One of the most enduring themes of Jewish teaching is expressed through the phrase l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation—the mandate to pass our heritage and values on to our children, maintaining an unbroken link from antiquity and into the future. As Thanksgiving and Hanukkah approach, this concept merges with mental images of my family’s holiday table over my lifetime, surrounded by grandparents and parents, children and grandchildren, seamlessly connecting love, history and tradition.

Hadassah, too, is a manifestation of l’dor v’dor. We are dedicated to restoring a homeland in which the Jewish people can thrive and reach our full potential and also—to use the words of the United States Constitution—to help “form a more perfect union” on American shores. I think back to my mother going to Hadassah events, inviting women to become members and drafting notes for invitations that she would later write out by hand. I still have some of those writings, cherished links in my own generational chain.

Just as we nurture future generations in our homes, Hadassah nurtures Israel’s future through our institutions of healing and education. But no matter how much we want to do our work in peace, too often we have to pursue our mission amid war’s dangers and tensions.

Since the October 7, 2023, terror attacks and the war in Gaza began, professionals at Hadassah hospitals have been treating and healing injured soldiers and civilians, rehabilitating those in need of long-term care, fortifying buildings when necessary, hastening openings of new facilities and fostering hope.

In a recent episode of the Hadassah On Call podcast, Shiri Ben-David, chief psychologist at the Hadassah Medical Organization, addressed the issues confronting the nation’s mental health professionals, including our own. One thing she emphasized was that even for a country experienced in dealing with war and terrorism, the post-October 7 landscape has presented unparalleled new challenges. “Having the traumatic event ended,” Ben-David said, “is a major characteristic of treating post-trauma. Telling a person…‘the trauma
is no longer happening’ is a major core of being in a safe place and starting to restore a sense of self….”

Now that the war has presumably ended, a new stage of the healing journey can begin.

At our hospitals and youth villages, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, therapists and social workers are working with young people exposed to extraordinary stress. Indeed, the Israeli Pediatric Association has reported that more than 80 percent of the country’s children have experienced emotional stress—including post-traumatic stress disorder—since the war began.

Despite the obstacles, most children adapt. At our youth villages in particular, the traditional structure of study and therapeutic activities, plus the availability of counseling, helps teens manage the pressure. Earlier this year, several students from our villages shared their experiences at the 2025 Hadassah National Conference in Aventura, Fla. Darya Dubrovsky, an 18-year-old who came to Meir Shfeyah from Ukraine, talked about the difficulty of adjusting to “the new people, the new language, the new culture,” adding that it has also been exciting. “There’s a lot of support at Shfeyah. Support is the most important thing.”

Hana Shvarzman, 17, said that without Meir Shfeyah she would have ended up on a different path, but that she now has the support to succeed in her new country.

Sometimes Hadassah physicians become part of a chain linking generations. That was the case for Dr. Simcha Yagel, senior obstetrician at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus. Twenty-four years ago, he delivered a baby named Ruhama, born 13 weeks premature and weighing just over one pound, who spent six months in the neonatal intensive care unit. Dr. Yagel kept in touch with Ruhama and her family over the years and was present recently when she gave birth to a baby boy weighing six times his mother’s birth weight.

In this holiday season, may all our tables be weighted with joy.