Marcie Natan

By Judie Jacobson ~

HARTFORD – At its Annual Meeting in July 2011, the National Board of Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America elected Marcie Natan as its national president, the group’s highest level volunteer leadership role.
A member of Hadassah for more than 40 years, Natan, has held a host of positions within the organization, most recently as national treasurer (2006-2010). Currently a resident of New York, she served as president of the Eastern Pennsylvania Region (1989-1992) while living in Lancaster, Penn.
Natan, who holds a degree in early childhood education from the University of Maryland, is also a past president of Temple Beth El in Lancaster, and served on the boards of the Lancaster Jewish Community Center, the Lancaster Jewish Federation and the sisterhood of Temple Beth El. She has taught both Hebrew and Sunday school.
Natan was in Hartford last week to attend several events hosted by the local chapters of Hadassah, including a tea at the Connecticut Historical Society attended by several dignitaries, including Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman.
During her visit, she stopped by the office of the Jewish Ledger to talk about Hadassah, its ongoing mission and its hopes and plans for the future.
Q: Would you say that the mission of Hadassah is the same today as it was when the organization was founded a century ago, or has that mission changed in any way?
A: What is amazing is how much of a thread of similarity I can see.  We started with the idea of a study group that was going to become hands-on, proactive in the development of better health care in [what was then] Palestine. That need hasn’t changed and the role that Hadassah plays in meeting that need really hasn’t changed either.  Henrietta Szold said from the day she started “our responsibility will be to deal with the population in Jerusalem; to educate them, to bring them western style medicine.”Come to our hospital today: The full rainbow of people that make up Jerusalem make up Hadassah. We have Arab doctors, Jewish doctors, doctors who come from France and the U.S. and South America, Ethiopians, Russian olim, as well as Arab doctors who are trained at Hadassah so that they can go back into Gaza and serve their people. It’s a truly amazing thing.
People say to me “Why do you do this?” And I say, “It’s who we are.”
The need for caring for children hasn’t changed. It was Henrietta Szold who started Youth Aliyah, which brought children out of Germany prior to World War II and set them up in youth villages.  Their parents were killed; but the children were rescued.  Today, Hadassah continues to provide support for Youth Aliyah villages and day centers.  The population they serve is a little different; they’re native Israelis whose parents for one reason or another can’t care for the children. You still have waves of immigration where the understanding is, if you can take the child and put them in an environment where they can learn the culture of the country and then let them go back, they will be role models for their families.
So, we have Youth Aliyah, we have the hospital, and we have a college in Jerusalem.  The college was started because the government identified a need for technical training. It has morphed now into a four-year academic college. We no longer own it; but we still affiliate with it. We provide scholarships for students, many of who will be the first in their families to have a college education.

Q: What is happening with the Young Judaea program?
A: We are in the process of spinning it off. We have a group of former young Judaeans who are working with us who can really grow this program. Within three years it will be totally owned by and supported by this new entity.  Our commitment to them is to basically see it through the first three years and to continue to raise money for scholarships.  Our hope is that during this three-year period we will continue to work with the new group to come up with some particular program or effort that will be owned by Hadassah and that the women of Hadassah will continue to support. It will be a program that belongs to us but that is a part of Young Judaea.

Q: What are some of the challenges facing Hadassah in the coming years?
A: One of the biggest challenges is not a new one but I think it’s an ongoing one is how to bring on and involve the next generation. It’s a critical need not just for Hadassah but for the Jewish community and it’s challenging. Where everyone is so over-programmed – how do you find a way of disseminating your message, creating that connection and allowing it to happen in a way that is cognizant of the need and sympathetic to the needs of a generation that doesn’t want to go to luncheons; they don’t even want to go out at night to a meeting.

Q: Can you fill us in on what’s new and exciting in the way of medical research at Hadassah?
A: One of the areas that we are really in the forefront now is with age-related macular degeneration, which is one of the leading causes of blindness.  We’re in clinical trials; we are so hopeful that we are going to be able to at least stop any progression and perhaps even reverse damage. We are also doing some very advanced research related to ALS, MS – nerve related diseases – again, in clinical trials and with some very positive results. We have two real advantages: one is that, while the U.S. has kind of put a stop to stem cell research, in Israel it just keeps going and we are moving forward; the other advantage is that our researchers actually go to the bedside – they know the patient. They can see the results and then take it back to the lab and say okay this is what we have to work on. It motivates them.

Q: Tell us about the celebration you have planned for the centennial.
A: On Feb. 24 we are having our centennial at Temple Emanuel in New York, where we were chartered. Same Temple, same date. Temple Emanuel has moved five blocks from where it was at the time. Think about how much of Henrietta Szold’s vision is what drives us today and, on the other hand, how we have grown from two nurses to two hospitals and now this brand new tower…Youth Aliyah, the creation of young Judaea, our relationship with the Jewish National Fund (JNF) — We are the largest organizational contributor to JNF. We’ve taken Hadassah a lot further than five short blocks.

Q: Can you comment on the report yesterday (Feb. 7) that Hadassah will investigate fraud allegations brought against you and your predecessor, Nancy Falchuk?
A: In December a whistle-blower came to Hadassah with allegations that there were improprieties in [Hadassah CEO] Larry Blum’s use of his corporate Amex card. He was put on a leave of absence while we investigated. Then, in January, he shared a letter with our national board that included whistleblower-type allegations against myself and my immediate predecessor, Nancy Falchuk. We have a process – we have a whistle-blower committee — and just as we put that process in place when the allegations were made against Larry, in the best interests of the organization we are following the same process in terms of his allegations against me and Nancy.  Beyond that there really isn’t anything more that I can say.

Q: Can you comment on the recent flap over the Komen Foundation’s decision to cut off funds to Planned Parenthood, which were subsequently restored?
A: Very sad – and we stated it publicly.  We came out with two formal responses.  We need to be working together to ensure that every woman has the opportunity for regular treatment –not just for breast cancer, but to have access to medical care that she needs. In the case of Komen, a group that had been so solidified in their message and in their ability to work together was fractured.  I am a two-time winner of the battle against breast cancer; I have walked in many a Komen race bearing the banner of Hadassah. In 2010 we were very proud to have been the official partner with Komen when they brought the race to Jerusalem. On a regular basis, though, there is no affiliation between Hadassah and Komen. We have hope that their decision to provide grants will in fact be the reality because these are women in need and [Planned Parenthood] is where they come for support. Komen has helped to provide that support and we hope that they will continue to do so.