Tabby Refael, a weekly columnist at the Journal, was recognized by Hadassah as one of “18 American Zionist Women You Should Know.”
“I was thrilled to see Iranian American Jews on this special list, especially given that after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, our former home country made Zionism a capital offense,” Refael told the Journal. “Our community has been a deeply Zionist one for generations, and though many of us are now in the West, our hearts still remain threaded in the ancient Jewish tapestry of the East.”
Born in Tehran to Zionist parents, Refael and her family fled from Iran to the United States in 1988, eventually settling in Beverly Hills so that the two daughters could attend Beverly Hills public schools. While studying communications at University of California, San Diego, Refael witnessed virulent anti-Zionism and antisemitism on campus. In response, she became a pro-Israel activist.
Her love and support for Israel carried on into her post-undergraduate years, as she took a position at the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles before earning a graduate degree in public diplomacy from University of Southern California. She began pursuing journalism along with co-founding 30 Years After, a non-partisan organization that promotes civic and Jewish communal engagement among the Iranian-American-Jewish community.
At the Journal, where she has been a columnist for several years, she writes about family, the Los Angeles Persian-Jewish community, Iran and local issues.
In the inaugural edition of its list celebrating Zionist Jewish women, Hadassah also recognized actor, author and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik as well as ChayaLeah Sufrin, executive director of Long Beach Hillel in Long Beach.
“I thought of my grandmothers immediately,” Sufrin said, on being included. “I know how proud they would be of this honor as they were both such proud Zionists in their own ways. I understand the complicated relationship some parts of the Jewish community have with the word, ‘Zionism,’ but I want to reclaim the word and make it central to how all Jews identify.”
The list is part of Hadassah’s yearlong “Hadassah and Israel—Together at 75” celebration. Published May 9, the initiative aims to highlight the Zionist achievements of 18 women. The honorees are from the United States and Israel. According to Hadassah, they “represent the diversity of the Jewish community.”
Rhoda Smolow, national president of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, said the list aligned with the organization’s longtime championing of proudly Zionist women.
“Just as they have since before Israel’s founding, women are helping to shape and guide Israel’s future, both behind the scenes and in the public square,” Smolow said. “As the leading women’s Zionist organization in the U.S., Hadassah is proud to shine a spotlight on these trailblazing women.”
Additional honorees include Leah Soibel, founder and CEO of the nonprofit media organization, Fuente Latina, which connects Spanish-speaking journalists to resources on Israel; Israeli human rights activist and journalist Emily Schrader and Melissa Weiss, executive editor of daily newsletter Jewish Insider.
