Page 151 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

An Ill Wind

The Epidemic of 1865 and Departure from the Walled City

In the fall of 1865, a fatal cholera epidemic reached Jerusalem. The epidemic had spread
from Egypt, and efforts to halt it by placing a quarantine on the city and praying were
unsuccessful. Hundreds of inhabitants lost their lives. The pasha closed the gates of
the city and then fled with his entourage, followed by the consuls and the city’s wealthy
residents. A few doctors and community aid groups did everything in their power to
ease the suffering. Within the walls of Jerusalem, tears and cries of grief from funeral
processions were heard along with the singing and revelry of parades of volunteers who
supported the sick and tried to lift the spirits of the healthy.
Several years earlier, Mishkenot Sha’ananim had been established as the first Jewish
neighborhood outside the city walls. Residents living within the walls were afraid of living
elsewhere, but because the cholera epidemic did not spread to the new neighborhood,
they ultimately understood that dwelling within the walls was not necessarily safer than
living outside the walls.

149 ■ ‫רוח רעה‬