Miriam Edelstein, at The Blogs

Miriam Edelstein

Communications Chair, Hadassah Lower NY State, Hadassah Writers' Circle

Apr 11, 2026, 9:37 AM

We Must Not Let Zionism Become a Dirty Word

You might say that I soaked up Zionism with my mother’s milk. My Uncle Shia (mother’s brother) left Poland for Palestine in 1937 to work on a kibbutz. This was long before there was an Israel, but he believed...

Mar 27, 2025, 7:13 AM

Celebrating Passover in Siberia and Other Memories

With the rapidly approaching Passover holiday, I am remembering things about my early years. World War ll had just begun and we were living in Siberia as “enemies of the people.” In the winter, young children were not allowed outdoors....

Feb 11, 2025, 6:39 PM

Why I Volunteer for Hadassah

Hadassah is the largest women's Zionist organization in the US with 300,000+ members and supporters. And I have Zionism flowing through my veins. You might say I got it with my mother's milk. My mother's older brother, Shia went to...

Nov 15, 2024, 5:16 AM

My Arab Friend Morgan’s Menorah and Me

Morgan's menorah photo supplied by the author.

About 25 years ago, I met a new friend at work by the name of Morgan. She was very interesting and very intelligent and, as it turned out, she was a Palestinian Arab. She was also a Christian. One...

Feb 9, 2024, 7:49 PM

My Memories of My Trips to Israel

I have been to Israel many times. My recollections are not the typical tourist ones. They are mostly personal and not necessarily chronological. One memory that stands out is about trying to find a cousin who had come to...

Sep 8, 2023, 6:24 AM

Hadassah Life Member Miriam Edelstein’s Holocaust Memories

Lvov, Poland ghetto photo supplied by Hadassah.

First, I must remind you that not every Holocaust survivor was in a concentration camp. There were many ways to survive: in the forests as a partisan, as a child rescued by The Kindertransport, as “an enemy of the...

May 5, 2023, 8:35 PM

My Bat Mitzvah

I was born in Poland before World War II. Girls didn’t have bat mitzvahs. There was no such thing as Conservative or Reform Judaism. You were either Jewish or not, and the only kind of Jewish was Orthodox, where...

Sep 23, 2022, 11:26 AM

Hadassah Lower New York State’s busy Fall 2022 calendar of events

Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Israel. Photo courtesy of Hadassah.

Hadassah Lower New York State has a busy schedule of fall events to attract new membership and keep everyone connected. Although we are not a wealthy Region, we host a variety of fascinating events. Many of those things are...

Jul 25, 2022, 9:29 PM

Memories of My Trips to Israel

I have been to Israel seven times. Each trip left a significant memory. The first one was in 1966. I remember being impressed by the efficiency. For example: Each floor had a light, but as the elevator went one...

May 18, 2022, 7:38 PM

Hadassah leader Miriam Edelstein recalls early days of Hadassah Rockland County

Hadassah members collecting clothing for Israel in the 1960's. Photo courtesy of Hadassah.

The year was 1963. We were finally moving into our new house in Nanuet. Before we reached it, however, a future neighbor ran out of her house and stopped me on the street. “You are going to a Hadassah...

About Me

Miriam Edelstein, Communications Chair for Hadassah Lower New York State, and a member of the Hadassah Writers' Circle, escaped her home in Poland with her family during World War II at the age of five. Subsequently, her family was imprisoned in Siberia before fleeing to Uzbekistan and finally, Sweden before emigrating to the United States where the family settled in Brooklyn. Her columns have appeared previously on Thrive Global.