and Dr. Michael Lewis, both physicians, and six grandchildren.

GOALS OUTLINED

Mrs. Lewis has several goals for her presidency. One is to provide “opportunity for leadership wherever possible to younger women who seek it and are equipped,” she said. Another is to involve Hadassah in activities in all parts of the U.S.

Mrs. Lewis said she wants Hadassah to “find ways to maintain its role as a pioneer in Israel. I want to increase the knowledge” of the health facilities Hadassah maintains in Israel as well as Israel’s other maintain its connection to the land and people of Israel.”

In addition, Mrs. Lewis pledges that “Hadassah will use its influence.” to combat anti-Israel and anti-Semitic forces and will make its voice heard on these issues in the “highest offices of the land.”

Mrs. Lewis has named her predecessor. Bernice Tannenbaum, who served the maximum four one year terms as president, as chairman of the Hadassah Medical Organization. Mrs. Lewis noted that all the former presidents of Hadassah have been “brilliant women who have had an impact on history.” The new president appears eminently qualified to continue this tradition.