 Yeah, welcome back to Think Tech. This is Bigotry in America. We examine racial, religious, bigotry, and structures in, you know, organizations that address that one way or the other. I'm Jay Fidel. My special guest today is Andrea Snyder. She is the president, president of Hadassah, the Hawaii chapter of Hadassah. And we're going to tell you what that is. Hi, Andrea. Hi, Jay. Thanks for having me on the show. Absolutely. Yeah. So let's talk about anything going on with Hadassah right now we should know about because, you know, there are Jewish holidays coming up. Hadassah celebrates, of course, Hanukkah, for example, in December. What's that about? That's right. Hanukkah is the festival of light. So it's all about religious freedom, the Maccabees fighting against the Romans and winning and the oil that was in the temple that should have lasted for just one day, lasted for eight days. So we're going to have on December 16th a party at the home of Trudy and Al-Long to celebrate Hanukkah. Okay. Perfect. I think that's how we originally met years ago. Yes. Yes, I think so. Where's the Trudy and Al-Long? Yes. The happiest man in America. That's right. Also Jewish. And they're celebrating Sharoni's graduation from Cambridge right now, they're in Scotland and England. Oh, that's fabulous. Yes. We can get them on the show and talk about her experience in England. Getting trained yet again. She went from India to Punahoe, teaching at Punahoe and now we're taking a degree in England. So let's talk about Hadassah for a minute. Hadassah, it wasn't born yesterday. It's been around for quite some time. It's a very prestigious organization. It's done a lot of work over the last, what, hundred years or more? How did you get organized? Who is it? What does it do? Okay. Well, Hadassah was founded by a woman, Henrietta Zold. She was very learned... In America. ...in America in the Baltimore area. She worked...her father was a rabbi so she was very learned. He believed in education for women. And she went to then Palestine in 1912 and she was appalled by the unsanitary conditions and was determined to come back to this country, raise money to send two nurses to Palestine to treat trachoma, an eye disease that's easily treated, and to provide pasteurized milk for mothers and babies. It was really a third world country at that time. It was a mandate, a protectorate, wasn't it, under the British after World War I or before World War I? I guess it was after World War I it became a protectorate. And then it was in the Dolphins for a long time until the 40s, late 40s, and the Holocaust and people from Europe spilled into Israel. Tell me a short story about how Hadassah was part of that whole continuum. Well, from the two nurses in 1913, more doctors and really American-style medicine Hadassah brought to pre-state Israel. So by 1918 there was a contingent of 45 doctors, nurses, and specialists. That's a lot for a country that really didn't have that many people. Right. And then today it's one of the leading hospitals in the world, and people come from all over the Middle East for specialized treatment. They treat over a million patients a year and do cutting-edge research. What's the name of the hospital? Well, it's Hadassah Medical Organization. They're two, one in name Karim and one on Mount Scopus. So the one in Mount Scopus was blocked during the war until 67. So doctors and nurses... That's in the south of Israel? Mount Scopus? No, that's Jerusalem East. Okay, okay. Oh, that's close to the 67 boundaries, yeah. Right, right. So it was on the wrong side. Yeah, the wrong side. But it's okay now. Now it's within the boundary of Israel, and now it's providing excellent medical care. You know, I keep hearing and reading that the Israeli medical community doesn't just operate in Israel. They send doctors all around the world, and they respond to emergencies quickly, and they're very good at it, and well, appreciated in many countries because they go out and do this as a matter of charity, yeah. That's true. And Hidasa doctors and nurses have been part of the teams that Israel has sent to Haiti, to Mexico recently, to the Philippines, all over the world. Unfortunately, they are equipped to deal with emergencies and bombings and actually the Boston Marathon hospitals there use some of the practices treating patients that they do at Hidasa Hospital. Yeah, that's very interesting. I remember, not too long ago, in fact, Rabbi Krasnchansky was on the show a year, a year and a half ago, and it was about the stabbings in Jerusalem. People would come up to you on the street. Actually, you'd walk down the street and somebody would come the other way, and as they passed you, they would turn on your back and stab you like a sewing machine really quickly with an intent to do terror and an intent to kill you. And so, you know, these really had to figure out how to handle that because, you know, of course, you're concerned that the fellow's not going to do it again, but you're also concerned to save the person who was stabbed. And so, and traffic is tough in Jerusalem as it is in Tel Aviv. So how do you get medical help from the hospital, you know, to the person who's lying there bleeding? And you know what they did? I was so creative. It reminded me of how the Israelis suggested