1836 Battle for the Soul of Jerusalem: Faith, Medicine, and Jewish Resilience |
JEWISH MOMENTS IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL
1836
Battle for the Soul of Jerusalem:
Faith, Medicine, and Jewish Resilience
In 19th-century Ottoman Palestine, a powerful Christian missionary campaign targeted the destitute Jewish community, utilizing modern medicine and education as tools of persuasion. While initially vulnerable, the Jews of the Land of Israel mobilized a fierce spiritual and institutional defense. This struggle paradoxically strengthened the Jewish presence, spurring the creation of the independent Jewish health and welfare infrastructure.
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The ambitious missionary campaign that swept through the Land of Israel in the 19th century provoked a reaction that was as complex as it was decisive. The arrival of well-funded Protestant and Catholic missions, offering unprecedented social services to a population ravaged by disease and poverty, placed the traditional Jewish community under severe strain. Yet, the interplay between Christian outreach and Jewish self-preservation did more than create tension, it created resilience.
The Jewish response to this spiritual siege was far from uniform. Initially, attitudes were fractured along ethnic and legal fault lines. The Sephardi community, the established elite of the settlement, viewed the missionaries with unmitigated hostility. The trauma of the Iberian........