Early in 1952, after ten years of intensive study, Dr. Samuel Rosen discovered a new method of restoring hearing in people who suffered from otosclerosis, a common form of deafness.
Soon after he performed his first successful ear operations, using the new method, he embarked on a tour of medical schools and institutions throughout the country to teach others his new way of healing.
The following year he set out to introduce this method to foreign countries. The first country he chose to visit for this purpose was Israel. He lectured in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. Although he stayed in the country only a few weeks, he performed some hundred operations during each of which he demonstrated to ear surgeons, step by step his way of mobilizing the fixed stapedial footplate.
“I was in Israel to ‘be exploited'” the white haired and mild mannered doctor told us when we visited him at his office in Manhattan. “And I am happy to state that I was ”exploited’ to the fullest” he added with a smile.
During the last ten years, Dr. Rosen has lectured in various parts of the world. He visited many countries in Europe and had been to Turkey, Russia, India and Indonesia.
In 1961 he was invited by the Chinese government but at that time the State Department would not issue a permit for his departure. Last spring, Red China renewed the invitation. Finally by December, the State Department granted Rosen permission to go to China “for humanitarian reasons.” Now it was the Chinese who asked Dr. Rosen to postpone his visit.
The story was fully reported in the daily press. However, the news media failed to tell their readers of the no less interesting “travel affairs” and of Dr. Rosen: His visits and experiences in the Arab countries.
The Arab states have boycotted film stars and other personalities who have rendered aid to the State of Israel; they have declared a boycott against firms and agencies doing business with the Jewish State– yet they received with open arms Dr. Rosen, Jew and devoted friend of Israel.
As a humanitarian, Dr. Rosen deems it his duty to help every individual irrespective of race, creed, color or political orientation. However, wherever he goes he makes it a point to stress that he is a Jew.
While in Egypt, Rosen was introduced to Nasser, who thanked him for his lectures. The doctor was quick to remind the dictator that his guest was a Jew, Nasser said. “You have come here to help us. The fact that you a a Jews makes no difference.’
Addressing a meeting of doctors in Cairo, Rosen remarked: My next stop is Israel. It is regrettable that one cannot go directly there but must take a roundabout route.
The doctor told us that he was hopeful and confident and that his contributions to medicine in the Arab countries and the friendship he has gained would save humanitarian causes transcending medicine.
Rosen’s method is now in widespread use through the world. He has been awarded numerous honors for his discovery and for the great efforts he has exerted to spread his method.
“Sometimes I wonder whether I really deserve all these honors,” Rosen said, a roguish smile curling around his lips. Is it selflessness or selfishness which has motivated me. I love to help people. It gives me immense pleasure.”
“I learned this from my parents,” he continued. “We were poor, very poor. Yet my parents always knew of some people who were still poorer, and they helped them with their meager means.”
Dr. Rosen’s parents came from Poland. They settled in Syracuse where Samuel was born in 1897. He received all his education in his native city, from Heder though public school and university. At first he studied law, but then changed to medicine. After his graduation in 1921, he interned at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, with which institution he has been affiliated ever since.
In addition to practicing as an otologist and serving as consultant, Rosen is also Associate Clinical Professor of Otolaryngology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.
Samuel had to work to pay his way through university. He was a waiter and bartender. But this was not enough. His hard working brothers, Harry, Maurice and Jacob had to chip in. Dr. Rosen cannot remember why just he, the second youngest in the family, was chosen to enter a professional career. Now all agree that the choice was a good one. The brothers are proud of Samuel and he is proud of them.
On all his journeys the doctor is accompanied by his wife Helen, who serves as his assistant in demonstrating his method of healing. They have a son John who has just finished his training in pediatrics and a daughter Judy, wife of television screen writer, Albert Ruben and mother of two children.
The Jewish Press, Friday, May 21, 1965