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Philanthropy and Volunteerism

Content type
Collection

First patients admitted to Kolkata’s Ezra Hospital

April 9, 1888

Ezra Hospital, a hospital in Kolkata established by Mozelle Ezra, admitted its first patients on April 9, 1888. Mozelle Ezra, born 1853, was the daughter of Sir Albert Sassoon, a Baghdadi businessman and philanthropist, and Hannah Meyer Sassoon. She was the wife of community leader and philanthropist Elias Ezra. She helped ease the poverty of the Jewish community in Calcutta and donated generously to synagogues in schools. 

Remembering Who We Are: A Tale of Three Cousins

First cousins Ruth Fein (1927-2024), Merle Goldman (1931-2023), and Judy Moore (1927-2023) all came of age as young women in the restrictive 1950s. From a certain distance, you might assume that they all conformed to a simple and restrictive script – the one prescribed for women of their era, race, and class status. But in truth none of them did. In fact, what is so striking about these three cousins is how each, in her own way, defied the expectations of the era in which they came of age.

Ruth Fein

Project
General

Sylvia Greene interviewed Ruth Fein on June 12, 1992, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Ruth discusses her family history, childhood in Washington, DC, and experiences living in Chapel Hill, Washington, DC, and Boston, highlighting her early exposure to politics, encounters with anti-Semitism, education at Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University, as well as her marriage to Rashi Fein and their life in different communities, underscoring the varying levels of political engagement and her extensive volunteer work in Boston and Washington.

Julius Levy

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Dr. Julius Levy on October 13, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Dr. Levy discusses his Jewish upbringing, medical school experience, involvement with United Jewish Appeal, and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Jewish community and New Orleans while expressing his love for the city.

Mildred Rosenbaum

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Roz Bornstein interviewed Mildred Rosenbaum on August 8th and 9th, 2001, in Seattle, Washington, for the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Rosenbaum recounts her journey from a childhood accident and hospitalization to her involvement in the Jewish community, her marriage, her support for Israel, and the establishment of Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle.

The SHALVA Founders

Project
Women Who Dared

David Johnson interviewed SHALVA Founders (Chani Friedman, Tamar Friedman, Hadassah Goodman, Shoshana Kahn, Fayge Siegal, Batshie Goldfeder, and Devora Stern) on March 4, 2003, in Chicago, Illinois, for the Women Who Dared Oral History Project. The narrators discuss their backgrounds, careers, and activism, emphasizing the founding and mission of SHALVA to support domestic abuse survivors in the Orthodox Jewish community, along with their accomplishments and other related topics.

Sara Wallace

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Iris Geik interviewed Sara Wallace on February 8, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Wallace talks about her community activism and career as a lawyer, discusses her immigrant upbringing, her pioneering role as a woman in the legal profession, her involvement in social advocacy, and her membership with Temple Israel Boston.

Carol Smokler

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Jayne Guberman interviewed Carol Smokler on August 13, 2007, in Lenox, Massachusetts, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Smokler discusses her Jewish upbringing, community involvement, experiences during Hurricane Katrina, and her feelings about the government's response to the disaster.

Janet Kaplan

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Rachel Alexander interviewed Janet Printz Kaplan on November 6, 1997, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Kaplan discusses her upbringing in Brookline, her experiences at Temple Israel, her love for art and dogs, her marriage and family life, community involvement, and her close relationship with a German exchange student who was born in a concentration camp.

Ida Mae Kahn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Abrams and Bobbie Burstein interviewed Ida Mae Kahn on July 11, 1997, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as a part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Kahn talks about her Jewish upbringing, meeting her husband, starting a family, and her extensive involvement in volunteer work, including leadership roles in various organizations and serving on the board of Public Welfare.

Hulda Gittelsohn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Betsy Abrams and Bobbie Burstein interviewed Hulda “Bubbles” Gittelsohn on June 20, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Gittelsohn discusses her family heritage, childhood religious customs, experiences at Temple and Wellesley College, family tragedies, finding support in Temple Israel, her travels around the world, and her life in a retirement community.

Bernice Frieze

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Rochelle Ruthchild interviewed Bernice Frieze on January 16, 1997, in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Frieze shares stories of her family's immigration to the United States, her upbringing in Boston during the Great Depression, her family life, Jewish practice, and involvement in charitable work.

