On the 9th and 10th of January, the national conference that opens the year was held in Jerusalem with the participation of Hadassah chapters from around  the country.

This year the topic was dedicated to the immigrants who came to Israel from all over the world, during the major immigrations. 
We have seen in practice the fulfillment of the prophecy from the book of Isaiah, chapter 9: “Let your eyes be around you and see all gathered, your sons will come to you from afar, and your daughters will come on your side.” Indeed, we also saw that our members are from many countries all over the world.

We were honored with the presence of various lecturers who told the story of their immigration to Israel. Among them was the chairman of the Jewish Agency, Doron Almog. Although he was born in Israel, he experienced his family’s sacrifices before and after the establishment of the state.  Almog provided us a look into the agency's work around the world in bringing immigrants to Israel. 
Former MK Ran Cohen told about the immigration from Iraq through his personal story "What happened to the Child Sa’id". 
Dr. Yigal Shalom spoke about the Aliyah from Yemen as Mrs. Ilana Cohen, former director and choreographer of the Inbal Dance Theater, performed dances depicting the lives of women in Yemen.
Mrs. Almaz Mamoya used dances from different regions of Ethiopia to explain the language of Ethiopian dance.

We ended the evening with great fanfare with an exciting performance by Ilana Katz and Gal Greenberg, who managed to get us all singing and dancing.

The next day we heard about the absorption difficulties of immigrants from other countries such as Russia.  Alex Reif "the girl with the red bow tie" talked about the cultural gap and her experiences on the first day of Israeli kindergarten, when she arrived wearing a festive dress, patent leather shoes with white socks, and a red bow in her hair.
In addition, we were informed of new happenings at Hadassah Hospital and Karen Greenberg gave a lecture on the new project "Food Literacy" and its importance for the heart and a healthy life. David Harris updated us on what is happening at Hadassah International.

At the close of the conference, we recognized and thanked the outgoing and incoming presidents, introduced the new executive committee, and presented  certificates of excellence to our outstanding volunteers.