Misgav Ladach

Misgav Ladach
Official Award Medal, 5747-1987

Misgav Ladach was established in 1889 in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was the first Jewish hospital in the Land of Israel. Its name is derived from a passage in the Psalms "The Lord will be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble". (Psalms 9:10). The hospital represented the first philanthropic activity of the Rothschild family in Israel. It subsisted on donations provided mainly by European Jews. One of the names inscribed on the walls of the building is that of Emil Zola, who donated a room to the hospital. Next to his scientific achievements, Zola is best known for his defense of Alfred Dreyfus. In the War of Independence, the hospital building in the Old City was destroyed and it was transferred to the western part of Jerusalem where it remained for the next 40 years until its new and larger home was dedicated in 1987.

Obverse: The New Misgav Ladach Hospital Building, which was inaugurated in May 1987 and, in the background, the building in the Old City of Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 1948. The verse "The Lord ... a refuge for the oppressed" (Psalms 9.10) in Hebrew and English.

Reverse: The initial Hebrew letters intertwined (symbolof the Misgav Ladach Hospital), and the words "Misgav Ladach Hospital - Jerusalem Day 27.5.87" in Hebrew and English. (Day of the inauguration of the new building).

Edge: The Corporation's emblem, its initials IGCMC - in Hebrew and English.

Designer: David Harel

Engraving: Kretschmer

Mint: Kretschmer