-Caveat Lector- From: http://israeliculture.about.com/library/weekly/aa112299.htm The Jerusalem Syndrome Dateline: 11/22/99 The Jerusalem Syndrome strikes with little warning: After a few days in the holy city, seemingly normal pilgrims imagine they are biblical figures, sing psalms at the top of their lungs, preach to passers-by or dress up in hotel bedsheets. From the Rick Ross website. The Messiah is here. And so is King David, and Deborah the Prophetess as well. Walking through the labyrnith of alleyways in Jerusalem's Old City, or even through the crowds of the Ben Yehuda Street mall, you are liable to come across a singing, guitar-playing youth, prophesizing the approaching Day of Judgment. The phenomenon is not on every street corner yet, but the End-of-the-World-is-Near symptoms are real, and growing more worrisome as the year 2000 approaches. Known as the Jerusalem Syndrome, the temporary psychiatric condition characterized by patients believing that they are biblical figures such as Jesus, John the Baptist, or Moses, has long been known to Israeli psychiatrists. The phenomenon was identified in the 1930s by Dr. Heinz Herman, the father of Israeli psychiatry, but was only labeled as the Jerusalem Syndrome in the last two decades. Usually temporary, the condition affects religious pilgrims - mostly Christian, - who begin to exhibit strange behavior after arriving in Jerusalem. While touring the city's holy sites, they begin proclaiming that they are ancient religious figures sent on a mission. This year, the phenomenon has been occurring more frequently. As the new millennium approaches, a number of Christian pilgrims, who fervently believe that the Second Coming of Jesus is going to play itself out on the Mount of Olives in the coming months, have developed the symptoms of the syndrome. An upcoming visit to Israel by Pope John Paul II, officially set for March, could bring more religious fanatics to Israel. The Jerusalem Syndrome has concerned authorities as well. In June, Jerusalem Municipality officials, medical experts and clergymen met in the capital to discuss the growing possibility of pilgrims being affected with "Jerusalem Syndrome" while visiting Israel in the year 2000. An extreme prediction was made by Dr. Yair Barel, the doctor responsible for Jerusalem's mental health portfolio. According to one source, Dr. Barel said that as many as 40,000 pilgrims who visit Jerusalem next year may come down with the syndrome, with nearly 600-800 requiring hospitalization. Some of these patients could possibly pose a danger to the public. What happens when a seemingly normal tourist envisions him/herself as a biblical prophet and begins singing Psalms and preaching to passersby, occasionally wrapped in no more than a hotel sheet around themselves? Kfar Shaul is the duty psychiatric hospital for tourists who display mental health disturbances. Currently there are hundreds of visitors from all over the world hospitalized in Kfar Shaul. Sixty-six percent of the patients are Jews, 33 percent are Christians (this number includes patients hospitalized for other mental health problems as well). Many patients who suffer from the Jerusalem Syndrome have a previous history of mental disturbance. Some have just forsaken their prescribed medical regime, and the symptoms they show during their Israeli visit are easily dissipated by returning to their prescribed drugs. Others have had no prior problems at all. In many cases, the patients have no recollection afterwards of their street corner preaching, and are quite embarrassed by the attention they have drawn. Among the short-term treatments used to treat the Jerusalem Symptom are medications and therapy. Sometimes no one in the hospital speaks the patient's language. The more extreme cases have turned Kfar Shaul's staff into detectives, to determine the identities and locate the families of the patients. Up until a year or two ago, about twenty tourists were hospitalized annually in Kfar Shaul for symptoms of the Jerusalem Syndrome. During this past year, the number has risen to about 50 patients a month. Why does Jerusalem attract religious fanatics? Jerusalem psychiatrist, Dr. Jordan Scher, claims that many disturbed people flock to Jerusalem to be immersed in the special spiritual atmosphere that imbues the capital, especially the Old City. Christians view Jerusalem as the site of the Armageddon and the Second Coming. Their visits to the city can bring out the cognitive dissonance between their mental picture of the city of Jesus and the reality of the modern city. Religious Jews with the syndrome believe that the building of the third Temple is imminent, that the rituals of animal sacrifices will soon be restored, and that their own Messiah is due to arrive. Crazed fanatic visitors have caused serious damage in recent years. The El Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount was burnt in 1969 by Dennis Rohan, a deranged young Australian Christian tourist. It is fear of potential violent attacks, endangering the public as well as the patient himself, that causes Israeli doctors to treat sufferers of the Jerusalem Syndrome with extreme caution. The Jerusalem Syndrome may actually have first appeared nearly a thousand years ago. In the year 1033, the 1000th anniversary of the crucifixion, crowds of pilgrims visited Jerusalem to mark the event, and many refused to leave. This could happen again in the year 2000, and Israeli officials are on the lookout for potential trouble. - Ellis Shuman - Related features and sites: Jerusalem Officials Concerned Over "Jerusalem Syndrome" Israel Wire, June 16, 1999. 2000 May Fuel Jerusalem Syndrome Article from the Rick Ross website, June 14, 1999. Israel prepares for "Jerusalem syndrome" >From the British Medical Journal, February, 1999. Preparing for the false prophets Jerusalem Post, Jan. 6, 1999. The Jerusalem Syndrome >From the Jewish Student Online Research Center (JSOURCE). Dangers of the Millennium >From your About.com Guide, doomsday cult is deported from Israel, but other extremists expected as 2000 approaches. ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day. ================================================================= DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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