Both the dove and the serpent: Hadassah's work in 1920s Palestine (1).

ZIONIST HISTORIANS HAVE NOT LOOKED UPON THE 1920s for instruction or inspiration. They saw the Jewish community in Palestine/Israel as endangered, what with the Arab riots of 1921, uncertainties about the British mandate, and the failure of American Zionists to lead a large migration to Palestine. The decade's end with the August, 1929 Arab riots, resulting in the massacre of Jewish yeshiva students in Hebron as well as hundreds of dead and wounded elsewhere, confirmed the pessimism. (2) To add to the misery, an economic depression had begun in Palestine by the mid-twenties, before the start of the world-wide downturn. Therefore, historians writing about the 1920s and Jewish Palestine tend to see it in terms of what came afterwards--Hitler, World War Two, the Holocaust, and then the creation of the state of Israel--a long period of travail followed by triumph.

Few people interested in finding models and strategies for contemporary Israel have listened to the voices of the 1920s or studied the positive accomplishments of the decade. However, when we consider women's contributions to the Jewish settlement in Israel, particularly Hadassah's--the Women's Zionist Organization of the U.S.--and we discover the origins of basic infrastructures to the country, the picture changes. Jews in 1920s Palestine had no knowledge of the horrific future before them; rather many looked forward to a Jewish state alongside an Arab state, or even one state incorporating both Jews and Arabs. Hadassah workers were not sure what the framework of the future Israel would look like but they were certain that their Zionist faith would be fulfilled. They were also sure that both populations would remain residents of Palestine and they, therefore, had to find ways to get along.

Henrietta Szold's Hadassah Medical Organization became a formidable presence in Palestine after World War One when it sent nurses and doctors to establish medical facilities in the country. Defying the skeptics and the pessimists, Szold and her colleagues practiced what her first medical director, Dr. Isaac M. Rubinow, called "social medicine," an approach that considered the community's needs first while setting its clinics within the neighborhoods and villages of Palestine. As a prototypical American institution builder and reformer, Szold (1860-1945) and her able cohorts built four hospitals in key Jewish cities, clinics in smaller settlements, and infant welfare centers throughout the country that served both the Jewish and Arab populations. By raising money in the United States from Zionist women, they quickly developed a significant part of the medical infrastructre that remains to this day.

Szold came to Palestine in 1921, a mature woman of sixty one, who had a great deal of experience in working with Jewish organizations. (3) She understood the enormous challenges facing all Jews there. She wrote a friend in January, 1920 that "... it will take the gentleness of the dove and the wisdom of the serpent if the situation is to be met in a constructive spirit." (4) In another letter, she said: "Just as the stoniness of the soil does not kill one's confidence in the fertility ..." of the soil, the task is enormous. (5) After the Arab attack on Jews in Jaffa in 1921, she said: "We shall ally ourselves with the best of our Arab fellows, to cure what is diseased in us and in them." (6)

Throughout the next 25 years, she never wavered from that resolve. She always argued that both the Jews and the Arabs had to examine their behavior and repair their mistakes. Because the struggle was continuous, energy had to be expended on the process, on building the needed facilities and serving the population. Pessimism or conceding defeat were not options.

Part of Hadassah's organizational genius, based on Szold's character and leadership style, was to ignore the personality and philosophical differences exhibited by the Yishuv (the Jewish settlement) leadership and to follow a decidedly American pragmatic social philosophy; this approach enabled Hadassah to concentrate on actions and never to forget clearly stated goals. Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952), the President of the World Zionist Organization and one of the major figures of the period, was quoted as saying: "There is no bridge between Washington and Pinsk." (7) But Szold and her colleagues, though keenly aware of the tensions between the American Jews and the European Jews (not to mention the Palestinian Jews) chose to work around the problems rather than to confront them. Hadassah's work was designed to allay the suspicions that arose within and between these communities. They would provide services to all, including the Labor Zionists and the religious Jews, building the necessary bridges between the diverse communities of the Yishuv.

In 1927, Hadassah's work resulted in Szold receiving a seat on the Palestine Executive Council, the governing board of the Jewish community. Hadassah's accomplishments could not be ignored: from employing 400 people in 1920, they became one of Palestine's largest employers by decade's end. Hadassah workers measured their success by their concrete accomplishments: they counted the number of patients treated in their clinics, the number of children receiving eye exams, and the number of nurses graduated from their Nursing School. They communicated all of their work to their constituents, American Jewish women who contributed regularly.

