ABSTRACT
The vaunted ability of the American community to raise money has been satirized so much that it is not surprising to discover that very few people have any idea what Jewish fund-raising organizations (federations) do. The national organization of the Federations is the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds. It is this group whose annual meeting in Boston in 1969 was picketed by Jewish youth who felt that something was wrong with Federation priorities. The constituency of a Jewish family service may exceed 90 percent Jewish. It is not surprising, then, that the rationale for the so-called Jewish hospital has been under scrutiny for some time. One may obtain some perspective on the rather tortuous reasoning that has been advanced today to justify the Jewish hospital by briefly reviewing some history. The prime justification of Jewish hospitals is no longer relevant, some mighty specious logic has been invoked to rationalize the continuation of their funding by the Jewish community.
