The Rachel S. Jastrow Chapter of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, was formed in 1914 in Madison, Wisconsin, the first chapter of Hadassah west of New York and the third in the United States. The chapter was named in honor of the younger sister of Henrietta Szold, through whose efforts the national organization was founded in 1912 in New York City. Rachel Szold Jastrow was one of the founders of the Madison Hadassah Chapter and the wife of Professor Joseph Jastrow, the first psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin.
Hadassah takes its name from the Hebrew name for Esther, the Biblical heroine who saved Persian Jewry from annihilation. Its goals are the study and discussion of Jewish problems, particularly the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The first project undertaken by the parent organization was to send nurses to Palestine; thus began a commitment to Israel which has resulted in the establishment of two large medical centers. Hadassah also established Youth Aliyah, which helped transport and settle European Jewish refugee children in Palestine in the 1930s and more recently from Arab lands. The organization also supports the Jewish National Fund, which buys and reclaims land in Israel for agricultural purposes.