The Hadassah Newsletter, published throughout the period, attests to their optimistic and energetic commitment to serving the community. In a special section in each issue called "Palestine News," American members of Hadassah learned about the work of the doctors and nurses. Readers were told in the November, 1920 issue, for example, that Palestine recognized three languages: English, Hebrew, and Arabic and in the same issue: "Visitors to the Hadassah Clinics are now charged a nominal fee for treatment, but those unable to pay can obtain gratis cards." (8) The humane structure created, call it Socialist, democratic, Torah-based, or pragmatic--or all of the above--became the foundation for Israeli medical care, a model that remains today.

The Hadassah newsletter regularly featured its considerable accomplishments, including its work in the Arab community. In the October, 1923 issue, there is a brief excerpt from a letter sent by the Palestine (National Arabic) Club in Tiberias thanking Hadassah for its services. "This humane attitude prompts the parents and relatives of the pupils, Moslem and Christian, to express their gratitude especially for the care bestowed upon the pupils' eyes, which Dr. David himself treated according to a new system, intermitting his efforts not even during vacation time." (9) Hadassah members throughout America read these words and had to feel the worthiness of their contributions as well as a sense of hopefulness for a future of peaceful settlements. Letters of appreciation for their work appeared regularly in the newsletter, concrete evidence that their tzedakah (righteous giving) was well received.

Effective public relations became a constant theme and concern of the Hadassah leadership. They understood the importance of communicating their work to their various constituencies--to their donors, to potential Hadassah members, and to the Palestinian community. Hadassah leaders also took pride in their careful accounting of how the money received was spent; they were privately appalled at the sloppy methods used by colleagues in other agencies. Newsletter writers produced detailed charts on all aspects of their operations: how many people visited each of their clinics and hospitals, how many babies were born in the obstetrical wards, how many inoculations were given to babies, and how many trichonosis treatments were administered. In the November, 1923 issue, for example, a list showed the personnel available in the Upper Galilee:

1. Metullah, physician

2. Kefar Giladi, midwife

3. Yessod Hamaaleh, physician and midwife

4. Tel-Hai, midwife

5. Mishmar Hayarden, physician and midwife

6. Rosh Pinah, physician and midwife (10)

Hadassah began a nursing school in Jerusalem to train local women to care for their community. In a graduation ceremony reported on in November, 1923, the writer noted that this was the third graduation of nurses. One speaker summarized where the graduates went: four worked in Palestinian hospitals, one in Syria, seven became head nurses in Hadassah hospital wards, four went into infant welfare work, three in private nursing, and two in rural nursing. One nurse was sent to the United States to study public health. (11) The specificity of the report clearly demonstrates the aim of joining the donor to the programs created with the resources received.

Frequently, the newsletter printed summaries of members' experiences in Palestine. Mrs. Edward Jacobs, vice president of Hadassah, returned from a five-week tour of Palestine in September, 1924 and wrote a detailed report of her trip. She quickly acknowledged that five weeks did not make her an expert but that she had many impressions worthy of comment. "Landing at Jaffa gave me an opportunity for a comparative study. A long stretch of land built up along the sea greeted us--the Tel-Aviv I had seen ten years ago consisting of but a few streets had grown into a large sea shore city, housing about 20,000 souls." (12) From Jaffa, Mrs. Jacobs and her family took a train to Haifa, passing many small communities along the way. The travelers visited Arab towns, including Nazareth, and noted the industry of the workers. The contrast between hand labor among the Arabs and machine work among the Jews offered a striking example of the old and the new. Jews threshed wheat with a machine while Arabs relied on a simple tool and their own muscle.

Another visitor to Palestine, a Frances Lunevsky of New York, wrote her account in the spring of 1925. She noted how Tel Aviv, the first Jewish city in the twentieth century, was a modern city "... and one can be as comfortable here as in an up-to-date New York apartment." During her visit, the dedication of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem took place and Miss Lunevsky noted how the streets were being "macadamized" in preparation for the visit of Lord Balfour. In a subsequent letter, she wrote: "Shops were closed and business suspended in celebration of his coming. In the Arab city of Jaffa, shops were closed and business suspended in protest of his coming." (13) The irony of this juxtaposition was not commented on by the writer, yet in another letter describing the ceremonies in Jerusalem, she noted that Arab notables were in attendance and speeches were made in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.

