Laniado Hospital

The Laniado Hospital is a hospital in Netanya, Israel, serving Netanya and the Sharon plain. It was founded in 1975 by a Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, whose wife and eleven children were killed in the Holocaust. The hospital belongs to the Sanz Hasidic dynasty.

Origin

zt"l, was shot during the "Death March" from Warsaw to Dachau. Cognizant that if his injury became known, even to the Nazi physicians, he would be killed, Rabbi Halberstam concealed his wound and resolved that if he were to survive that he would establish a medical center. [The Klausenberger Rebbe: The War Years, page 91] Although Rabbi Halberstam had a strong belief that physical ailments were rooted in the spiritual and that medicine was in a sense a concession to man's materialistic propensities, [see Derech Chaim (adapted from letters by the Klausenberger Rebbe) chapter 9] as an authority in Jewish Law he rules that one is obligated to obey the instructions of their physician. Even when one has been instructed to do something that is otherwise prohibited by Jewish Law, but which is permitted because of medical reasons, it is prohibited to be strict and refrain from the otherwise prohibited act. [Responsa Divrei Yotziv, Vol. 7 Leikutim chapter 115]

History

Rabbi Halberstam began working towards his goal in 1960 shortly after moving to Israel and petitioned the authorities for the license to establish a hospital in Kiryat Sanz, Netanya. There are reports that the Minister of Health was initially cynical about the request and offered Rabbi Halberstam the opportunity to supervise religious/ritual matters at the local hospitals the government was planning to build. Rabbi Halberstam stood firm insisting that it was not in the best interest of his community to be dependent upon the governments institutions. Rabbi Halberstam wanted a hospital where Jewish Law was the guide for all of it's decisions rather than being awkwardly accommodated. [Torah Lives, page 17, Artscroll Mesorah]

Eventually Rabbi Halberstam was successful in obtaining the necessary permits and an Out-Patient Clinic was opened in 1975. In 1977 an emergency room was opened and in 1978 a nursing school was opened. [http://www.laniado.org.il/history.html]

Today Laniado has departments in cardiology, dialysis, geriatric, infertility, gynecology, and many more. It's maternity ward is the largest department in the hospital. Laniado also has a pharmacy and lab. [http://www.laniado.org.il]

References

External links

* [http://www.laniado.org.il/ Laniado Hospital (official website)]
* [http://www.laniado.co.uk/ Laniado Hospital UK (official website)]
* [http://www.laniadohospital.org/ Laniado Hospital USA (official website)]