5 - The American Foundations

Summary

AMERICAN ZIONIST IDEOLOGY, at least from Brandeis onwards, had much in common with core American values and the American ethos. Hadassah's ideology is no exception to this rule, echoing American national ideals and characteristics fundamental to American culture.

THE AMERICAN ETHOS

In the absence of a national common denominator, such as country of origin or heritage, the American national consciousness was largely formed on the basis of ideological identification with and commitment to a set of universal values. An individual's American identity is based on a system of ideas that has penetrated the daily life of American society and constitutes a living faith for most Americans. In their exemplary essays on American nationalism, the scholar of nationalism Hans Kohn and the historian Yehoshua Arieli list three characteristics of the American national consciousness that are particularly relevant in this context:

consciousness of a difference from other nations;

attachment to democracy and freedom as the basic values that have shaped American society and its political institutions;

belief in a universal mission and destiny, based on the conviction that the American people bear a message for the entire world and that the American social system is applicable for all humankind, perceived in the American national consciousness as a responsibility to achieve the greatest possible freedom and democracy in American society, and to help all humanity benefit from the American model.

These ideals played a significant role in shaping Hadassah's ideology.

PRACTICE, PROFESSIONALISM, AND ‘SCIENTIFIC PHILANTHROPY’

In addition to the Jewish elements discussed in the previous chapter and the fundamental American ethos, Hadassah's ideology was also shaped, from its inception, by the ideas of ‘doing’ and ‘the concrete’. These originated both in American civilization and in the desire of Hadassah's founders to create an organization that would meet the practical, concrete, and natural needs of women, as they understood those needs within the context of views prevalent in early twentiethcentury America, discussed in Chapter 1.

This attachment to the practical and the concrete found expression in the priority attached to science, technology, professionalism, and efficiency in twentiethcentury American culture. These values, which became fundamental elements in Hadassah's ideology and practice alike, were the heritage of Progressivism. All had been widely embraced by American women's organizations following the introduction of scientific and professional methods in American philanthropic activity in the late nineteenth century.