As we enter a new Jewish year, 5786, I pay tribute to the Jewish calendar. The world’s oldest calendar system still in widespread use, it does much more than keep time: It helps us chronicle and preserve our religious practice, history and culture. It has accompanied us in all our wanderings, keeping us tied to the agricultural cycle of our homeland even when we found ourselves on distant shores.

When the Hellenistic king of the Seleucid-Greek empire, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, tried to suppress Judaism, provoking the Maccabean rebellion, he not only desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem, he also banned our calendar. Perhaps he understood that our system of charting days and months was part of the lifeblood of Jewish civilization, feeding a drive for study, planning and preparation that ultimately helped our forebears defeat him and survive a long line of tyrants and haters that followed.

For almost 2,000 years, we focused our creativity outward, contributing to the different societies that sheltered us. But under the banner of Zionism, we refocused our energies on our ancient homeland and, in the process, gave world Jewry a common purpose.

Israel’s establishment did not put an end to antisemitism, but it did close the chapter on Jewish exile. Seventy-seven years after achieving independence, the nation still faces tremendous challenges. But with preparation and determination, it has stood up to its enemies and stood out for its thriving society and its contributions to humanity.

Hadassah paved its own path in the Zionist enterprise, becoming a bastion of medical care and education in Israel and an activist force in America and on the world stage. Our founding generation addressed the most basic issues of public health and sanitation in pre-state Israel, and as challenges proliferated, Hadassah has flourished. The Hadassah Medical Organization became a global leader and an example of scientific research success and advanced patient care.

As the French scientist Louis Pasteur observed, “Chance favors the prepared mind,” and chance has often smiled at our foresight. While even the greatest hospitals often labor to keep up with the present, in the 21st century, Hadassah’s hospitals exhibit the fruit of our vision.

On our Ein Kerem campus, the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower was built with four underground levels of surgical suites and intensive care units for sick and wounded patients. And at Mount Scopus, earlier this year we quickly transformed the underground parking garage of our Gandel Rehabilitation Center into a 130-bed intensive care and dialysis facility.

When we started the subterranean conversion at the Gandel center, we called the underground space our “God Forbid Hospital.” On June 13, amid the missile and drone attacks from Iran, it became our “Thank God Hospital” as we moved patients to the lower level. Six days later, the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba became the first and only Israeli hospital hit by an Iranian missile. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but the hospital suffered considerable damage and evacuated many of its patients. Ours was one of the medical centers that accepted patients from Soroka.

Amid every crisis, our medical center’s world-class treatment and pioneering research continue, powerful reminders of Hadassah’s enduring mission of healing and its resilience. Generations of Hadassah members have been on duty since the organization’s founding 113 years ago. We are not about to slow down now. Just as Israel has inspired us, we must continue to invest our passion and our faith in the nation that we—and the women who went before us—helped build.

As we gather with our families, as we welcome the new year in our homes and synagogues, may this special season resonate within, and may we rededicate ourselves to making a difference in the world. And may we continue to mark our days and millennia on the Jewish calendar, from each Tishrei, the Hebrew month that begins the new year, to every Elul, which ends it.

Shanah tovah u’metukah!