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Historic homecoming for Haddassah

Continued from Page 1 tion and its newly appointed leader were faced with an unprecedented health challenge. Despite the hardships brought into the world due to the virus, Smolow said, she viewed it as another challenger that must have a solution.

“I can’t explain why, it’s just something inside of me, but I looked at this challenge and every challenge as something that can be overcome,” she said. “It was also about how we could help the country and all of our women maintain what they were doing for Hadassah, including fundraising and maintaining relationships with each other, Jewish education and advocacy.”

Smolow said the organization helped its members learn how to adapt to Zoom and allow for presentations and speakers to be consistently featured to provide updates with the hospitals. She lauded the staf who made everything remotely accessible but did not downplay the work and challenges the entire organization normally encounters.

Advocating for hospital funding, speaking with high-ranking government ofcials and providing relief efforts for communities facing natural disasters are some of the other roles Hadassah carries out on a consistent basis.

Smolow said she wanted to have Hadassah’s 100th National Convention in Israel during her installation speech in Orlando before the pandemic struck. Despite the global spread of the virus halting almost every gathering for the foreseeable future months after her installation, Smolow said she still predicted that Hadassah would have its centennial convention in Israel in 2022.

“People thought I was crazy,” she said. “And there were a lot of naysayers. There were a lot of people around us and all over the world that were scared and no one knew when it would end.”

With foreshadowing reminiscent of her grandmother’s, Smolow still pushed forward with plans to hold the convention in Israel in 2022 as vaccines became more widespread and gatherings slowly began to ramp up. Last month, Smolow’s plan was fulflled as more than 400 attendees met in person for the frst time since 2019.

The convention in Jerusalem, titled “Together In Israel: Our Pride. Our Purpose. Hadassah’s 100th National Convention,” included speeches from Israel President Isaac Herzon, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas R. Nides, Israel Ministry of Health Director-General Nachman Ash and more.

Ofcials lauded Smolow and the organization for being a beacon in Israel’s health-care system and providing care to any individual who needs it, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or creed.

“Health care in Israel wouldn’t be what it is without Hadassah,” Ash said.

The convention also featured a moving reunion of a Ukrainian native who escaped the country during the war against Russia and his mother. Other speakers and testimonies from hospital patients and medical students highlighted the positive impact Hadassah has had.

The organization also handed out a pair of awards during the convention, including one given to a past president, Marlene Edith Post, the frst

PHOTO COURTESY OF HADASSAH

Hadassah National President Rhoda Smolow addresses Hadassah’s 100th National Convention in Jerusalem.

woman president of Temple Judea in Manhasset. Post received the Henrietta Szold Award, the organization’s highest honor named after its founder.

“My personal family and my Hadassah family are the two pillars on which my life stands,” Post said.

The organization also handed out its inaugural Power of Esther Award, named after the Jewish heroine Queen Esther. It is given to an individual who utilizes the determination and intelligence to speak out on behalf of the Jewish community. The award was presented to Michal Herzog, the frst lady of Israel.

When asked what advice Smolow would give to her younger self just starting out in the Hadassah world, she said to not say “no” and to not worry about the level of involvement or commitment joining an organization like Hadassah would entail.

“When you fnd out what it’s all about, you’ll fnd the way you can be involved,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be the way your mother or grandmother did it, but there is a way for you to feel empowered and a part of something bigger than yourself.”

A mother of three children, now full-grown adults, Smolow said Hadassah allowed her to do so much more for her kids, her community, her synagogue and the greater good than she ever thought possible.

MTA completes G.N. pocket track extension

Continued from Page 2 cording to ofcials.

The branch’s afternoon and evening rush hour schedule will also see a 43% increase in service, including three express trains. A total of 20 trains will leave Manhattan between 4:06 p.m. and 7:43 p.m., six more than the 14 trains that currently provided that service to commuters on the Port Washington branch, according to ofcials.

Rinaldi said she was pleased to hear the concerns from North Shore commuters, but said more work will need to be done to help the overall expansion of the Long Island Rail Road.

“The true key to the addition of future service increases is expanding track capacity at Port Washington Yard,” Rinaldi said in a statement. “The Town of North Hempstead has committed to working with Senator Kaplan and Assemblymember Sillitti to advance this long sought-after project that is the bottleneck to having more service on the branch.”

While the pocket track expansion aids in the MTA’s quest to advance the Long Island Railroad and provide quality service to its riders, Larry Penner- a former regional director for the Federal Transit Administration, said most all of the pocket track expansion was completed several years ago.

The lack of a 3rd track, Penner said, prohibited the Long Island Railroad from taking advantage of the pocket track extension.

“Since 2018, Port Washington branch riders could only look out the window and wonder why there was no live third rail to go with the new pocket track,” Penner said in a letter to Blank Slate Media. “If the third rail was installed and live, commuters could have reaped the benefts Rinaldi talked about as a result of this investment four years earlier.”

Eforts to reach MTA ofcials for further comment were unavailing.

G.N. comedian to host New Year’s Eve show

Continued from Page 2 a really observant man,” Reese said.

Being a native of Great Neck, she said, it’s a great feeling to know a lot about a certain area when performing because the jokes can be relatable to much of the audience. The politics of local elections and heated school board debates surrounding curriculum are some of the aspects Reese said she loves to tailor sets around for local audiences.

“Instead of people debating issues, I want them to come together and laugh,” she said. “I think in this community, we have more in common than we don’t and that’s what’s so great about comedy.”

Poking fun at both extremes of a certain topic or heated debate, she said, is key to having the entire audience engaged and laughing at what’s going on. Not pitting one group of people against another and acknowledging the ridiculousness of both sides, Reese said, leads to everybody enjoying the set.

The event begins at 8:30 p.m., with all-inclusive admission costing $126 per person. Reese said she has worked with Colbeh before and attendees can expect a stocked open bar with premium spirits to go along with a night full of laughter and dancing.

Reese emphasized that the show is not just for Great Neck residents and hoped others throughout the North Shore and Long Island would spend the holiday with her at Colbeh, located at 75 N. Station Plaza. Other comedians featured at the event include Erik Bransteen, Eli Lebowicz and Eman Morgan. To register or to fnd more information on the event, visit: taliareese.com.