Henrietta Szold made frequent trips to the States during the decade to visit family and to raise funds, but when she was in Palestine, she wrote letters back to Hadassah headquarters in New York as well as to her numerous family members and correspondents. In the November, 1924 newsletter, she struck a chord that became more and more poignant and pressing as time passed: "We know that the European ports and American ports to the south of our country are filled with despairing Jewish immigrants, who beseech us to show them whither to turn. To them and to the thousands they left behind sitting in darkness we must open the door of opportunity in Palestine. To that end we must help to increase the land purchasing fund and the colonization fund of the Zionist Organization--The National Fund (Keren HaKayemet) and the Foundation Fund (Keren Ha-Yesod)." (14)

Precisely because the need for increased settlement was so urgent, Szold and her cohorts encouraged tourism and frequent visitation of both prominent and not so prominent Jews interested in Palestine. If they were not going to become permanent members of the community, at least they would share their positive observations with others who might be so inclined. During the 1920s, a regular flow of visitors came, including Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who visited in 1919 and gave Szold $10,000 to drain the malarial swamps that plagued the country. The Felix Warburgs gave $1000 to the Infant Welfare Fund, (15) and Nathan Straus gave $20,000 in early 1923 for mothers and children. In his gift, he stipulated, "... that the sum of $1000 be used for work in the Arab community." (16) The Hadassah newsletter writer commented that the organization always provided help to everyone, but that this specific gift enabled the group to use an Arab speaking Hadassah nurse exclusively in the Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

With the steady, and growing, support of the Hadassah membership, (and the 1920s was a consistent growth period), Hadassah extended its reach, and by so doing, redefined the meaning of medicine. They utilized the latest thinking on public health, nutrition, and education to produce a healthy population. In December, 1924, for example, they opened an exhibit in Jerusalem that illustrated how to deal with eye problems and ear infections. In the January, 1925 newsletter, the reporter said that in the two weeks that the exhibit had been open, 30,000 people had visited, including Arab women. "A day was set aside for Moslem women when they could come without fear of meeting men. Mrs. Louis Cantor was in attendance upon them, and gave all necessary explanations in Arabic." (17) Hadassah's efforts at spreading the word--that everyone's good health was their chief objective--resulted in the fact that by the end of 1924, barely five years after Hadassah operations had begun, one-third of everyone who received medical treatment in the country did so in a Hadassah clinic or hospital. (18) Another statistic listed with pride in 1926 was the three-fold increase in Hadassah's membership. (19)

Outside bodies, such as the League of Nations, noted the astonishing medical advances made by the Jewish settlement in Palestine, particularly the lowering of malaria and trachoma rates among the population. (20) The draining of mosquito infested swamps resulted in the decline of malaria cases while regular examinations of children in both the schools and the clinics throughout the country lowered the incidence of trachoma. An additional challenge faced by Hadassah personnel was in providing medical, educational, and social work services to the new Jewish arrivals from Yemen and Iraq where the health standards were notably low. Teaching Yemeni teenage girls how to care for themselves and their babies, how to prevent common illnesses, and how to practice good sanitation became integral features of Hadassah programs.

Szold, her nurses, and many other Jewish American women who settled in Palestine at the time brought with them an American knowledge of, and experience in, immigrant social work. Many had been volunteers on the Lower East Side of New York; some knew the work of public health doctor Sara Josepha Baker, and still others, had read about Jane Addams' Hull House and the settlement house movement generally. They brought this knowledge with them as they worked to acculturate Iraqi Jewish women into the wonders of modern sanitation, prenatal care, and preventive medicine. While immigrants to America had to learn English, the new settlers in Palestine had to tackle Hebrew. The parallels were many and the Jewish American women who read about Hadassah's work in the comfort of their American home also knew about similar challenges within their own environment.

