Jewish holidays. Citing a talmudic precept, albeit out of context, he main-
tained that it was better even to work on the Sabbath than to depend on
charity. The board too was kept in line, underscoring his dislike of “direc-
tors who don’t direct.” To ensure attendance at meetings, Schiff picked up
board members on their street corners to ride with him, and he encouraged
them to visit with the patients. On one occasion a director jokingly re-
ferred to the banker as a despot, a remark that hurt Schiff, but the label of
“hard taskmaster” stuck. Nevertheless, the board ran harmoniously. The
“entente cordiale” among the directors, as the American Hebrewcalled it,
was often cited as a reason for Montefiore’s success. Schiff rewarded faith-
ful associates with tokens of personal interest and, in the case of the staff,
with monetary gifts.^77 Overall, the wonder is less his despotism than the
time he spent on myriads of details.
The patients too felt Schiff’s firm hand. Rules were set and noncompli-
ance punished. At his suggestion a sign was posted in English, German,
and Yiddish that read: “Officers and nurses must be implicitly obeyed.
Complaints can be made to the House Physician or to the Superintendent.
Failure to comply with this rule will cause immediate discharge for the of-
fender.” Patients grumbled about various matters—the food, lack of fresh
air—and once some fifty of them staged a walkout. Nevertheless, Schiff
stood firm. When some Orthodox patients complained about his rule for-
bidding them to wear yarmulkes except at prayer, he answered that for rea-
sons of cleanliness and “good manners” no exceptions were allowed. A
stickler for regulations, he bent them on rare occasions, as in the case of a
young polio victim who but for Schiff’s compassion would have been de-
nied admission.^78 Overall, however, the banker ran a highly disciplined and
businesslike operation.
Schiff publicly called the home “a monument to Jewish benevolence and
generosity,” but he saw it also as an American institution, one that proved
his contention that Jews were no different from other Americans except in
matters of religion. The yarmulke incident was one example. Like his sug-
gestion that citizenship be a condition of admission, it testified to his insis-
tence on the rapid acculturation of his fellow Jews. Three years after the
home opened, the board made it nonsectarian. All religious ceremonies
were Jewish and the Orthodox synagogue and kosher food stayed, but pa-
tients could ask for clergymen of different faiths. Not all Jews agreed with
the move, for some still feared Christian missionizing among the most vul-
nerable.^79 Nevertheless, Schiff felt amply rewarded when the policy drew
the praise of his Christian friends. Carl Schurz, the featured speaker at the
dedication of the home’s second building in 1888, called nonsectarianism
the answer to anti-Semitism. At Montefiore’s tenth anniversary celebration
other prominent non-Jews spoke of the lesson to Christians in Jewish gen-
erosity and evenhandedness. The fact that the celebration fell on Thanks-
68 Jacob H. Schiff