Jewry's Role in Human Health CRUSADERS FOR CARING A Disma1105th Jewish groups say Congress was a dismal failure on most major issues. JAMES D. BESSER Washington Correspondent A s the 105th Congress pre- pares to adjourn this week, Jewish activists say they were thwarted on issues ranging from Social Security and Medicare reform to workplace protec- tions for Sabbath-observing Jews. Congress passed significant legisla- tion, including a measure intended to fight religious persecution abroad, and !ley presided over the first balanced budget in decades. But the session was dominated by well-financed special interest groups and an unprecedented level of partisan rancor, according to several Jewish legislators. "We did better than expected on some issues, including subsidized housing for the elderly," said Diana viv, Washington director for the Council of Jewish Federations. "The restoration of Food Stamp benefits (for legal immigrants) was a major vic- tory. But the biggest issues — includ- ing Social Security and health care and managed care reform — were just put off. That's a big disappointment; our system is very much involved in pro- jiding these kinds of services." Sammy Moshenberg, Washington director for the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), said that "a number of very promising legislative initiatives were just dropped, includ- ing additional funding for child care, the Violence Against Women Act, the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Patient's Bill of Rights." The tobacco settlement bill — which the administration hoped would help finance a number of social and education initiatives — and major campaign finance legislation fell vic- tim to big-money lobbying from opponents, she said. The biggest cause of legislative gridlock, she said, was "excessive parti- -----,-,In bickering." Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) added another reason. "The Republican caucus is in the hands of right-wing extremists," she said. "In 1996, we were able to work with the Republican Congress in a bipartisan way. This session, it was different; they were so partisan, so political." The partisan gridlock extended to important foreign policy concerns, she said, as Republican leaders continued to hold important initiatives, includ- ing funding for the United Nations, hostage to their anti-abortion crusade. Pro-Israel lobbyists said that while this Congress was highly supportive of Israel, the accelerating decline in emphasis on foreign policy will ulti- mately hurt Israeli as well as American interests. Orthodox activists who generally track a more conservative course on Capitol Hill found more to like about the 105th Congres, but they, too, expressed frustration about issues left undone — including school vouchers. Congress failed to override a presiden- tial veto on a voucher plan for the District of Columbia. Orthodox groups favored the plan, while liberal and church-state organizations were vehemently opposed. "We had some important victories, including the expansion of 'charitable choice,"' said Abba Cohen, Washington director for Agudath Israel of America. "But they were over- shadowed by the fact that we were unable to make progress on our top priorities — the Religious Liberty Protection Act (RLPA) and the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WFRA). That made this session very disappointing." RPLA, intended to replace a law making it harder for government agencies to restrict religious practices, was first gutted by Christian conserva- tives and then shunted to the back burner. WFRA, which would protect the rights of workers whose religious obligations require special accommo- dations from employers, was simply lost in the shuffle. Cohen, too, criticized the partisan excesses of the 105th. "There was a great deal of postur- ing for the election," he said. "Issues that came up were being evaluated almost entirely in terms of their election value. That always hap- pens, but this year it happened much earlier. And that makes it much harder to get business done." Our nation often prides itself in heeding voices advocating services for our needful citizens. Such services have strengthened the sinews of our society which owes the public the assurances of health and caring. An example was the notable mission of Isaac Rubinow and Abraham Epstein who we profiled earlier. In partnership they laid the groundwork for several governmental programs we now live by: Social Security and Medicare. As did they, Abraham Flexner and Lillian Wald helped put systems in place which have since saved or bettered the lives of innumerable Americans, young and old. ABRAHAM FLEXNER (1866-1959) b. Louisville, KY Educator Bulletin No. 4, issued in 1910 by one of the nation's most creative scholars, sounded a sensational call to drastically reform the sorry state of medical training in North America. The two-year report by Abraham Flexner, Ph.D., Medical Education in the United States and Canada, was a critical analysis of 155 medical schools. He found they i did not consistently adhere to quality standards: admission policies were lax and basic science courses were seldom given. Students were often poorly taught by physicians with less interest in academics than in class size; their pay was pegged to enrollment numbers. Flexner was not a physician but nevertheless brought ample credits and administrative experience in higher education to his task--as a "whistle blower" of his time. From 1890 to 1904 Flexner directed a college preparatory school which he had established in Louisville. Putting his revolutionary ideas into practice, his remarkably successful school eliminated all records, exams and learning timetables. He went on to publish The American College (1908), a condemnation of our national system of lectures, assistantships and elective studies. Many of Flexner-'s proposals for remodeling our educational environments have forever changed college-level academic programs, and Bulletin No. 4 has been credited with saving the lives of numerous hospital patients. Toward the end of his distinguished career of public service, he persuaded Louis Bamberger, a department store magnate, to endow Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study (associated with Albert Einstein) which he directed from 1930 to 1939. , LILLIAN WALD (1867-1940) b. Cincinnati, OH Nurse /Social Worker "The Angel of Henry Street" unfolded her wings to embrace many more than just the dislocated European immigrants coming to her Lower East Side Manhattan settlement house at the turn of the century. She was influential in developing the world's first public school nursing . \ system and inspiring the establishment of the federal Children's Bureau. Abandoning an affluent lifestyle for nursing, the idealistic young woman felt called upon to work with the many sick, confused and fearful newcomers arriving here with no adequate medical attention and little knowledge of personal hygiene. Helping them as best she could, Wald soon undertook a more ambitious venture as co-founder of the world's first visiting nurse service - a program which expanded nationally through the aegis the American Red Cross, and recruited over 20,000 nurses within fifty years. Her non-sectarian Henry Street settlement house also became the local headquarters for that service. Fame attended the landmark building which was visited by such prominent figures as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the Gershwin brothers and Governor Al Smith. Wald later wrote two popular books about the institution: House on Henry Street (1915) and Windows on Henry Street (1934). Tireless in her passion to build the framework fora decent and humane society, she also spoke out against the abuses of child labor and campaigned for reforms proposed by America's leading social agencies. For these reasons Wald was cited as one of the century's most outstanding social workers. - Saul Stadtmauer Visit many more notable Jews at our website: www.dorledor.org COMMISSION FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF JEWISH HISTORY Walter & Lea Field, Founders/Sponsors Irwin S. Field, Chairperson Harriet F. Siden, Chairperson Detroit Jewish News 10/16 1998 23