Join Hadassah Magazine on Thursday, March 21 at 7 PM ET for a discussion with award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun on Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream, her new biography about Hadassah’s pioneering founder.
At a time of crisis and existential threat for Israel, Klagsbrun, author of several books, including the best-selling 2017 biography Lioness: Golda Meir and the State of Israel, will explore Szold’s belief in practical, pragmatic Zionism as she reveals the person behind the legend.
Considered one of the most important figures in American Jewish history, Szold helped build the infrastructure for Israel’s hospital system, rescued thousands of European children through Youth Aliyah and, through Hadassah, forever changed what it means for hundreds of thousands of women to belong in Jewish America. A recording of the event will be available for those who register. Zoom captioning will be provided. Free and open to all.
For those who want to order the book in advance of the event, save 25% off!
Just use code SZOLD at checkout.
By Francine Klagsbrun
Published March 5, 2024
256 pages
“Engrossing” —Rabbi David Ellenson
Award-winning author Francine Klagsbrun reveals the complex life and work of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah and a Zionist trailblazer
Henrietta Szold (1860–1945) is renowned as the founder of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, which quickly became one of the most successful of all Zionist groups. In her work with Hadassah, Szold used a combined ethical and pragmatic approach aimed at improving the lives of both Jews and Arabs. She later moved to Mandate Palestine to help shape education, health, and social services there. The pinnacle of her career came in her seventies, when she took on the task of directing the Youth Aliyah program, which rescued thousands of young people from the Nazis and resettled them in Palestine.
Using Szold’s copious letters, diaries, and essays, along with other archival documents, Francine Klagsbrun traces Szold’s life and legacy with an eye to uncovering the person behind the Zionist icon. She reveals Szold as a complex human being who had to cope with controversy and criticism, a workaholic with an outsized sense of duty, and an idealist who fought for her beliefs even as she questioned her own abilities. With deep insight, Klagsbrun introduces readers to this extraordinary woman, whose impact on women’s lives as well as on education and health systems still resonates.