Through Dec. 31, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is in the midst of what Hadassah Dayton Membership VP Louise Tincher calls an unprecedented membership drive.

Chapters across the country are reaching out to Jews who aren’t affiliated with the Jewish community and to non-Jewish supporters of Israel.

“Historically, Hadassah grew organically, through friends and family of existing members,” Tincher says. “That strategy no longer suffices.”

The national membership drive features a social media campaign, #HadassahistheONE.

With a mission to advance women’s health, Zionism, and to support Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, Hadassah has approximately 300,000 members in chapters across America.

In September, Newsweek named Hadassah Medical Organization one of the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals in cardiology for the sixth consecutive year, and for the fifth consecutive year in oncology.

Newsweek also recognized it in September as a World’s Best Specialized Hospital for its use of smart technologies including AI, automation, robotics, and digital health tools.

“Just as has happened in the previous waves of hostage releases and care, Hadassah is poised and ready to assist the specialists at Sheba Medical Center…as the (final 20 living) hostages gently begin the process of healing and rehabilitation,” Hadassah Dayton Health and Medicine VP Motyka Johnson notes.

American Jew Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah in 1912 after she saw starvation and disease among Jews living in Palestine. Its initial focus was on nursing.

In 1933, Szold established Hadassah’s Youth Aliyah, to bring Jewish children from Nazi Germany to resettle in Palestine before and during the Holocaust.

More than 300,000 students across the world have graduated from Hadassah-supported Youth Aliyah villages, a program that continues today.

Hadassah Dayton was founded 100 years ago, in 1925. Membership is open to women — with associate memberships for men — of all religions, ethnicities, and nationalities.

The Dayton chapter’s November event offers potential members the opportunity to meet current members.

As part of the JCC Cultural Arts & Book Series, the JCC Book Club, Hadassah, and Washington-Centerville Public Library will partner for a talk by bestselling novelist Barbara Josselsohn at the Woodbourne Library, 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 9.

Josselsohn will discuss the third and final book in her Sisters of War series, The Forgotten Italian Restaurant.

Registration for the free program is required here. Woodbourne Library is located at 6060 Far Hills Ave., Centerville.

For more information about Hadassah Dayton, email hadassahdayton@gmail.com.

— Marshall Weiss

To read the complete November 2025 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.