Sygeplejeselskabet for Det Mosaiske Troessamfund i København 1821-2014

Abstract

The story of the work of the Jewish Nursery Society tells the story of the Jewish community's help to the poor and sick, but it also provides an insight into the role of women within the congregation. The society was established following the Royal Regulation of 1814 that gave equal citizen rights to Jews. During the course of the 1800s, it grew to be perhaps the most important Jewish organization in Denmark with several hundred members and relatively large sums of money being donated to the poor and sick. Especially female members profited, as it was the only association they were allowed to join in the first place and where they had a degree of influence. Following the immigration of the Rus- sian Jews at the beginning of the 20th century, the Society extended its work to e.g. milk delivery to the immigrants, which helped lower the high death rate among the newcomers. The Society lost its importance as social issues were taken over by the state and municipality rather than civil society, but it is still extant to this day. The archives of the So- ciety can be found at the Danish Jewish Museum, stretching all the way back to 1821.