56 Friday, March 23, 1979

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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National Jewish Hospital: 80-Year Symbol of Hope

On Oct. 8, 1892, the cor-
(Editor's note: The Na-
tional Je-wish Hospital nerstone of the first build-
and Research Center in ing was laid.
The building was to
Denver is celebrating its
80th anniversary this remain idle for seven
year and a local benefit years as the silver panic
dinner will be held in of 1893 obliterated much
May honoring Paul S. of Denver's prosperity.
Mirabito, chairman of All efforts to raise money
Burroughs Corp. The fol- to furnish, open and op-
lowing article describes - erate the hospital were
NJH's history and pur- fruitless. Denver's
Jewish citizens realized
pose.)
DENVER — The roots of then that the project they
what's now called the Na- had undertaken was too
tional Jewish Ho _ spital-Na- great to be handled solely
tional Asthma Center go by their small commu-
back nearly a century to the nity.
A dedicated few traveled
time when tuberculosis
was rampant in this coun- around Colorado with Rabbi
try. In the late 1800s, Friedman, who also ven-
thousands of victims of tured to the East and Mid-
tuberculosis flocked to De- west, seeking funds to fight
nver seeking the benefits of tuberculosis and open the
Colorado's high, dry, cli- hospital. One who traveled
with him was Louis An-
mate.
May people who came to fenger, then president of
Denver were destitute, job- Bnai Brith District Grand
less, homeless. Many died. Lodge No. 2.
The plight of these refugees
In 1895, Bnai Brith spon-
roused Denver's small sorship became official, and
Jewish community. The money started coming in
catalyst was a young rabbi, from around the country.
William S. Friedman.
Within weeks, an initial
Fresh from the Hebrew fund of more than $20,000
Union College in Cincin- had been raised to open the
nati, Rabbi Friedman voi- long-vacant building.
ced the need for a new hospi-
Moved by the plight of
tal to take in the destitute
tuberculosis sufferers. these uprooted children,
Caught up in his a small group of women,
enthusiasm and led by the headed by Mrs. Fanny B.
newly formed Hebrew Re- Lorber, opened the De-
lief Society, Denver Jewry nver Sheltering Home in
1907. The forefunner of
moved swiftly.
the National Asthma
On Nov. 14, 1889, the
hospital charter was filed Center (NCA), it housed
more than 150 children
and, shortly afterward, 12
who were permanently
lots were purchased.

of asthma and other brea-
thing disorders became
more convinced that the key
was to be found in the im-
munological system — the
body's natural defense
mechanism — that plays
such an important role in
our resistance to all disease.
Thus, to their respective ex-
pertise, NJH and NAC
added a second specialty —
immunology.

National Jewish Hospital and Research Center:
the old and the new.

*

* *

or temporarily orphaned repository of knowledge and
experience applicable to a
by tuberculosis.
The Denver Sheltering wide spectrum of chronic
Home also built upon its respiratory diseases, and
special expertise and the name was changed to
facilities for child care, and National Jewish Hospital at
its association with brea- Denver. Treatment and re-
thing disorders. Focusing search would no longer be
on the most crippling of the just for "consumption" —
chronic childhood diseases the hospital's talents and
— asthma. — the "Home" resources would do battle
became the nation's first henceforth with other crip-
center specializing exclu- pling diseases such as
sively in the care of children asthma, chronic bronchitis,
with this disorder. emphysema and cystic fib-
NJH's groundbreaking rosis.
By the early 1960s, NJH
work in tuberculosis and its
early emphasis on research and NAC scientists probing
had created a truly unique for the answers to the puzzle

With the consolidation
in 1979 of the National
Jewish Hospital and the
National Asthma Center,
the nation's two leading
treatment and research
centers for childhood
asthma and other res-
piratory disorders have
joined forces. And the
historic commitment to
excellence of both in-
stitutions is reflected
nowhere more deeply
than in its patient care
programs. Patients come
from throughout the na-
tion and from many
foreign countries.

They are of all ages, all
beliefs, all backgrounds.
And, stemming from Rabbi
Friedman's convictions,
NJH-NAC opens its doors to
all without regard to
their ability to pay.

no creed; therefore, we cast
aside no stranger," was its
founding principle.
In the words of one
patient, "The impression
was not of a hospital, but
more of an extremely
well-run, respectable,
first-class hotel.

"We went to a big, two-
story building with win-
dows round and round and,
adjacent to each, a small
balcony. The nurse lr
in
into a large round rc
which there were 12 beds, a
small table with a drawer
with sections for small
things, and a personal cup-
board for each of the female
patients . . . near each win-
dow was a small balcony —
a place to move the beds at
night. Even on the coldest
nights did the sick ones,
well wrapped up, sleep out-
side. We awakened re-
freshed."

The patient was Shana
Mabowehz Korngold, the
sister of the late Golda Meir.
Shana stayed at NJH for
one year and then returned
to a healthy life with her
family and with Golda who
lived with Shana for a time
in Denver.

Though the opening of
NJH eased the pressure on
The 65-bed National Denver's overcrowded med-
Jewish Hospital for Con- ical facilities, one problem
sumptives was opened in remained. Tuberculosis fre-
1899, as a center for chronic quently afflicted husband
tuberculosis patients, re- and wife and, with both
gardless of their financial their parents hospitalized,
condition, religion or geo- children often went home-
graphic origin. "Pain knows less.