In every case, the situation shaped the Hadassah response. By 1928, Hadassah had an extensive program in all of the Palestinian schools, surely not a plan envisioned in 1920 when medical concerns dominated. The School Hygiene Department supervised over 20,000 children in 228 kindergartens, elementary schools, Talmud Torahs, vocational, and secondary schools. (21) All children were given regular physical exams and vaccinations. If there was a need for medical treatment, they were sent to a Hadassah facility. Tuberculosis clinics as well as dental clinics had been established to insure healthy children, thereby laying the ground work for healthy adults. Understanding the value of preventive medicine as well as public health, Hadassah medical and school personnel became a model, not just for Palestine or the Middle East, but for the world.

It is in some of the brief paragraphs of the newsletter that important information is conveyed and insight gained. In the March, 1927 issue, for example, under the title: "Care for 2,000 Babies," the following paragraph appears: "From suspicion and ignorance Arabic mothers were hesitant at first in giving themselves and their children to the scientific treatment and instruction instituted by Hadassah through the infant welfare stations five years ago. Yet within a short time Hadassah's methods so far influenced the natives that they established an infant welfare station in Ramallah, an old Arabic village, under the supervision of a Christian Arabic woman who had received a course of training in the health welfare department of Hadassah." (22)

Slowly, Hadassah gained the confidence of Arab women through the mediating presence of Christian Arab women who were trained in Hadassah facilities. Moslem Arab women were suspicious of the "scientific treatment" as well as the Jewish role in transmitting the new knowledge. By enlisting the support of and by training Christian Arab women, a bridge was built between the communities.

By 1928, Hadassah was not only funding its considerable medical, social, and educational work but also contributed 20% of the budget of the United Palestine Appeal, the agency responsible for all of the financial needs of the community. (23) Its membership had grown to 45,000 including 10,000 Junior Hadassah members, younger, unmarried Zionist women who organized and developed their own fundraising projects, particularly an orphanage and a rural school. There were 405 Jewish doctors in Palestine at the time, including 127 women, with 66 working for Hadassah. (24) When, in 1929, Dr. E.M. Bluestone, the medical director of Hadassah, gave his report, he could point to many notable achievements as evidence of the first decade's work. Despite economically hard times, and the constant challenge of motivating American women to donate, Hadassah activities continued to grow.

In cooperation with the doctors at Hebrew University, significant medical research was being undertaken. Though most of the medical facilities and laboratories were concentrated in Jewish areas, "A considerable portion of non-Jewish patients enjoy their benefits." More than 75% of the patients treated in the four hospitals received care without charge. "It is worthy of note," Dr. Bluestone continued, "that the Jewish medical budget for Palestine (the Hadassah Medical Organization, and the Sick Fund of the Jewish Federation of Labor) was almost double that of the public health department of the Government of Palestine during the past year." (25) Hadassah's radiology lab served the whole country and was the only such facility in the Near East. The report detailed measurable results of Hadassah's work, thereby demonstrating to the American members that their contributions served a worthwhile purpose. This message was delivered, enforced, and reinforced throughout the decade.

The year 1929 began typically with both promising and troublesome events. On April 30th Hadassah leaders proudly dedicated the Nathan and Lina Straus Health Center, which became the newest Hadassah facility in Jerusalem. The center united various Hadassah programs under one roof and improved delivery of health care services to the community. The Sixteenth Zionist Congress convened in London during the summer, and while the leadership debated finances and how to restructure the government in Palestine, tensions between the Arab and Jewish communities rose after Arabs spread false claims that Jews were desecrating the Temple Mount and Western Wall area. It precipitated the worst riot of the decade with Jewish deaths in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and elsewhere. Whole sections of Safed and Hebron, ancient Jewish sites, were pillaged and burned. Students at the Slobodka Yeshiva in Hebron were killed, eight of whom were Americans.

The Zionist Organization of America created an Emergency Fund to help the hundreds of wounded. David A. Brown, the chairman of the fund, was quoted as saying: "This emergency fund is not only to be raised from Jews but from everyone who believes in justice and is opposed to the barbaric acts of the Arabs." (26)

Hadassah's medical facilities throughout the country were filled with victims. But as one writer noted: "No one can foretell at this time, what heavier burdens the H.M.O. may yet be called upon to bear. But whatever the future holds, Hadassah must be found ready." (27) The September, 1929 issue of the newsletter contained a detailed description of the cables received from Jerusalem during the crisis; each day's horror was reported: "August 23: Jewish casualties Jerusalem 11 killed--wounded admitted Hadassah--wounded from other quarters admitted Hadassah different clinics. Arab attacks continue many Jewish quarters." (28) The cables continued until August 26th when six separate cables were sent, each detailing the injuries and fatalities throughout the Jewish settlements. The surgical wards in all Hadassah hospitals were stretched beyond their normal limits and obstetrical units had to be converted to meet the surgery needs.