that rear-view mirrors be installed in the jets. A simple thing like that. The American jets, you know, didn't have rear-view mirrors. You couldn't see from behind. So the Israelis took it out of a car, put it in the jet, and then the Americans started doing the same thing. Anyway, it's the same sort of creativity. And so what happened is they used motorbikes, and the motorbikes can go even when the traffic is really stuck. And they trained the paralegals, or rather, paramedicals, to go to the wounded person on the street, take a full kit, and have a regular protocol about how you deal with someone who's been stabbed in the back. And that's, you know, the way they dealt with that. It was high medicine. It was good medicine, and it was good delivery. It was response time. They saved a lot of people that way. I'd like to make the point that Hedasa Medical Organization was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 because both the staff and patients are Jewish, Palestinian, different religions, different backgrounds, and they all work together. Yeah. I don't know if people realize that, that the medical community is not just Jewish doctors at all. There's Arab doctors galore, and they have good careers, they're careers are just as good as the careers of the Jewish doctors. Well, they all really work as teams, and, you know, if you want to get back to terrorist situations, there have been cases where the hospital has treated both the victim and the terrorist. And that happened in many of these stabbing cases because the crowd or the police would attack the attacker, and he'd be wounded at the same time. So to save a life is the most important. It's very touching. And that's been going on a long time. It's not just now. So what else has Hedasa done in terms of medical, are there Hedasa hospitals in this country, for example? No, the only Hedasa hospitals are in Israel, but through medical research and service to humanity, different doctors and researchers are cooperating with institutions in this country and others to come up with cutting edge research and hopefully cures for a lot of diseases. Yeah, that's great. So medical research, as with other scientific research that happens in Israel, can be very valuable, not only for Israel, but for this country and for the world. Right. Here, one of our fundraising project is this research in service to humanity, and we picked for Parkinson's, ALS. This is what Hedasa Hawaii supports the research for. Yes. It's a little sclerosis and ALS. So that really touches many of our families, too. Did I say Alzheimer's? I'm not sure if I did, but Alzheimer's also, yes. So these are degenerative diseases, that's what you're focusing on. That's right. A lot of really important breakthroughs and trials and hopefully cures in these diseases and others. And the research is done at the Hedasa Hospital in Israel? Yes, but there are collaborations with doctors and institutions in this country and other countries, too. So it is collaborative. Let's quickly go through some of these pamphlets so we know what Hedasa is doing. I'll let you take the lead on this. Okay. Hold it up toward camera two over there. Okay. So Hedasa is a women's organization. So we have a picture of two young women and it's saying you want to do more than just talk about today's problems. So empower women advocates, promote women's health and wellness, and make Zionism resonate. So doing practical things like we're doing at Hedasa Hospital, curing people and doing research. So making Zionism resonate, does that mean that Hedasa supports Zionism? Yes. It was founded as an organization to support in a practical way the plight of Jewish people both in Europe and coming to Palestine. And the development of Israel over years from the year 1913, did you say, until now? I mean Israel has been in various stages of development and Hedasa has been there to help. Right. One of the early projects was in the early 1930s rescuing young Jewish children from Europe and youth Aliyah villages were set up to bring them and educate and give them trades and to become productive. Resettle them from not the war but the anti-Semitism that was going on in Germany at the time. Right. Those same villages help at risk children who are not thriving in their home or local schools giving them support and it's really touching some of the stories, yes. You can find on Hedasa.org. Hedasa.org. Okay. Take a look at Hedasa.org. That's Andrea Snyder. She's the president of Hedasa, the Hedasa chapter here in Hawaii and I'm so happy that she's here to talk about it. We'll take a short break, we'll come back and see some of these other pamphlets, examine some of the other things that Hedasa does and the positions it takes on some of the issues that are being raised today about the state of Israel and about Judaism in general. