Seattle HadassahThe reservation I hear most frequently from members contemplating Hadassah advocacy is, “Where do I start?” Other concerns include; “I don’t know what to say” and “I’m not sure who to talk to.” The good news is that there is good news! Hadassah has you covered.
One of the things I love most about Hadassah advocacy is that Hadassah literally does all the hard work for its members – publishing concise and easy-to-understand policy statements online, scheduling member visits with elected officials, offering coaching and support by email and phone, even customizing printed materials for members to leave behind with their representatives. But, I am already getting ahead of myself.
The best way to get started in Hadassah advocacy is to pour yourself a hot cup of coffee (or tea – we are a non-partisan organization) and open your laptop. Hadassah’s Power of Women Who Advocate page, available to members in myHadassah, provides descriptions of Hadassah’s domestic and Israel advocacy priorities, an opportunity to follow and receive Hadassah Advocacy Alerts on issues and activities as they unfold, a place to sign up to schedule a Day in the District meeting with elected officials and more. In fact, there is far more information on this page than can reasonably be digested at a single setting in a single sitting. I suggest that you bookmark the Power of Women Who Advocate page and plan to come back. If you do choose to become involved with Hadassahadvocacy, you will likely be returning here regularly.
For those of you who would like me to narrow your starting focus further, I would be honored to direct your attention to two of my favorites resources: the How To Talk About Israel download for Hadassah members and Hadassah’s online policy statements. The How to Talk About Israel guide provides answers to frequently asked questions about Israel: strategies for combatting BDS and other delegitimization efforts aimed at the Jewish state, information about Israel as a thriving middle-east democracy, a sample op-ed about Hadassah’s work ‘Building Bridges to Peace through Medicine’ and role playing scenarios for practicing these conversations. Hadassah’s policy statements page provides not only summaries of our organization’s current policy positions, but a compendium of historical Hadassah policy positions dating to 1980. A review of just these two sections of the myHadassah website will give you more than you need to get started in Hadassah Advocacy – and even that isn’t the best part! The best part is that because these resources are available at all times to Hadassah members, you don’t have to remember every little detail of what you read, you just have to remember where you found it: myHadassah, everyone’s starting location for Hadassah advocacy.
Happy Reading!
Kindra Cooper
PS. The start of the January congressional session is just around the corner. Stay tuned for additional tips on Hadassah advocacy and new advocacy resources coming soon to the Pacific Northwest Region