Page 292 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

Jerusalem: A Medical Diagnosis

The History of Jerusalem Reflected
in Medicine and Beliefs

Nirit Shalev-Khalifa

Countless volumes have been written about Jerusalem, yet infinite perspectives can still shed
new light on previously hidden facets of the city’s turbulent past. Jerusalem’s unique and
sacred status for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are an integral part of its history. Rulers and
armies have stood at its gates, and prophets and religious leaders have admonished, prayed,
and worshiped within its walls. Jerusalem’s residents and visitors belong to different religions,
cultures, and peoples and many of them look up to the city for inspiration. The historical events
in Jerusalem have been attributed with special significance and given countless interpretations.
The reality of the worldly city and the yearning for the heavenly city vary, depending on the
beholder, according to each individual’s traditions and beliefs. Jerusalem has always been a
scene of conflict between different sects and religious groups over the practice of their beliefs,
the definition of faith, and apostasy. Yet even in times of hardship, when its inhabitants were
flung between punishment and mercy, whether facing holy wars or the mundane problems
of daily life, Jerusalem remained a seat of mutual cooperation, and provided fruitful ground
for universal concepts and comforting prophecies to emerge, transcending the boundaries
of time and place.

The exhibition ‘Jerusalem: A Medical Diagnosis’1 presents the thousands of years of the
city’s past through the milestones of medicine, in a succession of exhibits displaying both
sickness and plague, and miracles and faith remedies. Since ancient times, the tensions and
conflicts between life and death, between sickness and healing, and between apostasy
and faith have been inextricably linked in the story of the copper serpent. For the sin
of doubting in the Lord, the Israelites were attacked by snakes that slaughtered them
mercilessly (Numbers 21:6). Moses pleaded for them to be saved, and was commanded
by God to fashion a copper snake and place it on a high pole. Those bitten by the snakes
– slithering on their bellies on the ground – who looked up at the copper serpent were
healed and lived. The snake, whose venom is both deadly and life restoring, became the
universal symbol for the healing gods, doctors, and medicine. The copper snake was housed
in the Temple in Jerusalem, where Hezekiah, king of Judah, later destroyed it during the

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