The Jewish outlook., November 24, 1905, Page 36, Image 36

About The Jewish outlook. (Denver, Colo.) 1903-1913

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The National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives.
The anniversary which this issue of
the Jewish Outlook so notably commem
orates can have no more significant ex
emplification in its backward vista than
the National Jewish Hospital for Con
sumptives.
It stands in the abstract for the very
acme of the freedom the Jewish people
have been privileged to enjoy in the
United States, a creedless monument of
the gratitude of a long-suffering race.
It is one of the many Hebrew charita
ble institutions, which by the very mag
nitude of its helpfulness and by the hal
lowing depth of its humanitarianism
gives the world its clearest conception of
the heart of a race.
It was conceived by the Jew. It was
founded by the Jew. It is sustained by
the Jew.
Yet Mercy stands blindfold at its
threshold so that she can but hear the cry
Samuel Grabfelder, President.
of suffering and calm the human woe
that flies to her arms.
It is the Jew’s gift to a free and lib
eral-thinking nation.
* # #
They tell us that the people of the
mountains can see the world with a
clearer and a stronger mental vision than
those who live in the valleys. That may
account in away for the inception only
of the great institution, for it was in
Denver that the thought came to the
workers in God’s vineyard and it was
Denver that in 1890 raised $45,000 for
the construction of the main building.
No need to speak of the days of the
panic that followed, of the years of a
whole community’s financial rebuilding
and of the long struggle to carry out the
original purpose.
It was a far cry from the mountain
tops to the coasts, but it was heard even
THE JEWISH OUTLOOK
Written for the Jewish Outlook.
in the smallest hamlet, and the Jewish
hospital became national, not alone in its
purpose, but in its management and
maintenance.
Rabbi William S. Friedman, Founder.
First and foremost in this accomplish
ment stands the Independent Order of
B’nai B’rith.
When the doors of the institution were
first filing open for the reception and
treatment of the destitute stricken it was
that order that stood in the background
of the inspiring spectacle though itself
the deus ex machina that had made that
opening a reality.
Unostentatious in its giving in the
early as well as in the lattei days of the
hospital’s history, it this year put the
Alfred Muller, Secretary.
cap stone upon the monument of its typ
ical unhampering beneficence by increas
ing its yearly subscription towards the
hospital maintenance from 25 cents to
40 cents per capita.
Freely and unstintingly as tliey have
given in the past, they gave again, not
asking for the slightest advantage, de
manding nothing for themselves in the
way of privilege or control. The order
—every member of it —gave ont of the
fullness of its heart, gave where its only
reward is but the satisfaction of a duty
perfectly performed in the sight of an
approving Providence.
This substantial encouragement was
an incentive to other Jewish organiza
tions, notably the Jewish Woman’s
Council, the Free Sons of Israel, as well
as the Federated Jewish Charities of
Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit,
Milwaukee, Philadelphia and St. Louis,
to contribute annually to the hospital.
However, the greater part of the $40,-
000 for its yearly maintenance is gath-
□r. Moses Collins, Superintendent.
ered from the 6,000 subscribers in vary
ing sums, and in cities other than those
mentioned.
Starting on December 10, 1899, with
thirty-five patients, the institution now
cares for about ninety at all times. The
length of stay is from six months to one
year, depending entirely upon the im
provement possible for the patient. It is
the intention to receive and treat only
those for whom there is a reasonable
chance for recovery, or sufficient im
provement to enable the patient, upon
his discharge, to become self-supporting.
It is the conviction of those in charge of
the institution that each city should care
for its own incurables, and that the city
of Denver and the state of Colorado
ought not to be burdened with a great
number of incurable cases who can only
be a. menace to the community without
possible chance of benefit to themselves.
The hospital is an educational force.