Hadassah Lieberman ( Freilich; born March 28, 1948) is the second wife of former United States Senator

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

Life and work

Hadassah Freilich Lieberman was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(a past report erroneously stated she was born in a refugee camp) to Jewish parents who were both

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universally acce ...

. Her father was Samuel Freilich, a lawyer and

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

from Munkács, in the

Carpathian Ruthenia Carpathian Ruthenia ( rue, Карпатьска Русь, Karpat'ska Rus'; uk, Закарпаття, Zakarpattia; sk, Podkarpatská Rus; hu, Kárpátalja; ro, Transcarpatia; pl, Zakarpacie); cz, Podkarpatská Rus; german: Karpatenukrai ...

(now

Mukachevo Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

). Her mother, Ella (Wieder) Freilich, had survived both

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

and

Dachau Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is lo ...

. Hadassah was named for her maternal grandmother, who was murdered at Auschwitz. Samuel Freilich brought his family to the United States, in 1949, settling in

Gardner, Massachusetts Gardner, officially the City of Gardner, is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, G ...

, where he was the rabbi of Congregation Ohave Shalom. Lieberman graduated from Gardner High School in 1966. Lieberman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government and Dramatics from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

in 1970, as well as an MA in International Relations from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

the following year. She was a research analyst at

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ...

, a director of Policy, Planning, and Communications at

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfize ...

, and a senior program officer at the National Research Council. She worked on health issues, assisting nonprofit organizations, improving educational standards, and promoting international understanding. She has served on several national nonprofit councils and boards. Lieberman continues to be vocal on many issues, which includes improving women's health, reducing hurdles faced by immigrants, and the challenge of caring for aging parents. Lieberman was also a member of the

Parents Music Resource Center The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related or sexual themes via labeling albums ...

. Rolling Stone magazine stated that she "is an active proponent of the V-Chip and as servedon the board of the PTC". She worked for the lobbying company APCO Associates, which serves many pharmaceutical and health care corporations, as well as four major drug companies. In March 2005, Lieberman was hired by

Hill & Knowlton Hill+Knowlton Strategies is an American global public relations consulting company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with over 80 offices in more than 40 countries. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927 by John W. Hill ...

as "senior counselor" in the firm's "health care and pharmaceuticals practice". Her work with the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries led to controversy over her involvement with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation. Lieberman also served as Chairman of the Ambassador's Ball for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and as Honorary Board Member for

Society for Women's Health Research The Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) is a national non-profit organization based in Washington D.C. SWHR is the thought leader in research on biological differences in disease and is dedicated to transforming women's health through sci ...

. She was actively involved in her husband's vice presidential campaign in 2000, making campaign stops nationwide, including

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Taste of Polonia The Taste of Polonia is a Chicago festival held at the Copernicus Cultural and Civic Center in the Jefferson Park community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States every Labor Day weekend since 1980. It is the Copernicus Foundat ...

over the

Labor Day Weekend Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United S ...

, where she appeared along with Tipper Gore and

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former ...

Books

*''An Amazing Adventure: Joe and Hadassah's Personal Notes on the 2000 Campaign'' (2002)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lieberman, Hadassah 1948 births Living people Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Connecticut Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Spouses of Connecticut politicians American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent 21st-century American women writers American lobbyists Jewish American writers Northeastern University alumni People from Gardner, Massachusetts Lehman Brothers people Pfizer people 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople Writers from Connecticut Joe Lieberman