Hadassah San Diego’s Star-Studded Luncheon Honors Fanny Krasner Lebovits

Hadassah San Diego is presenting a Star-Studded Luncheon on September 11, 2022. Members and friends will gather from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley to thank Hadassah’s annual givers and major donors and to honor long-time Hadassah member Fanny Krasner Lebovits on the occasion of her 100th birthday and on her lifetime of dedication, support, and love for Hadassah, Israel, and the Jewish people.

Krasner Lebovits is a Holocaust survivor, nurse, Zionist, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She is one of the fewer than 1.25 percent of Latvian Jews remaining after the Holocaust, managing to survive the Libau ghetto and five concentration and work camps.

Krasner Lebovits moved to the United States in 1979, attended a Hadassah meeting, and was hooked. As she wrote in her book, Memories, Miracles & Meaning, Insights of a Holocaust Survivor, when she thinks of Hadassah she thinks of healing, teaching, building, training, planning, and planting. She says it is a respected organization that is representative of Jewish women and values around the world. Not only is Hadassah the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States, but it creates and offers a unique structure of social services that continues to create realities out of dreams. Krasner Lebovits served as president of the Pacific Southwest Region of Hadassah in 1989 and has continued to serve.

It is especially significant that Krasner Lebovits is being honored at Hadassah San Diego’s luncheon that recognizes its annual givers and major donors, because as annual giving chair she has spearheaded annual giving in San Diego for many years. As a member of the Hadassah San Diego board, Krasner Lebovits can still be seen actively participating every month in the board’s zoom meetings. Krasner Lebovits has lived by the belief that hate is never good, and love is never bad.

Hadassah, the Woman’s Zionist Organization of America, has nearly 300,000 members and supporters in the United States. Hadassah is committed to educating women about health issues and advocates for important issues such as gender equity in medical research, infertility, and combating antisemitism. Over its 110-year history, Hadassah women have raised the funds to grow Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) from a small medical delegation into two world-renowned academic research hospitals in Jerusalem with a diverse staff. HMO is the most advanced medical center in the Middle East, treating more than 1 million patients annually from Israel and around the world, regardless of race, religion, or nationality. Israel’s Health Ministry declared HMO’s hospitals as the best major and small hospitals in the country in 2021.

Hadassah San Diego is creating a tribute book to honor Krasner Lebovits. If you’re interested in a tribute book ad, a donation, or registering for the event, you can reach the Hadassah office at 858-268-3200. Donations will go toward Hadassah Hospital projects, expansion, research, and patient care.