Labors of Love:
The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Szold
Director: Abby Ginzberg
USA | 2025 | English and Hebrew with English subtitles | 79 min
Panel discussion with filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and Brandeis University Professors Emerita Shulamit Reinharz and Joyce Antler who are both interviewed as experts in the film, moderated by Judith Rosenbaum, CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive
BOSTON PREMIERE
A pioneering humanitarian and extraordinary organizer, Henrietta Szold (1860-1945) was one of the most influential Jewish American leaders of the 20th century, yet her extraordinary story has never been told on film—until now. After establishing night schools for immigrants in her hometown of Baltimore, Szold founded Hadassah in 1912, and mobilized generations of American Jewish women to support health care and education in Palestine. Through the Hadassah organization, she established the region’s modern health care system, built on a mandate to treat Arabs and Jews equally. Later, she spearheaded Youth Aliyah, an operation that rescued 11,000 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe. Directed by NAACP Image Award and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg—whose own family history is entwined with Szold’s—Labors of Love is an intimate portrait a woman who reshaped history through compassion and an unwavering belief in the power of humanity.
Winner – Audience Award Best Film, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Co-Presented by HADASSAH BOSTON
Hadassah continues the vital work Henrietta Szold began one hundred years ago.
WATCH “This is Hadassah” to see what they are accomplishing today!
Watch The Trailer
Sunday, April 12, 4:00 pm
Coolidge Corner Theatre
SCREENING COMPLETED
This program was highlighted in WBUR’s Spring Arts Guide
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