(Printed circular).

Rev. Samuel Myer Isaacs was one of the three members of the “Committee of Correspondence” seeking donations for the Jews’ Hospital in New York. He writes here to Sir Moses Montefiore on the integral blank of a circular letter that the Committee sent out seeking funding with which to construct the hospital building. This circular is exceptionally rare. What makes this particular copy so unique is noting how a committee member directly sought to fund-raise, and the fact that the object of his petition was one of the most celebrated Jews in the world at that time. Rather than appeal to Sir Moses from the outset, Isaacs first focuses upon his recipients’ interests, that is, the sums the rabbi collected to benefit Sir Moses’ charitable causes in the Holy Land. Isaacs then leads into the cause of the New York Hospital by stating that after reading the charitable sentiments in the attached circular, Sir Moses will derives “some happiness that in this Western Hemisphere we did not forget our holy religion.” Samuel Myer Isaacs (1804-78) was the second rabbi in the United States to preach in English (the first being Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia). Isaacs moved from London to America in 1839, and after an initial stint as rabbi of B`nai Jeshurun, he was appointed to serve New York`s Congregation Shaaray Tefillah where he remained until his death. Rev. Isaacs played a prominent role in American Jewish affairs, often representing the Jewish community at official government functions. See JE, Vol. VI, p. 635. Jews’ Hospital was founded in 1852 by Sampson Simson (1780-1857) to address the needs of New York’s rapidly growing Jewish community. At the time, New York City hospitals often discriminated against Jews - refusing them treatment as patients as well as blocking the hiring of Jewish medical staff. The Jews’ Hospital in the City of New York, as it was initially called, inaugurated its first building in 1855, in 1866 it was renamed Mount Sinai Hospital and is now one of the largest teaching hospitals in the United States.