When poet Jessica Jacobs first conceived of an organization dedicated to Jewish poets and poetry, she did not foresee that the nonprofit literary group she would create would become a lifeline. Based in Jacobs’ hometown of Asheville, N.C., Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry takes its name from Jewish mysticism. According to the Kabbalah, existence is composed of four worlds. Yetzirah is the world of formation, where things that are created by man take their form and shape. Jacobs and her board found inspiration from that kabbalistic notion to explore poetry, helping Jewish writers transform ..read more

“Call it childish, but I get the visceral impact of belief. It is part of our conservator’s credo. We are a scientific profession, but we are true believers in the possibility of repair. We face a detonated Buddha, a slashed painting, or an Eva Hesse whose once pliable plastic artworks have become dark and hard over time and visualize redemption. We can’t fix everything, but we approach our work with hope. We hope, we look, and we repair.” —Dwell Time In her remarkable book, Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile, and Repair, Cuban-born Rosa Lowinger, whose family fled rising antisemitism in Euro ..read more

Moran Rosenblatt (center) stars as Herta Kurc. If, like many of us, you are tuning in to Hulu’s new Holocaust drama, We Were the Lucky Ones, you might have noticed a recurring theme in the series: that even amid unparalleled adversity and struggle, faith—in family and in the future—can be a lifeline for survival. The series is adapted from a book of the same name by Georgia Hunter, who based it on her research into her own relatives’ experiences. We Were the Lucky Ones relates the incredible story of the survival of a Polish Jewish family during World War II and their attempts to find each oth ..read more

Between the beautiful pages of Cooking Together are 29 Israeli farm-to-table recipes gathered from farming families living in the western Negev, along the border with the Gaza Strip. Each recipe—from salads and soups to meat and dairy main courses as well as desserts—utilizes produce typically grown in this region, which is the main agricultural breadbasket of Israel. The deadly Hamas attacks of October 7 severely damaged area farms and devastated border communities, including Kibbutz Be’eri, whose commercial printing press employs residents of the kibbutz and others from hard-hit towns such ..read more

A solidarity mission member participates in Hadassah’s Yellow Nail Campaign at Hostage Square (left); Carol Ann Schwartz.  Hadassah is always busy. But we may need a better word to describe the scope of our activity between March 8 and April 22. On March 8, International Women’s Day, Hadassah spearheaded the organization of 189 events in 17 countries as part of our End the Silence campaign to demand justice for the countless women and girls who were raped, mutilated and either murdered or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7. On March 12, during the meetings of the United Nations Co ..read more

Anne Whitman Just a few days after October 7, veteran comedian and Hadassah life member Judy Gold posted on Instagram, “I now know who would hide me.” She wasn’t kidding. As someone whose father fought in World War II, whose parents knew many Holocaust survivors, she says that she is horrified by resurgent antisemitism. “Generation to generation has dealt with antisemitism, and it’s our turn,” the 61-year-old said on her podcast, Kill Me Now, in a recent episode she recorded with fellow Jewish comedian Modi Rosenfeld. “It’s a terrible situation, but we’re going to survive, like we’ve survived ..read more

Image of Micah Siva: Hannah Lozano Photography. Recipes and all other images courtesy of Micah Sivah. After 12 years as a vegan, I’ve reluctantly conceded that eggless matzah balls cannot rival the real deal during Passover, especially not in Ashkenazi kitchens like mine that strictly avoid chickpeas and other legumes over the eight days. Micah Siva’s welcome and delightful new cookbook, Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine (The Collective Book Studio, $35), unfortunately doesn’t change that situation for me. Her Vegan Matzo Balls contain both chickpea liquid and chick ..read more

Lazan with German Consul General in New York David Gill. Two days after Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan received the German Order of Merit in January, she spoke to students at Covert Elementary School in South Hempstead, N.Y. A few days later she held a virtual visit with students in Sioux Falls, S.D. It’s a rigorous pace, but at 89, Lazan is a woman on a mission. “This is the last generation that will hear first-hand from a Holocaust survivor, so we are running as fast as we can to reach young people,” said Lazan, a life member of Hadassah and one-time president of the Hewlett, N.Y ..read more

The delegation lights candles at the site of the Nova music festival. Nearly 50 Hadassah members and supporters traveled to Israel for a solidarity mission in January to “bear witness,” said Hadassah National President Carol Ann Schwartz. Schwartz and other organizational leaders hand-delivered a petition to the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Tel Aviv office, demanding the humanitarian organization visit Israeli hostages. The delegation also met with hostage families and Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog (in photo with Schwartz, left, and First Lady Michal Herzog ..read more

  Join us on Thursday, April 18 at 7 PM ET for a live interview with writer and prominent art conservator Rosa Lowinger about her book, Dwell Time: A Memoir of Art, Exile and Repair. In her remarkable memoir, the Cuban-born Lowinger, whose family fled rising antisemitism in Europe for Cuba then escaped to Miami after Castro’s revolution, expertly weaves her personal history with her decades of conservation experience, contending with generational trauma, the struggles of exile and the challenges of caring for aging parents. Free and open to all. Zoom captioning provided. This event will ..read more