Honoring Our Past, Empowering Our Future

Our dear friends, Women of WIZO.

This spring edition of the WIZO newsletter is sent to you following a sequence of national holidays, from the Festival of Freedom until Independence Day, including Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day for IDF Fallen Soldiers.

These days bring with them every year special feelings of a nation that, despite disagreements, knows how to gather around its symbols and values, and to honor its heritage and traditions.

Last Thursday, the State of Israel celebrated 77 years since its establishment, and with a broad view of the Zionist enterprise, one can only feel pride in our partnership in this modern-day miracle.

There is no more moving national image than that of a Holocaust survivor grandmother with her grandchild, the soldier, protecting her and us – a picture that describes, alongside honoring parents in the family aspect, also the amazing national journey we have undergone, from a threatened and persecuted diaspora people, to one that repels its oppressors and pursues them, and bears responsibility for its safety and security.

Within all the national events, we also experience excitement in WIZO events: memorial ceremonies in WIZO institutions, stories of the fallen and heroes who graduated from our institutions, Holocaust Remembrance Day with Holocaust survivors who are residents of the retirement home, and the “Women Talking Bereavement” project – an inspiring project initiated by “WIZO Israel”.

This initiative deserves a few more words: In this project, which is gradually becoming a tradition, women’s meetings are held in WIZO branches in Israel during Memorial Day, with the participation of bereaved mothers, partners, or sisters.

In this intimate and supportive environment, they share their pain and open their world, with sensitivity and pain, to other women. There is no such meeting without tears of identification and emotion, there is no such meeting that does not leave unforgettable memories for all participants – both for those who listen and for those who share.

We can all be proud that WIZO brings to the Israeli cultural table such wonderful, necessary, unifying, and important initiatives that express a feminine voice and civilian heroism that complements that of the battlefield.

Finally, we send our thanks to Dikla Kadosh, who edited the newsletters until now and created the familiar format, along with wishes of success to her successor, Meital Bergman, for whom this is the first publication under her editorship.

With great thanks and appreciation to all our partners,

Anat Vidor, World WIZO President

Anita Friedman,  World WIZO Chairperson