The production of this issue of Korot has marked the completion of a lengthy program of study in aspects of infectious diseases in the Holy Land over the past century or so. My own studies in the management of trachoma by the Yishuv during the British Mandate illustrated many of the features which characterized the Zionist movement of the period. These included the sense of community care and of nation building and the concern to create a new society. For some years there had been plans to bring together the research conducted by various Israeli academics working in a range of university settings on aspects of infectious diseases into one printed forum. Therefore, this issue of Korot represents the fruits of many areas of study into many different diseases as they have affected the population of the Land of Israel, with an introduction by Nadav Davidovich and Rakefet Zalashik, who have long shared my determination that this collection of essays should be published within a single volume, which sets the scene for the essays which are included here.
Korot has long had a reputation for stimulating research into many aspects of the Jews and medicine, and I have relished the opportunity afforded to me to work in Jerusalem as an active member of the Editorial Board in close conjunction with Professor Samuel Kottek and with Dr. Helena Paavilainen. Medical history in Israel continues to flourish in a number of different settings, and research continues in many contemporary fields, whether it relates to social aspects of health and disease, medicine and the Holocaust, or as we portray here, to the wider impact of infectious diseases on the land and its peoples. Having a special collection of essays in this issue is an occasion of significance for the study of medical history in Israel, and it underlines the importance of this journal in showcasing the best of Israeli studies in the history of medicine.
This theme of infectious diseases is also represented in this issue by a collection of essays resulting from a Symposium entitled
“A Leper is Like a Dead Person,” which was held at the Van Leer Institute on June 2, 2010. The meeting was sponsored by the School of Pharmacy, Hebrew University (Ein Karem campus) and by the National Center for Hansen’s Disease at Hadassah Hospital. Organized by Dr. Yisraela Nili, it brought together many different aspects of this enigmatic medical and sociological phenomenon from ancient times to modern Israel.
As the editor of Vesalius: the Journal of the International Society for the History of Medicine I have had a first-hand opportunity to see the vitality of medical history studies around the world. Israeli researchers have taken a prominent role on the world stage whether in the Congresses and Meetings of the International Society or in the submitted articles to Vesalius. Professor Samuel Kottek has long been an honored figure in the International Society, and Professor Shifra Shvarts is the Society’s Business Manager. It was interesting to see at the recent International Society Congress in Padua/Abano the continuing presence of Jewish historical issues, from the enduring presence of Jewish medical students to the role of the converso physician. While there may be no independent entity of “Jewish medicine,” the confluence of the Jews and medicine remains an area of fascination which retains the power to excite, to instruct, and for us all to learn and to share. Thus, the Editorial Board of Korot is always open to original contributions and communications on the history of Jews and medicine, medicine in Jewish sources as well as medical history topics relating to Israel.
Dr. Kenneth Collins, Guest Editor