The Hadassah hospital in Hebron was burned and 73 Yeshiva boys died in the massacre. All in all, hundreds died and many hundreds were injured. It took the British military many days to send troops and to squelch the riots in Jerusalem and Hebron. The criticisms of their actions, or rather their inaction, rang throughout the country as well as in Jewish communities around the world. The British began an investigation and vowed to keep the peace in the future, but many peoples' faith in the British willingness and/or ability to protect the Jews from hostile Arabs had been dashed. But despite the sense of horror, fear, and disgust, the Hadassah leadership took this horrific event to be a clarion call to do more, to raise more money, provide more medical facilities, and begin new programs for the settlers. "Giving a contribution is what is expected from the general public. From Hadassah women we expect much more." (29)

Hadassah members were urged to study Zionism, Jewish history, and Jewish culture so that they could marshal arguments against all detractors--and so they could spread the Zionist message throughout their communities. "No one who has a real understanding of Zionism and of the ideals underlying the movement has been shaken one iota by the catastrophe in Palestine. Rather has he resolved to go further." (30) Another writer focused upon the fact that no member of the Zionist Executive Council was in the country at the time of the riots as they were in Europe for the Zionist Congress. This left the leadership responsibility to Hadassah workers; Hadassah was "... the first to organize and carry out relief measures, and house, clothe, and feed refugees. It tackled the problem of sanitation and took all necessary steps in averting an imminent epidemic." (31)

Two Hadassah workers were killed in the riots: Dr. Israeli "... who was fatally stabbed by an Arab in Beer Tuviah after he had treated an Arab wounded, and a clerk, Maman, who was killed in Safed." (32) No further editorial comment was made by the writer. Members reading these vivid accounts back home surely felt connected to the horrors of the scene. Descriptions of the refugees streaming into Jerusalem and being fed at the Straus Health Center were presented in detail as well as facts and figures reporting on the 1700 refugees at the Center with 2000 more receiving daily meals from soup kitchens set up for that purpose. More than 500 people were sheltered in the Center following the riots. (33) One of Hadassah's infant welfare clinics was turned into a first aid station and philanthropist Nathan Straus contributed $100,000 for emergency relief.

Mrs. A.H. Vixman happened to be touring in Palestine at the time and she filed a report for the October issue of the newsletter. She had been at the Straus Health Center when the wounded were brought in. She was told to return to her hotel immediately. "From the balcony of the hotel, situated in the heart of the Jewish section of the new city, we saw large numbers of Jewish men and women carrying canes and iron rods, walking the streets or standing in groups on the corners." (34)

Henrietta Szold traveled back to the United States in September, 1929, shortly after the riots, and addressed the 15th Hadassah convention in November. In her remarks, she declared that the responsibility for peaceful relations belonged to both the Arabs and the Jews. The reporter summarized: "She urged a closer bond between Arab and Jew. She recommended the teaching of the Arabic language, literature, and history, and acquaintance with Arab customs and the Moslem religion as a part of the Jewish cultural equipment." (35) Szold acknowledged that the effort would take generations to accomplish, but insisted that "... our whole Zionist undertaking reaches out into the distant future. They are both Messianic tasks, as all peace and conciliation are." (36) Szold remained committed to her life-long belief in a Jewish and Arab nation in Palestine. Catastrophes, massacres, and internal dissension never changed her mind, her heart, or her faith.

