The Hebrew doctor - Moses Einhorn

הרופא העברי - משה איינהאָרן

Moses Einhorn (in Yiddish spelling: איינהאָרן; English: Moses Einhorn; February 17, 1896, Vawkavysk, Grodno Province, Russia – February 9, 1966, New York) was an American-Jewish gastroenterologist and the founder and editor of the journal Harofe Haivri ("The Hebrew Physician"). He invented several gastroenterological devices, but his most notable contribution was the promotion of Hebrew terminology in medicine.

Einhorn was born in 1896 in Vawkavysk, Grodno Province, Russian Empire (today in western Belarus) to Tzvi Hirsch and Michla Einhorn. His extended family included many rabbis, physicians, and intellectuals, such as Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf Einhorn, author of the "Ma'arzu" commentary on Midrash Rabbah; his cousin Professor Max Einhorn, also a gastroenterologist in New York; Dr. Shimon Einhorn, a neurologist in Tel Aviv; and poet and writer David Einhorn.

Einhorn’s father, Tzvi Hirsch, was the youngest son of a pharmacist in Vawkavysk, while his mother Michla was the daughter of a prominent merchant from Lida. Einhorn was the sixth of seven children. He received his education in a cheder (traditional Jewish school) in his hometown and later attended a modern high school in Vawkavysk. When the school was closed by the authorities, his parents permitted him to study at the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in Tel Aviv, where he attended school alongside notable figures such as David Cohen and Nachum Gutman. To support himself, he worked as a private tutor.

In 1914, Einhorn graduated with the second class from Herzliya Gymnasium. That same year, with the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman governor Jamal Pasha issued an expulsion order for foreign nationals who refused to adopt Ottoman citizenship. Einhorn joined Russian Jews exiled to Alexandria, Egypt, and later traveled to Salonika, where he briefly worked as a Hebrew teacher. After the German occupation of his homeland, Einhorn decided to emigrate to the United States, settling in New York in 1916.

In 1926, Einhorn co-founded the Hebrew Medical Society ("Va’ad Rof’im Ivri B’New-York"). In 1927, he established Harofe Haivri (The Hebrew Physician) with Dr. Asher Goldstein, serving as editor until his death. The journal, published by the society, featured articles in both Hebrew and English. Einhorn expanded and developed the journal, establishing it as a biannual publication by 1937. In 1938, the journal began including a special section dedicated to Israel, with many copies distributed for free to physicians in the Yishuv (pre-state Jewish community in Palestine).

Harofe Haivri was dedicated to advancing Hebrew medical literature, with a strong emphasis on expanding and solidifying Hebrew medical terminology.

Shiurim in this topic
3512. I don’t see an issue with using a non-Jewish doctor, especially as he is religious.
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