Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson was awarded on Tuesday an honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University for her contributions to medicine.
Dr. Adelson was one of several honorees at a special ceremony Tuesday evening.
In a film clip about her life's work shown at the event, Adelson said, "I'm proud of what I achieved for the Jewish world. I'm proud that I'm standing tall and proud [as] a Jewish woman. Compared to my mother, who grew up in Poland, and left at the age of 18 after she finished high school because she couldn't stand tall [as a Jew].
"There was anti-Semitism there, in Europe and Poland, and I'm so privileged to grow up as a proud Jew.
"I want to continue what I'm doing to help the Jewish people and the state of Israel as much as I can," Dr. Adelson said, adding that she carried with her the memory of her family members who had perished in the Holocaust, as well as "generation after generation" of the Jewish people.
Adelson was born in Israel to parents who immigrated from Poland prior to the Holocaust. She earned a Bachelor of Science in microbiology and genetics from Hebrew University and a medical degree with honors from Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine. She helped develop a methadone program for teen addicts and has co-authored numerous research papers on methadone treatment.
In 2018, Dr. Adelson was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump.
At the event on Tuesday, Dr. Adelson thanked Bar-Ilan University and its board of trustees for selecting her as a recipient of an honorary doctorate and for being chosen to deliver the acceptance speech on behalf of all other recipients.
"These remarkable men and women have all excelled in their fields: security and settlement, the arts and education, business and philanthropy," she said in her speech. "These remarkable men and women represent what is best about Israel and Judaism, about Zionism."
Adelson talked about her life in Israel and her many efforts to make the world a better place, as well as protect the Jewish people: "I was born here, in Israel, a tzabareet [Hebrew for native-born Israeli], to parents who lost most of their families to the Nazis and found emancipation and strength in the restored Jewish state. I was raised to think independently and to act accordingly – to stand up for what I believe in, even if that means standing alone. I served as an officer in a special Israel Defense Forces unit, doing my part to prevent another Holocaust and to allow Israel to flourish despite the enemies it faces on all sides (except for the Mediterranean sea)."
Adelson said that she "chose medicine as my career in order to liberate people from the bondage of sickness and injury. In treating the disease of drug addiction over the last three decades, I have seen how this liberation radiates out upon society as a whole: It spares addicts' relatives untold distress. And it spares the law enforcement, courts, welfare and health systems needless expense and exertion."
"My husband Sheldon and I are champions of free markets because these enable people to achieve their utmost independence," she continued. "And free markets mean more money for charity – investment in the greater good. Freedom is a deeply Jewish value. But we Jews know how hard it is to achieve and to keep. From the days of Exodus, our nation has struggled against oppression – and for liberation. Striving for freedom is in our DNA. And that is why institutions like Bar-Ilan University are so important."
To make the moment even more special, Israel Hayom Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth presented Dr. Adelson with a special Israel Hayom front page, featuring an article about her and her work.
Adelson married businessman and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson in 1991. Over the years, the two have contributed greatly to educational programs as well as Jewish organizations around the world.
The couple opened their first drug abuse clinic in Tel Aviv in 1993. In 2000, the Adelsons opened the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research in Las Vegas to help treat painkiller and opioid addiction.
The Adelson family owns the company that is the primary shareholder in Israel Hayom.
