Letter from R. Elkanah Schwartz about R. Maurice Lamm's Rejoinder to Criticism of Shaare Zedek Hospital (1970)

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Letter from Elchanan Pels to the Editor of the Jewish Press Responding to Criticism of Shaare Zedek Hospital (1970)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I am sending you enclosed a photocopy of an article written by Arnold Fine in the April 17 to April 25 issue of the Jewish Press which shocked us very much. Although we can understand that Mr. Fine was upset about his son's illness and, being far from home, had to go through unfamiliar procedures, his report about Shaare Zedek is incredible and not factual. We feel that the whole tone of this article is so undignified that it would not be right for the hospital to send an official reply to the *Jewish Press*. On the other hand, this should not go unanswered, and the best possible reaction to such an article would be the spontaneous reply from a person like yourself who knows Shaare Zedek well from his personal experiences there and has a high standing in his community. You could state that this description of Shaare Zedek is completely out of line with your own experience of the hospital, both with regard to cleanliness and courteous treatment by our staff.We would very much appreciate it, were you to write a suitable letter to the *Jewish Press*.Nachum Pessin asked me to convey to you his warmest regards.Thanking you for any help you could give us in this matter, I am, with best wishes and personal regards,Director of Public RelationsEEP/smgcc: Rev. A. Asher HirschAmerican CommitteeShaare Zedek

Zionism

Letter from R. Maurice Lamm to the Editor of the Jewish Press Responding to Criticism of Shaare Zedek Hospital (1970)

Dear Sir: I have just completed a re-reading of Mr. Arnold Fine's column in the April 23rd issue of The Jewish Press in which he records his impressions of daily life in the State of Israel. George Bernard Shaw once said that, "It is easier to be critical than correct." This piece is an apt illustration of that comment. Now, Mr. Fine's considered impressions after his visit to Israel are harmless enough when only he admires mini-skirted hostesses or food that reminds him of Moskowitz and Lupowitz (sic) or the old Arab quarter in Jerusalem that, miracle of miracles, reminds him of a James Bond movie. It is even harmless when Mr. Fine's sensitivities are offended by the rudeness of an assortment of Israeli characters that include one cab driver, two Hassidim and three nurses. Indeed, the whole business would be entirely harmless if only because it comes across as gossip dignified by newsprint. I have no fear that the Israelis will recoil in horror from Mr. Fine's broadsides.Why then do I take the trouble to comment in response to this article? Simply this - Mr. Fine has slandered one of the finest hospitals Jews have ever had and has denigrated an Orthodox institution which has consistently brought glory to Yiddishkeit. He entered the doors of Shaare Zedek Hospital and all he saw were filth and horror - and sickness! - and nurses that did not pay him the emergency attention that he needed in order to have a blood test for his child. Mr. Fine's unsophisticated insight, his superficial understanding of the workings of a hospital, his ignorance of Israeli medical care, have led him to malign something which is magnificent, and to stab with a pen that which is called "The hospital with a heart."Editor, THE JEWISH PRESS-2-June 2, 1970I know this to be true because I had a somewhat more frightening experience than Mr. Fine, when as an apparent heart victim the ambulance carried me in the middle of the night to the old, wrinkled mother-arms of Shaare Zedek. I lived in Shaar…

Zionism