Medicine and Judaism: Physical and Psychological Concepts
Ilona Rashkow, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, State University of New York at Stony Brook
Popular folklore has it that the watchword of every Jewish mother is, “Ess, ess meine kind” (“Eat, eat my child”), or the modern-day alternative, “Try it, you’ll like it.” Despite these favorite mottos, traditional advice from the Jewish sages was far more concerned with matters of health than is ordinarily assumed. Jewish dietary laws are not health laws, but religious laws addressing the spirit rather than the body, even though many of them contribute to the prevention of illness. Quite apart from all the mandated practices outlined in the Torah, the Talmud, Mishnah, and Midrashic writings that may have health advantages, Jewish sages have been concerned as well about health matters that do not have religious overtones. This paper deals with physical and psychological concepts of health in the Hebrew Bible. Although psychology is relatively new as a formal academic discipline, for many years scholars have pondered the questions that psychologists ask and probably shall do so for many more. Nowhere is this aphorism better exemplified than in the many centuries during which Jewish physicians and thinkers dealt with the problems of behavior and behavior disorders. Many current notions on classification and therapy were foreshadowed in biblical and Talmudic literature, and Jewish philosophers wrestled with the same psychological concepts that still occupy attention today.
Popular folklore has it that the watchword of every Jewish mother is, “Ess, ess meine kind” (“Eat, eat my child”), or the modern-day alternative, “Try it, you’ll like it.” Despite these favorite mottos, traditional advice from the Jewish sages was far more concerned with matters of health than is ordinarily assumed. Jewish dietary laws are not health laws, but religious laws addressing the spirit rather than the body, even though many of them contribute to the prevention of illness. Quite apart from all the mandated practices outlined in the Torah, the Talmud, Mishnah, and Midrashic writings that may have health advantages, Jewish sages have been concerned as well about health matters that do not have religious overtones. This paper deals with physical and psychological concepts of health in the Hebrew Bible. Although psychology is relatively new as a formal academic discipline, for many years scholars have pondered the questions that psychologists ask and probably shall do so for many more. Nowhere is this aphorism better exemplified than in the many centuries during which Jewish physicians and thinkers dealt with the problems of behavior and behavior disorders. Many current notions on classification and therapy were foreshadowed in biblical and Talmudic literature, and Jewish philosophers wrestled with the same psychological concepts that still occupy attention today.