Dvora Hacohen
Dvora Hacohen is an Israeli historian and professor in the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at the Bar-Ilan University in Israel. Her authoritative biography of Henrietta Szold, To Repair a Broken World | The Life of Henrietta Szold, Founder of Hadassah, introduces a new generation to a remarkable leader who fought for women’s rights and the poor. Born in Baltimore in 1860, Henrietta Szold was driven from a young age by the mission captured in the concept of tikkun olam, “repair of the world.” Herself the child of immigrants, she established a night school, open to all faiths, to teach English to Russian Jews in her hometown. She became the first woman to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and was the first editor for the Jewish Publication Society. In 1912 she founded Hadassah, the international women’s organization dedicated to humanitarian work and community building. A passionate Zionist, Szold was troubled by the Jewish–Arab conflict in Palestine, to which she sought a peaceful and equitable solution for all.