Hadassah

The first executive meeting of the Rose Dunkelman Chapter of Hadassah was held on On 11 January 1944. The first general meeting occurred a week later and the first election of officers took place in 1945. The chapter was named after Zionist activist and co-founder of the Zionist Organization of Canada, Rose Dunkelman. Mrs. Thomas (Gussie) Dale was its first president. Spurred on by the energies of many women from the city’s founding families, the group raised funds for health and education projects in Israel. Among the chapter’s favourite projects were the Nahalal Agricultural and Secondary School, the Hadassim Children and Youth Village and a series of infant nurseries caring for preschool children, both Jewish and Arab, whose mothers had to work or were ill.

In order to raise money for projects in Palestine and then Israel, the women created and successfully ran a steady stream of fundraising activities, often with the support and cooperation of local merchants. In 1957, the chapter produced a cookbook called “Our Favourite Recipes,” which generated a lot of interest and revenue. Another project was a “Golden Book,” in which community members could inscribe a special occasion. In 1964, the book generated a total of $401, thanks to items such as the 35th wedding anniversary of Magdi and Ferdinand Miller ($100), or the daughter of Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, who visited and inscribed a page. In addition, the Hadassah bazaars and Israeli fashion shows were regular fundraisers in Niagara Falls, as they were in other small towns around Ontario. The fashion shows were great fun, with women from the community acting as models and local shopkeepers contributing their merchandise.

These events raised the profile of the Jewish community in Niagara Falls. The Chapter also made particular efforts to reach out to the non-Jewish community, as when they donated an impressive 18-volume Babylonian Talmud, published by Soncino Press, to Brock University in 1967.

• Introduction
• Sisterhood
• Hadassah
• B'nai Brith
• Federation
• Youth Groups