In its final resolutions at the convention, Hadassah declared itself to be "... unswerving in its sense of a common humanity with our Arab cousins and firm in its faith that the blessings of peace shall rise from the sufferings now endured." (37) It is amazing to note the lack of rancor or frustration in the various descriptions and reports from Palestine after the horrific events of August, 1929. Mrs. Irma L. Lindheim, the new president of Hadassah, made a forceful speech to the convention that was reproduced in the December issue. "The evil forces which have been turned loose in Palestine will spread and spread until they devour the good--unless Zionism today measures up to the ideals which gave it the right to live." Lindheim went on to declare that the duty of the British government and the Jewish Palestinians was to convince the Arabs that the presence of the Jews does not mean the exile of the Arabs; two homelands, side by side, she asserted, was the vision. "It is our duty to convince the Arabs of Palestine that we come as neighbors and not as oppressors." (38)

The power and forcefulness of Lindheim's words ring through the generations as her words remain as important today as in 1929; "if they have no will to have us as neighbors, we must make them need us as co-workers." She ended her remarks by invoking God's help in showing courage to continue the struggle. Neither revenge nor hatred should motivate Zionists. "Let us build up new foundations on the basis of positive love." (39) The enthusiasm, the essential optimism, and the strength to continue the Zionist enterprise permeates the whole speech. Surely, the conventioneers left the hall motivated to raise still more money to continue Hadassah projects and to rebuild whatever clinic or hospital had been destroyed in the riots. Hadassah was in Palestine, like the Jewish people, for the long haul and nothing could deter its members from continuing their tasks. So insisted both Henrietta Szold and Irma Lindheim, the supreme cheerleaders for their organization.

Lindheim went to Palestine for a few weeks in November and December. Upon her return to New York, she spoke to a Junior Hadassah convention. She reminded her audience, in her role as advocate and educator, that Hadassah had always led the way in reaching out to Arab Palestinians and in serving them in the hospitals. "We insist upon being your friends," was the persistent Hadassah theme in meetings with Arabs. "And you are going to have two peoples who will build the land. If ever you worry about the Jews in Palestine quitting the country--just be assured that they won't quit--they won't quit and you cannot quit." (40) The message could not have been clearer: buildings can be rebuilt, programs reestablished, and personnel deployed while Hadassah's commitment to the Jewish settlement, to the land of Palestine--which they began calling Israel after the riots--and to the medical and social needs of all the dwellers remained high.

The 1930 newsletters continued to provide full descriptions of Hadassah's progress in achieving its health goals. Dr. Shulamit Ben-Harel Lieberman's account in the summer issue lamented the fact that the death rate among Arab babies had risen while the Jewish baby mortality rate had declined; it "... reflects the difficulties encountered by modern medical institutions in Palestine in influencing the Moslems toward an acceptance of scientific methods rather than dependence upon superstitions and taboos." (41) The doctor's frustrations with what she considered backward Moslem customs could easily be discerned from her report. But she showed no hostility to Arabs, Moslems, or the Moslem religion, a true reflection of Hadassah's determination to serve both communities. Hadassah workers continued to reach out to Arabs throughout the land, to recruit Arab women into nursing programs, and to cajole Palestinian Arab women to let their children play in Hadassah playgrounds.

The even, consistently upbeat tone of the Hadassah newsletter throughout this extremely difficult time, remains inspirational when read eighty years later. The wholehearted belief in the worthiness of the cause, in its holy mission, made doubts unthinkable, retreat unimaginable. Not everyone, of course, shared Hadassah's determination to persevere in serving both communities. The British government in 1930, for example, issued the Passfield Paper which restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine. Just as Jewish Palestinians desperately sought new immigrants, the British sided with the Arabs in lowering the numbers allowed in. Consequently, travel to Palestine became more difficult, even before the rise of Hitler. Fewer visitors came to the small community, only deepening their sense of isolation. Hadassah, however, continued to fund-raise, to provide services to the community, and to speak for improved relations between the two peoples.

The lessons to be learned about Jewish Palestine from this painful and challenging decade are many. First, Hadassah's pragmatic style allowed it to do communal work and measure its accomplishments in concrete terms; they kept good records on inoculations, clinic visits, school inspections, and hospital usage. The emphasis upon results is striking and speaks volumes about how worthy behavior is its own reward. Hadassah's fervent belief that the Jewish presence in Israel is permanent, eloquently stated by both Henrietta Szold and Irma Lindheim, deserves repeating today. By avoiding conflicts that could freeze action, they were able to accomplish a great deal. Never focusing upon the ideological divisions within the Jewish community, let alone the Arab and European communities, Hadassah's leaders and followers continued their daily chores of serving the children, the mothers, the fathers, and the workers of the country. Their message remains the same: Jews and Arabs must learn to be good neighbors sharing the same land. This is their legacy and their continuing contribution to Israel.

