[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 2302-2303]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    CELEBRATING THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF HADASSAH OF GREATER BALTIMORE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN P. SARBANES

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 27, 2012

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th 
birthday of Hadassah of Greater Baltimore. Hadassah, founded in 1912, 
is a volunteer women's organization that strives to enhance the quality 
of American and Jewish life through educational programs, promoting 
health awareness, and aiding the personal enrichment and growth of its 
members and surrounding communities.
  Established in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, the daughter of a rabbi at 
Temple Oheb Shalom in Baltimore, Hadassah has over 300,000 members and 
is the largest Jewish organization in America and one of the largest 
women's volunteer organizations in the world.

[[Page 2303]]

  Upon returning from a trip to Israel, Ms. Szold took it upon herself 
to create an organization that could aid the people of the region who 
were afflicted with starvation and disease. By 1918, Hadassah had sent 
an entire medical unit to Israel where they helped to develop the 
beginning of the Israeli healthcare system.
  In 1934, Hadassah helped to create Youth Aliyah, a child rescue 
program that saved tens of thousands of children from war torn Eastern 
Europe. Today Youth Aliyah is helping to resettle children of the 
Ethiopian and Russian migrations as well as Israeli children who are 
living on the streets.
  Throughout World War II, the organization sold $200 million in war 
bonds and was rewarded with 100 Air Force bombers who were given the 
names of different Hadassah chapters. By 1942 the U.S. State Department 
named Hadassah one of the largest contributors to overseas relief, 
especially due to the efforts of Ms. Szold to rescue thousands of 
children from Nazi Germany.
  Over the years, Hadassah has established itself as a powerful voice 
for change. They have argued for federal and state funding of stem cell 
research and called for legislation that supports medical privacy and 
freedom from genetic discrimination by insurance companies and 
employers. In Israel, they have established and maintained two state-
of-the-art medical centers, created the Hadassah College Jerusalem, and 
run the country's largest touring and residency program for American 
Jewish youth.
  Today, the hundreds of thousands of women in Hadassah have upheld 
Henrietta Szold's commitment to improving the world we live in today. I 
hope my fellow Members will join me in congratulating them on their 
100th birthday and thanking them for the wonderful contributions 
they've made in Baltimore and throughout the world.

                          ____________________