Our chapter is honored to be Hadassah’s voice in Seattle and throughout western Washington. Our American Affairs and Domestic Policy Committee is dedicated to advancing Hadassah’s international and domestic policy agendas through advocacy and education efforts including Day-in-the-District meetings with legislators in their local offices; Day-on-the Hill meetings with lawmakers in Washington, DC; participating in Jewish Community Lobby Day in Olympia; attending and speaking at local Jewish advocacy events; and membership in the Government Affairs Working Group of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. In all our activities we are proud to carry on Hadassah’s long tradition of Zionist and women’s health advocacy.
Through the remarkable efforts of women beginning with founder Henrietta Szold, Hadassah established the first healthcare infrastructure in what was then pre-state Israel. In the more than 100 years since Szold’s initial work, Hadassah’s efforts have helped build that early infrastructure into what is now both the robust healthcare system of Israel’s modern state and the most advanced and efficacious medical system in the middle east. In the United States and in Israel, Hadassah’s advocacy work today follows in this lifesaving legacy with a unique focus on issues of health, healthcare, health equity, and medical research. In addition to these advocacy priorities, Hadassah’s policy agenda also includes:
- Support for Israel
- Peace in the middle east
- Stronger US-Israel relations
- Protecting the rights of Jewish people worldwide
- Fostering connections and community between the Jewish people, Israel, and Hadassah
- Combatting anti-Semitism
- Opposing BDS and other delegitimization efforts aimed at the Jewish state
- Gender equity in medical research
- Greater funding for women’s preventative health
- Affordable childcare
- Putting an end to human trafficking
- Combatting gun violence
Our chapter and advocacy committee work closely with the professionals at Hadassah and receive considerable support including training, position papers, talking points, and a place to direct advocacy questions as they arise. This means that local Hadassah members don’t need to be policy experts to participate in our advocacy activities; they simply need to want to get involved! Together we can learn to be better advocates on behalf of the issues we care about most and harness Hadassah’s incredible Power of Women Who DO.
For additional information follow us here, where we will regularly post updates on our chapter’s advocacy activities. Expect our next update soon! Three representatives from Seattle Hadassah are traveling to Washington, DC on Monday, May 14 for From Passion to Action: Hadassah’s Women’s Health and Advocacy Conference. During this three-day conference, more than 300 Hadassah members from throughout the country will be gathering to celebrate Israel’s 70th birthday, learn more about the medical and research activities of Hadassah Medical Organization, and meet with federal legislators to discuss Hadassah’s policy priorities. If you are interested in joining our advocacy committee, please email our Advocacy Committee Chair. We look forward to advocating with you!