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii raising public awareness. We all play a role in keeping our community safe. Every day we move in and out of each other's busy lives. It's easy to take for granted all the little moments that make up our every day. Some are good, others not so much. But that's life. It's when something doesn't seem quite right that it's time to pay attention. Because only you know what's not supposed to be in your every day. So protect your every day. If you see something suspicious, say something to local authorities. Okay, we're back. We're live. I'm Jay Fidel here in Think Tech and we're talking about bigotry in America and all the implications and issues that surround it. It's a great discussion. It's important. So if I'm a man, can I join Hedasa? Can I be a member? Can I participate in the events and programs that you have? Actually you can, Jay. You can become an associate member. So that's an associate lifetime member. Oh, that's wonderful. And Hedasa, so we have a Hedasa chapter here in Hawaii. We do. I assume that as Hedasa has developed over the past hundred years, it has created chapters in many places in this country and in Europe, I suppose, and maybe Asia as well. Tell me about it. Right. So Hedasa does have an international component and the incoming Hedasa president of Canada is a winter visitor here. So she comes every winter here. And you get to see her and talk to her and say hi. Yes. Yes. Marilyn Leven, she's really great. And there are chapters in Mexico, Panama, different South American, European, Asian countries, supporting many of them, choose to support either a specific part of the hospital or research. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's great. And you can collaborate. And it's all about Sadaka. Can you define for our audience what Sadaka is? Right. Sadaka can be translated as charity, so giving. So Sadaka drives Hedasa to do many things, to do medical research, to help people on all sides of the fence, to go through emergency situations and help people as Hedasa and other medical organizations in Israel do. And you guys are dedicated to doing charity. That's your primary mission. So how do you express that? You support the hospitals, the Hedasa hospitals, how else do you express it? We live in a world which has plenty of emergencies. How does Hedasa participate in dealing with them? Right. In several ways, Hedasa does encourage all of us in our local chapters to practice Sadaka as well as supporting Hedasa internationally. We already talked about they are responders to disasters around the world, and we're really proud of that. Yeah, we had currently Matayoshi at American Red Cross on last week, and in fact she was just on the radio on Hawaii Public Radio just a few minutes ago, talking about what the American Red Cross does and how it responds to emergencies. Not only in Hawaii, we have to be aware of that possibility, it'll come, but everywhere. The fires in California, the earthquake in Mexico, the damage with the storms in the Caribbean, does Hedasa do that kind of thing? Yes, it does when it's appropriate, yes. So you send people from Hawaii, they go, and you encourage them to go? No, we don't send people from Hawaii, but the trained medical personnel at Hedasa Hospital are part of Israel's... They go wherever they feel is a need, and the emergencies are certainly... Wherever there is a need, and they have the expertise to help. So are you a religious organization, or you mentioned that you're Zionistic and you support the state of Israel. Are you also religious? Well, we are a Jewish organization, but we don't espouse any particular branch of Judaism, so Judaism is multi-faceted. Lots of different views for sure. There are basically Orthodox, conservative, reform, reconstructionists, but we don't support any one group over another or any political party, both here and in Israel. So we're apolitical. And although you are Jewish bad, identity is Zionistic by origin, and identity you're really interested in doing charity in whatever way you can. So I guess the question is, we live in a time when there is bigotry, religious bigotry and racial bigotry, regrettably in this country. And it's sad to see that emerging, but there are indications of it. And we don't have to scratch very hard to find those indications. And I wonder what role Hadassah might play in dealing with bigotry in this country, for example, and elsewhere. Well, certainly we, Hadassah nationally, our national president, speaks out against bigotry and discrimination. I think that's really important to make our voice heard. And we also have issues that bring us together, too, that we focus on, like women's health issues, that really cut across any political lines or, and I think that's one of the virtues of Hadassah, like we farmed a women's health coalition with the American Heart Association and other groups fighting for gender equality and medical research and testing and cures. So a few years ago, Hadassah did every step counts and I got this watch. So my family and I are trying to be healthy and keep track of our steps. And heart health, too, more American women die of heart disease than cancer, for instance. So you're not necessarily into activism or responding to activism, but I wonder what happens when a member comes to you and says, you know, you're my go-to place for religious community. And I have an example. I'm living through an experience of bigotry. What does Hadassah say to this person? What comfort do you give? What position do you take in dealing with that? Well, if you're asking on a local statewide level. OK. I'll ask on a local statewide. OK. I must admit that I haven't experienced that myself or had someone come to me saying