Henrietta Szold

Henrietta Szold, 1913 ()

A hero in my opinion is someone who has done something which has helped someone else in his life. The kind of help I am talking about is not daily acts of kindness, like fixing your neighbor's television, but an act which has changed someone's life completely, like saving his life. Although he changed someone's life completely, he doesn't always get fame and recognition. For example, the fireman who saved you from the fire can be considered a hero, the doctor who cured your deadly disease can be considered a hero. According to that definition, you are not born a hero; you need to earn that title by being at the right place, in the right time, making the right decisions.

Henrietta Szold, 1887

For me, Henrietta Szold is a hero. Henrietta Szold was born on December 21, 1860 in Baltimore which is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland. Together with seven sisters, she was raised by her rabbi father Benjamin and her mother Sophie to be committed to the world of Judaism and the Jewish people around the world. After she finished high school, Szold was hired to teach French, German, and algebra at the Misses Adams's English and French School for Girls, and Judaism at the school of her father's community, Oheb Shalom. As a result of the waves of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in 1880, Szold established a night school in which the immigrants learned English and civics. Later, she was the first woman to be a student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She was a true Zionist; she believed that the Jewish people should return to Israel and have the rights and protection of a Jewish nation. Her commitment to Zionism was strengthened by joining the Zionist Association of Baltimore in 1897 and becoming the secretary of the Federation of American Zionists in 1910. Her first visit to Israel was in 1909 but only in 1920 did she settle in Israel in order to help with the health and education systems. She died in Jerusalem during the closing months of World War II in 1945.

I consider Henrietta Szold a hero for a couple of reasons. First, Henrietta was responsible for the creation of the largest Jewish organization in American history, Hadassah. Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, is a volunteer organization which enhances the health of people worldwide through its support of medical care and research at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. Szold insisted that the most up-to-date medical treatment be extended to the Arabs of Palestine as well as to the Jews. Hadassah also empowers its members and supporters, as well as youth in Israel and America through opportunities for personal growth, education, and Jewish continuity. Hadassah began from a trip to pre-State Israel which has deeply affected Szold. Then she devoted the rest of her life to the health and well-being of the Jewish people and what was to become their Jewish homeland. Hadassah has already helped many people for over 100 years and is still functional and because of that I consider the creation of it as an act of heroism. Her first big project under Hadassah organization was establishing the nursing system in Jerusalem. She founded the first nursing school in Israel and later many other medical facilities all over the country. Second, Henrietta Szold took a major part in the organization called Youth Aliya (in this context, the word "aliya" means immigration to Israel). Youth Aliya is an organization whose purpose was to rescue Jewish youth from Hitler's concentration camps by sending them to Israel. It is estimated that through this organization, Henrietta Szold rescued about 22,000 Jewish children from death at the concentration camps. In addition, Szold played a great part in the establishment of the educational system in Israel. She brought Isaac B. Berkson to Israel, an American Jewish educator, in order to help her form the foundation of the educational system. Szold and Berkson started by balancing the budget and ensuring that teachers would be paid on time.

I feel towards Henrietta Szold two strong emotions which are amazement and admiration. She did so many important things in her life which I could never dream about and because of that I am amazed. After I had read about her, I asked myself how could one person have accomplished so many amazing things in their life? I admire her not for the amount of good deeds but for what she did in each deed. She founded the health and educational system in Israel and saved thousands of children in Europe during the Second World War and for that I admire her. Although these are my feelings, I am sure that many people feel the same amazement and admiration towards her like I do.