An Ethiopian Jew in Israel Worries About the Falashas

By MOSHE RON

The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent

TEL AVIV — The Jews of
Iran were warned in time
against the danger which
threatens them in a Moslem
Republic. The authorities of
Israel and the Jewish
Agency have appealed to
them to come to Israel and
promised them help in their
absorption. But in spite of
all these warnings only
about 9,000 Iranian Jews
came to Israel.
Israel has had a difficult
time in helping the
Falashas of Ethiopia to
make aliya to Israel. Israel
has made many efforts but
the leaders of the Ethiopian
Jews in Israel accuse the Is-
raeli authorities and the
Jewish Agency of not doing
enough. They have demon-
strated before the Knesset
building and the office of
Prime Minister Begin.
Though the Falashas
were cut off for centuries
from the Jewish centers of
the world, they have
preserved Jewish customs

and rites. They carry out
circumcisions according to
Jewish law. They keep
kosher. When they pray in
their synagogues they turn
in the direction of
Jerusalem. They have no
rabbis, only priests who
teach the people the reli-
gious laws and customs.
They were cut off from
World Jewry in the time of
the Talmud.
In the 19th Century,
groups of Falashas or-
ganized to go to Eretz
, Yisrael, but they did not
succeed. After the estab-
lishment of the state of Is-
rael, the first small
groups of Ethiopian Jews
arrived. In 1975, Sephar-
dic Chief Rabbi of Israel
Ovadia Josef stated that
the Falashas are Jews,
offspring of the tribe of
Dan.
The young Falasha rabbi,
Josef Hadani, told us that
he was happy in Israel. He is
living with his wife and
daughter in the Holy Land
and has dedicated himself to
the Torah study.

"But I am very worried
about the fate of the
Falashas in Ethiopia," he
said. "I am seven years in
Israel and I cannot return
there. I have my parents
there and they do not even
know that I have become a
father. It is a great danger
to write letters to Ethiopia."
Hadani was born in the
village of Amwa, near the
town of Gondar. Only
Falashas live in this village.
There is a Jewish school for
youngsters until the age of
14 and a synagogue. The
Falashas work as peasants
and produce earthenware
and linen.
Hadani has nine brother
and one sister. He is the old-
est son. His father is the
spiritual leader of the corn-
munity.
Hadani attended the vil-
lage school as a child. In af-
ternoons he worked in the
field. When 14-years-old, he
left the village and went to a
government school in Gon-
dar. There were only a few
Falashas in the school and
they suffered mentally and

physically because they
could not get kosher food.
The Ethiopian pupils
molested them.
Hadani's father says the
Falashas were expelled
from the Holy Land after
the destruction of the First
Temple. They came through
Egypt, crossing the Nile to
Ethiopia.
Hadani said, "We always
knew that we are Jews,
different from Christians
and Moslems, but we did not
know that we are different
from other Jews."
When he was a small
child, Hadani urged his
father to go to Eretz Yisrael.
His father told him that
maybe the child would go
when he grew up.
The leader of the Falasha
community in the village
was Jona Kula, who had vis-
ited Israel. Hadani asked
him for help to go to Israel.
He did not heed the warning
that he would have to leave
his family.
When he was 20, and
after he graduated, two out-
standing pupilS of the com-
munity were invited by the
Jewish community in To-
rino, Italy, to start rabbini-
cal studies in a Jewish insti-
tute in Torino. Josef Hadani
and another pupil,
Jeshajahu Ben-Baruch
were chosen to go to Torino.
"When I left Ethiopia
and went to Italy, I knew,
that it was a step nearer

to Eretz Yisrael," Hadani
said. During his studies
in Torino he made con-
tact with leaders of the
Jewish Agency in Italy.
Seven years ago he ar-
rived in Israel with his
friend from Ethiopia.
He met other Falashas,
but he felt lonesome.
A friend introduced him

ZA.

RABBI HADANI

to Chief Rabbi Josef. .The
Chief Rabbi sent him to
study in a Tel Aviv yeshiva.
He graduated, was
ordained, and married a
Falasha girl who arrived in
Israel two years ago. They
now have a daughter.
Regarding the doubts of
some rabbis whether the
Falashas are real Jews, Ha-
dani said, "In Ethiopia, all
Jews are religious. I cannot
say with safety that all Jews

observe the Jewish laws,
but none would breach the
Sabbath laws in public. "In
Israel, there are unfortu-
nately many Jews who do
not consider the feelings of
the religious people.
"Maybe we Falashas
are not advanced people.
We have lived in a desert.
For 2,000 years we were
cut off from all Jewish
communities in the
world, but we have con-
tinued our own religious --
way of life. We have to
develop in order to reach
the standard of living of
other Jews. But we are
full and real Jews and
maybe even better Jews
than many Israelis."

Rabbi Hadani is wo--
about the latest polio_ i
developments in Ethiopia
and the fate of the Falashas.
He says Israel does not do
enough to save the Ethio-
pian Jews. He is active in
writing memorandums and
organizing delegations to
visit the Jewish Agency, the
Knesset and the Prime
Minister.

Hadani is also active in
improving the situation of
the Falashas in Israel, in
solving their personal and
family problems. He is not
pessimistic and told us, "I
am proud to be a Falasha
and with God's help I hope
for a better future for us and
for all Jews in Israel."

