Bronx, NY – A Yehuda Memorial Center, a hospitality room for Jewish visitors and families, has been established at Montefiore Medical Center. The special room will provide a place for quiet contemplation, prayer and rest or offer a place to stay overnight during Shabbos or Yom Tov.
“Montefiore has a long history of service to the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Eugene Katz, Jewish Chaplain of Montefiore Medical Center. “We believe that this room will help advance Montefiore’s concern for the spiritual welfare of its families and patients.”
The Yehuda Memorial Center was conceived by Miriam Alexander of Monsey, NY, who became aware of the need for a room to accommodate Jewish visitors while she was in the hospital herself being treated for cancer. She formed a non-profit organization to help fund the creation of Yehuda Centers in hospitals throughout the city.
“The Center can be a resting place for family members and friends during a time of crisis or for those who live far away from the hospital, the Yehuda Center can be a place to stay over during Shabbos,” said Mrs. Alexander.
Named for her late father, Yehuda Aryeh Leib Traube, the comfortably furnished room is equipped with kitchen facilities, a computer with Internet access, a Judaic library and prayer materials, Tefillin, Siddurim and Tehillim. An additional benefit for its Jewish visitors is that Montefiore also offers kosher food in its cafeteria.
This room is at least the 10th room donated by Miriam Alexander. (Click HERE & HERE for previous YWN stories.)
Montefiore was founded in 1884 by leaders of New York’s Jewish community who recognized the need for a care facility for patients with tuberculosis and other chronic illnesses. The hospital was named to honor Sir Moses Montefiore, a famed philanthropist of the time. Today, Montefiore is a nondenominational organization that accepts all faiths and belief systems and has facilities to accommodate people of all religions.
(Moshe Altusky – YWN)
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One Response
wow. mazel tov! and so soon after the opening at North Shore Hospital in Long Island.
At this rate every New york hospital will have one by the end of the year…shkoiach!