Martha Finn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Ellen Meisel interviewed Martha Goldstein Finn on January 13th, 1997 in Boston Massachusetts as part of the project Women Whose Lives Span the Century. Finn discusses her early life in Dorchester, her college experience in the 1920s and 1930s, the challenges faced by women in the workforce at the time, her family life, including adopting a child, and her involvement in volunteer and community work, particularly with ORT and Temple Israel.

Harriet Cohn

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Helene Bailen interviewed Harriet Segal Cohn on January 9 and January 16, 1997, in Westwood, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Harriet shares her family's immigration to Boston, her childhood experiences, education, encountering antisemitism, meeting her husband, experiences volunteering, and reflects on her life as a widow.

Anna Castleman

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Frances Godine interviewed Anna Castleman on December 17, 1996, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Anna Castleman discusses her upbringing in New England, her marriage and family life, her community involvement in Boston, and her experience as a Jewish woman at Wellesley College and in various Jewish organizations.

Beatrice Biller

Project
Women Whose Lives Span the Century

Emily Mehlman interviewed Beatrice Biller on February 25, 1996, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, as part of the Women Whose Lives Spanned The Century Oral History Project. Biller shares her family history, and involvement in various volunteer activities, reflecting on her experiences living through significant historical events such as the World Wars and her contributions to the Jewish community in Temple Israel.

Mitzvah Day receives the Big Society award from the office of the Prime Minister of England

November 30, 2011

The month of November is known in the British Jewish community for its annual celebration of Mitzvah Day. On Mitzvah Day, the organization Mitzvah Day International, founded by Laura Marks, partners globally with other agents for change to lead charity initiatives. Their efforts in the past have included donation drives, packing and distributing necessities to the needy, blood drives, nature cleanings, and much more.  

Steven Winkler

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Steven Winkler on November 28, 2006, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Winkler details his Jewish upbringing in Georgia, his career as a hospital administrator, and his involvement in the recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, emphasizing his dedication to healthcare and community service.

Zoe Oreck

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Zoe Oreck on July 3, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Oreck, an eighteen-year-old resident of New Orleans, reflects on her displacement during Hurricane Katrina, her temporary life in Houston, and her changed perspective on government, community, spirituality, and Jewish social life.

Sophie Oreck

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Sophie Oreck on July 2, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Sophie shares her school life, experiences during Hurricane Katrina, finding stability in soccer, benefiting from her connected Jewish family, and her Jewish life, including her bat mitzvah, trips to Israel, and passion for Jewish history.

Stephen Kupperman

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Stephen Kupperman on September 8, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina’s Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Kupperman speaks about his childhood in New Orleans, his involvement in Jewish non-profits, and his experience during Hurricane Katrina, including his evacuation to Baton Rogue, reflecting on the changes in the city since then.

Susan Hess

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed Susan Hess on November 16, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Hess talks about her family background, experiences during Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina, her journey towards more observant Judaism, and her involvement in raising funds for the Louisiana SPCA and City Park after Katrina.

Cynthia Farber

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Stuart Rockoff interviewed Cynthia Farber on August 30, 2007, in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Farber shares her family's history, Hurricane Katrina experience, relocation from New Orleans to Atlanta, and involvement in organizations, reflecting on the hurricane's impact on her life and New Orleans.

David Smason

Project
Katrina's Jewish Voices

Rosalind Hinton interviewed David Smason on August 27, 2007, in New Orleans, Louisiana, as part of the Katrina's Jewish Voices Oral History Project. Smason discusses his upbringing, community involvement, and the profound impact of Hurricane Katrina on his life, including the struggle to locate loved ones, the damage to his home, and the lasting effects on his academic and personal journey.

Lois Blum Feinblatt

Project
Weaving Women's Words

Jean Freedman interviewed Lois B. Feinblatt on March 21, 2001, in Baltimore, Maryland, as part of the Weaving Women's Words Oral History Project. Feinblatt talks about her background, including experiences of growing up in a segregated Baltimore, her college years, marriage and motherhood during World War II, her career in welfare and later as a psychotherapist, and reflects on her Jewish practice and the Jewish community in Baltimore.

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