Page 285 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

the community of their uncompromising stand. After several days of conflict, the old woman
was finally buried in a plot purchased by the English. Lagerlöf describes a number of similar
instances that occurred in Jerusalem.

The challenges of modern medicine caused a great stir among the Jewish community
and its leaders. Bans were imposed, not only on those whom the Mission’s hospitals cared
for, but even on those carrying away their waste. Butchers were warned against selling
kosher meat to the Mission, and parents were cautioned against sending their children for
treatment in the Christian institutions. Instead of the Mission’s services, the Jews now had
the services of a new hospital at their disposal: In 1854, Dr Albert Cohen – a physician and
representative of the Rothschild family in Jerusalem – opened the Meir Rothschild Hospital.
The hospital was founded under the patronage of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef. This
is how the Austrian Consulate recorded its inauguration: “On July 26, a Jewish hospital
was opened in Jerusalem whose foundation was secured thanks to Baron Rothschild’s
generosity (see p. 132). The prayers rising up on that day among the thousands of distressed
souls, in sight of the ruins of the ancient Temple of Solomon, to He who is the provider of
all happiness, to the Lord of the World [...] will surely be accepted, and will serve as a sign
of gratitude.”8 After the foundation of the Rothschild Hospital, other hospitals sprang up
in Jerusalem associated with various sects and religions, each seeking to bring the healing
and grace of salvation in their own way. It was not only between different religions that
conflicts arose. The disputes and competition, especially over fund-raising, were no less
bitter and harsh within the various communities, associations, and hospitals of both the
Christians and the Jews.

From the scourge of ancient disputes, which ravaged the city for generations and made
life unbearable for its residents, Jerusalem now became a modern city, whose residents
could find a cure for their ills in many different hospitals. Jerusalem’s hospitals have
become islands of kindness and compassion, places of collaboration based on the universal
foundations of medicine.

Islands of Benevolence – the hospitals of Jerusalem

A doorknocker in the shape of a lion’s head was found in excavations at the site of the
Muristan in the Old City of Jerusalem, in the place where the Hospitallers’ hospital stood
during the Crusader period. The form of the knocker was designed to protect against evil forces.
The knocker was discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century during excavations
conducted by members of the Order of St John. The Order, whose roots lie in the Hospitaller
Order, resumed its medical work in Jerusalem in the late nineteenth century. The doorknocker,
on permanent display in the Museum of the Order of St John in London, is a symbol of the
continuous chain between the legacy of the medieval hospitals and those of modern times.

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