This phrase which is used all the time needs a bit of explanation. The word "kupah" (usually found without a vav) is used to mean a box, often for valuables (Gitin 67a) like in "kupat tzeddakah" or a charity fund (Peah8:7) like in "kupat tzeddakah." Yes you got it - both of these definitions fit perfectly into the phrase "kupat tzeddakah." Now on to our phrase, "Kupat Cholim" is actually taken from the German "Kranken Kasse," the first of which was founded in 1904. In 1912 the first pre-state fund was set up after an agricultural worker was hurt, and couldn’t pay for a hospital. Come to think of it I think my doctor was the one who treated him.

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