October 10th, 2018
I am Lauren Stern Kedem and I have had the privilege of
living and working in this remarkable place since 1989 . I am so happy to welcome
you all to the Hadassah / Meir Shfeyah Youth Village .
We are honored to
celebrate with you the 100th anniversary of the Hadassah Medical
Unit and Nursing School which were established in 1918 in response to the
desperate need for medical services in
Palestine after WWI . It is appropriate that we are dedicating the Marlene Post
Health Center at Meir Shfeyah which was
established 5 years later in 1923 and where Henrietta Szold created Hadassah’s
first Youth Aliyah Village to rescue European youth from Nazi Germany and to rehabilitate and provide a home to young
Holocaust survivors and new immigrants .
Hadassah and Shfeyah have been saving
and changing lives since their creation because of the visions, courage and
compassion of their leaders and members.
In recognition of the
countless contributions of Hadassah to youth aliyah and to Meir Shfeyah , we
are honored to have dedicated the Deborah B Kaplan Sports Center, the Altura
Lone Soldiers’ Home, the Bonnie Lipton
Center for the Performing Arts, BG Square and Barbara Goldstein Avenue, the
June Walker High School, the Nancy Falchuk Learning Center, the Marcie Natan
Dining Hall and now the Marlene Post Health Center in our village.
Marlene Post has been one of those many exceptional leaders
who have changed our lives. As national treasurer and then national president
of Hadassah, Marlene was among those Hadassah leaders, including Debbie Kaplan
and Barbara Goldstein who had the insight and courage to rescue Shfeyah during
a time that closing it down was being considered. Taking a leap of faith these leaders
along with the staff and administration of the village turned Shfeyah into a
prize winning, nationally recognized boarding school which continues to provide
an education and home to Israeli “at risk “ adolescents of all backgrounds including
Jews, Druze, Muslims, Bedoins, Russians and Ethiopians ,... with unprecedented
success.
Marlene, who is also a trained nurse ,has been an
enthusiastic supporter of youth aliyah
and an advocate for our village and for the young people we serve , in all of
her many roles , for almost all of her life. Marlene has always been both
passionate and compassionate about the people, places and values she believes
in. What is so special about Marlene and about Hadassah, is not only the
miraculous things you have all accomplished but the way that you do it. During
a time when civility, decency and kindness are no longer qualities which we can
take for granted, Marlene’s, and Hadassah’s integrity , kindness, generosity and genuine personal commitment are enlightening, comforting and inspirational. Marlene, I am , and we at Shfeyah are so
grateful for your friendship and your role model and proud to be a small part
of the work that Hadassah has been doing for more than a century.
A former US Senator,
Secretary of State, recipient of Hadassah Woman of the Year award and
presidential candidate once wrote in her book “ It takes a village to raise a
child”. Shfeyah is your village and these are also your children. Thank you
all, for all of the small and huge things you all do .
https://www.facebook.com/carolann.gershunyschwartz/videos/10156941803069155/