that. But it's true that we do want to, I think, establish dialogue and correct information. Like, I guess I'm leaving Hawaii going to Charlottesville. There were people with Nazi flags saying, Jews will not replace us. That doesn't happen. They stood outside the temple there in Charlottesville with AK-47s. And bulletproof vests and police helmets was very scary. So fortunately, I think Hawaii, with our background, we're a state of a lot of immigrants. And really, there's an aloha spirit that I think most of us hold and value. And qualities like being humble, being respectful. And not being bigoted in any way. Right, right. I think Hawaii can be a great example. Now, you have a book here. I'll hold it up, or maybe you should hold it up. It's called How to Talk About Israel. And this is by the Jewish Federations of North America, the Israel Action Network. And I guess it's by Hadassah. Yeah, there it is. That's the book. So what's that book about? What does that book tell, I guess? OK, well, this book is giving an overview of how to approach the very complicated present day situation in Israel. Just like in this country, you may not agree with President Trump. We may not agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu. But it's really important to have facts and to have a dialogue and to create a background for reconciliation and mutual benefit for, say, Palestinians and Israelis. Reconciliation, coming together, working together, collaborating. That's the way Hadassah has been from the outset. And I just, it's just interesting because I think there's a lot of dialogue. And sometimes the Jewish people and Jewish organizations don't respond at all. And the public, they get their messaging from people who are adverse to Israel and adverse to Judaism. So this is a book that will help a Jewish people respond to some of those statements and misstatements about what happens in Israel and what happens with the Palestinian issue in Israel, right? That's true. It's not just for Jewish people. You can, you know, it's really, it's really for... That's perfectly consistent with your whole mission, isn't it? Right. It's really for anyone who wants a better understanding. And one way, we do try to, I'm part of the Jewish Film Festival Committee. And this was from 2015. We showed a movie called Under the Same Sun, where an Israeli businessman and a Palestinian wanted to bring solar energy to a community on the West Bank. And it turned out that this collaboration, despite a lot of obstacles, became really, turned into a campaign for peace. Yeah. Well, it's great when people do that. Have you been to Israel, Andrea? I have. I have several times. What do you think of Israel? What is your...several times been. What has your experience been? What has your observation, your oppression been? Well, the first time I went, I was just out of college in 1971, and I worked on the Kibbutz and studied Hebrew. So my first job was picking olives. That's perfect. And it gave me an appreciation for the land, the people, the diversity. It's certainly a diverse country. I was in the Emek region, and there were Arab towns, and people were getting along. This was in 1971. Has it changed since then? Well, I guess the last time I went was with Temple Emmanuel six years ago. We had a trip there, and that was a very meaningful trip, both spiritually and to see advances and changes. And yeah, I really recommend going. Are you a Zionist? I am a Zionist. Yes. And what do you think about this whole initiative that there's so many people so excited about, some here, including some here, about boycotting Israel, a cultural boycott, an economic boycott, a sports boycott, you name it? What do you think about that? What does Hadassah think about that? Well, I think that boycotting and just choosing one side to impact isn't the way to go. Sure Israel has made mistakes, but the Palestinian political structure also needs to be a willing partner for peace. So I really, well, I do want to emphasize Israel's right to exist for one thing. And you have a statement, you may. So read it. Oh, okay. Okay. I'll read it. Boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is a global network of activists promoting these actions to be adopted by institutions, organizations and others. While the claim is an equitable and peaceful solution to the conflict, the goal is to undermine the democratic Jewish state of Israel and the two state solution to create one Arab majority state. I want to emphasize Israel's right to exist and to point out that one side of pressure is counterproductive to achieving peace. That goal of peace depends on both Israelis and Palestinians working together with international support toward a negotiated two state solution benefiting both sides. So it's important to create an environment for economic cooperation, constructive engagement, foster reconciliation, promote understanding and trust and coexistence. That's beautiful, Andrea. You are really a wonderful representative of HADASA because I think you express what HADASA is all about and it's wonderful to have you as the president of HADASA here in Hawaii. It's so constructive and helpful to all of us and to have you here on the show. Thank you so much, Jay. Thank you, Andrea. Andrea Snyder, President of HADASA, Hawaii, Aloha.