Marlene Post Health Center at the Hadassah/ Meir Shfeyah Youth Village

October 10^th, 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 100^th 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/