The Hadassah Medical Organization is busy 24 hours a day, and sometimes our staff members start working even before they walk through the doors. One recent day, in the middle of rush-hour congestion, terrorists opened fire on the outskirts of Jerusalem, killing one person and injuring five. Stuck in that same traffic jam were three nurses and one doctor from Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus on their way to work. They left their cars to help injured commuters until ambulances arrived.

As patients and staff enter our Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus buildings these days, they pass photos of recent victims of terror and war, reminding all who enter of those who have fallen since October 7.

Jewish history and Jewish life today are heroic and tragic. We live in the modern world of wonders and in an endless cycle of calm and violence. As May begins, Hadassah looks forward in America to Women’s Health Month and National Nurses Week, highlighting two hallmarks of our advocacy. In May, we also observe Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut, this year all weighted with fresh meaning and raw memory.

I comfort myself with a combination of Ecclesiastes and Les Misérables: A time to laugh, a time to mourn…. And in too many Israeli homes, empty chairs. And in some communities, empty tables.

Hadassah wasn’t founded because the world was kind to the Jewish people. Or because women were free to do anything their talents would allow. But what we have accomplished since Henrietta Szold called the first meeting to order 112 years ago is astonishing.

Those nurses and doctor who helped injured commuters are—like all of us—part of the organization that built Israel’s health care infrastructure. Our medical center in Jerusalem is renowned the world over for treating the heterogeneous population of the Jewish state and its surroundings. And HMO was included in Newsweek’s 2024 list of the world’s best hospitals for its oncology and cardiology specialties.

In our schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry and public health, Hadassah has helped train generations of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. We have also worked to absorb thousands of refugees and immigrants and nurtured at-risk students in our Youth Aliyah villages. One of the heroes we mourn is Israel Defense Forces Staff Sgt. Simon Shlomov, a lone soldier from Kazakhstan and a graduate of our Meir Shfeyah youth village, who died in Gaza on February 18.

Hadassah transformed the role of Jewish women. We have been a force for women’s empowerment, reproductive rights and gender equity in medical treatment and research, in both America and Israel. We have been outspoken in the corridors of power—in Congress and with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross—regar-ding the horrific violence against women perpetrated by Hamas.

We do all our work under the Zionist banner. Far from the warped image held by many of Israel’s critics, Zionism—the Jewish national liberation movement—is the antithesis of colonialism. Ancient Israel itself was colonized, first by the Greeks, then the Romans. We have the holidays to prove it.

Zionism has done more than restore Jewish sovereignty. It has allowed us to know ourselves. With the ingathering of exiles in Israel and increased Jewish unity in Diaspora communities, we have learned to appreciate our rich diversity.

Last year, to mark the 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence, Hadassah honored an inaugural list of 18 “Zionist Women You Should Know,” those who are making a difference and who represent the Jewish spectrum. Among the honorees were a Hispanic American journalist, an Iranian American attorney, a Chinese American educator and a Ukrainian American entrepreneur. I couldn’t be more excited by our 2024 list of American and Israeli Zionist women.

For Hadassah, Zionism means building the Jewish nation, advancing humanity and never forgetting those empty chairs and tables.