NOTES

(1.) I would like to thank the Central Zionist Archive in Jerusalem for permission to read the Rose Jacobs Papers and the Hadassah newsletters from the Hadassah archive. I would also like to thank Susan Woodland, archivist for Hadassah in New York for her help.

(2.) Michael Berkowitz, in his study, Western Jewry and the Zionist Project, 1914-1933 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), is one of the exceptions to my generalization as he focuses upon the twenties as a seminal period.

(3.) There is a great deal of literature on Szold. A recent look at her work at the Jewish Publication Society in New York is found in Roberta H. Schwartz, "Henrietta Szold Meets Gluckel of Hameln," Judaism (Spring, 2002): 201-14.

(4.) Quoted in Marvin Lowenthal, Henrietta Szold: Life and Letters (New York: The Viking Press, 1942), p. 118.

(5.) Marvin Lowenthal, Henrietta Szold: Life and Letters, p. 140.

(6.) Quoted in Mary McCune, "Social Workers in the Muskeljudentum: Hadassah Ladies, Manly Men, and the Significance of Gender in the American Zionist Movement, 1912-1928," American Jewish History, v.86, #2: 147.

(7.) Quoted in Naomi Cohen, American Jews and the Zionist Idea (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1975), p. 26.

(8.) Hadassah Newsletter, vol. 1, #6 (November 1920): 3-4.

(9.) Hadassah Newsletter (hereafter referred to as H. N.), vol. 4, #1 (October 1923): 6.

(10.) H. N., vol. 4, #2 (November 1923): 4.

(11.) H. N., vol. 4, #2 (November 1923): 3.

(12.) H. N., vol. 4, #12 (September 1924): 1.

(13.) H. N., vol. 5, #7 (May 1925): 7.

(14.) H. N., vol. 5, #2 (November 1924): 1.

(15.) H. N. vol. 7, #7 (April 1927): 3.

(16.) H. N., vol. 4, #1 (October 1923): 5.

(17.) H. N., vol. 5, #3 (January 1925): 7.

(18.) H. N., vol. 5 (January 1925), #3: 5.

(19.) H. N., vol. 7, #6 (March 1927): 3.

(20.) H. N., vol. 6, #8 (May 1926): 3.

(21.) H. N., "Hadassah and the Palestine Schools," by Lotta Levensohn, vol. 8, #26 (August 1928): 5.

(22.) H. N., vol. 7, #6 (March 1927): 6.

(23.) H. N., vol. 7, #13 (February 1928): 3.

(24.) H. N., vol. 9, #10 (August 1929): 10.

(25.) H. N., "Hadassah's Work to Date," by Dr. E. M. Bluestone, vol. 9, #6 (March 1929): 4-6.

(26.) H. N., "What Has Been Done," vol. 9, #11 (September 1929): 3.

(27.) H. N. (September 1929): 2-3.

(28.) H. N. (September 1929): 2-3.

(29.) H. N., vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 2.

(30.) H. N., vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 2.

(31.) H. N., "Hadassah in Leading Role," vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 3.

(32.) H. N., "Hadassah in Leading Role," vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 4.

(33.) H. N., "Hadassah in Leading Role," vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 4-5.

(34.) H. N., "In Those Terrible Days," by Mrs. A. H. Vixman, vol. 10, #1 (October 1929): 6.

(35.) H. N., "Henrietta Szold's Speech," vol. 10, #2 (December 1929): 8.

(36.) H. N., "Henrietta Szold's Speech," vol. 10, #2 (December 1929): 8.

(37.) H. N., "Henrietta Szold's Speech," vol. 10, #2 (December 1929): 13.

(38.) H. N., "Henrietta Szold's Speech," vol. 10, #2 (December 1929): 14.

(39.) H. N., "Henrietta Szold's Speech," vol. 10, #2 (December 1929): 14.

(40.) H. N., "Mrs. Lindheim Returns," vol. 10, #3 (January 1930): 6.

(41.) H. N., "Hadassah's Role in Medical Research," by Dr. Shulamit Ben-Harel Liberman (July-August 1930): 7.

JUNE SOCHEN is a professor of History and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago where she teaches courses on U.S. and Women's History as well as U.S. Cultural and Intellectual History. She lectures frequently and has written and edited 14 books, including Consecrate Every Day: The Public Lives of Jewish American Women, 1880-1980.