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 Commission on the Status of Women, we held a parallel event in New York City to highlight both the irrefutable evidence of war crimes, including rape, during the October 7 attack and the international body’s slow and disingenuous response to demands to hold Hamas accountable. I delivered a petition signed by 130,000 Hadassah supporters from 118 countries, and a letter cosigned by 116 organizations, to United Nations Secretary-General António Gutteres, demanding action and accountability.

“Rape should never be used as a weapon of war,” I stressed in my letter. “Not in Israel. Not anywhere. We cannot let our international institutions undermine efforts to pursue justice. UN Women denied our request to speak about this issue during the Commission on the Status of Women meetings, but we will not be silent.”

Even as we concentrate on justice for victims of sexual violence in Israel, we maintain our focus on women’s health and reproductive freedom in America. On March 18, our acting co-CEO Sheryl Zeligson represented Hadassah at the White House event celebrating Women’s History Month and President Biden’s new executive order promoting women’s health research, one of our advocacy priorities.

Hadassah has also signed amicus briefs in two key reproductive rights cases currently before the United States Supreme Court. On March 26, the court heard oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, which challenges the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of and expanded access to mifepristone, a medication that can be used to treat ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages or to induce abortion. Elizabeth Cullen, Hadassah’s government relations director, attended the oral arguments.

Arguments will be heard at the court on April 24 for another case on which Hadassah has signed an amicus brief: Idaho v. United States, focused on a challenge to Idaho’s abortion ban.

In addition to advocacy, we are putting more Hadassah feet on the ground in Israel. Past National Presidents Rhoda Smolow and Ellen Hershkin led women from North America, South America and Australia on our March 17-22 Israel Solidarity Mission, our second since the war began. Mission participants visited sites of the October 7 massacre and HMO’s new Gandel Rehabilitation Center, where wounded IDF combat soldiers and police officers are being treated. They also met with relatives of hostages and with doctors serving in frontline positions. And they volunteered at multiple places around the country.

At Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Hadassah promoted the End the Silence campaign with an innovative addition to the yellow ribbons that show solidarity and call attention to those still held in Gaza. The idea of our Yellow Nail Campaign—painting a single fingernail bright yellow—came from a volunteer who prepared the bodies of October 7 victims for burial; amid the awful colors of death, the only “living colors,” she said, were the polished nails of young women.

We are now promoting the Yellow Nail Campaign, between April 8 and April 22, to lead to conversation. The campaign ends on the evening of the first Passover seder, where we hope it will prompt a Fifth Question: Why is my nail yellow tonight?

Yes, we are busy. End the Silence is Hadassah’s largest-ever global campaign, and it’s far from the only thing on our plate.

So if the seder recognizes no boundaries between holiday, history and advocacy, between joy and sorrow, bitter herbs and the sweetness of family and freedom, between 40 years of walking in antiquity and the last 45 days of running, we can count our blessings as well as our questions.

A happy Passover to all!