The Hadassah Jewish Family Book of Health and Wellness »

Robin Ely Berman, M.D., is founder, president, CEO, and medical director of the National Gaucher Foundation. She has been a pioneer in her work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in researching and treating Jewish diseases, and also runs the Center for Integrative Medicine in Rockville, Maryland.

Arthur Kurzweil is a writer and teacher, and serves as publisher at Parabola magazine. He is the editor of Best Jewish Writing 2003, and author of From Generation to Generation: How to Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Family History and On the Road with Rabbi Steinsaltz, all from Jossey-Bass.

Dale Liebson Mintz, MPA, CHES, is Hadassah's founding National Director of Women's Health and Advocacy and an expert of long standing in the field of health and wellness. She has spoken on doctor-patient communication, the sandwich generation, and many other topics to Jewish and secular audiences. She communicates her knowledge and passion to her audiences with enthusiasm to motivate them to take action on their own and their family's behalf.

The Jewish people have special concerns, approaches, and attitudes about health and wellness, due in part to certain illnesses known as “Jewish genetic diseases,” such as Tay-Sachs, Niemann-Pick, Gaucher, and others. Beyond these genetic diseases, however, the entire range of topics and issues related to health and wellness has long been of great interest to the religious and secular Jewish community. Jewish tradition has developed many special approaches to health and health-related issues, based on the hallowed traditions and precepts found in the Torah, its commentaries, and the vast literature written by rabbinic authorities throughout the centuries. Similarly Jewish secular culture has developed many special attitudes and approaches to the issues in this book regarding women’s health, nutrition, raising children, caregiving, and other special issues.

The Hadassah Jewish Family Book of Health and Wellness, written in collaboration with Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, known throughout the world for its leadership as a major force in health research and education, provides a much-needed resource and guide to physical health and spiritual issues that are of concern to Jewish families.

Library Journal

World-renowned for its interest in healthcare, Hadassah: The Women's Zionist Organization of America has attached its name to this work by Berman (founder, president, CEO, & medical director, National Gaucher Fdn.), Arthur Kurzweil (publisher, Parabola magazine), and Dale L. Mintz (national director of women's health, Hadassah), which attempts to address both the physical and the spiritual care of Jewish families. Individual essays by healthcare professionals, spiritual leaders, and academicians delve into Jewish thought behind today's health and wellness issues, including sexuality, food and diet, and mental health. This foray into consumer health has its heart in the right place but might be slightly misleading. The essays are engaging and informative but not always practically useful; some are highly academic. For example, one essay discusses whether smoking is kosher but does not address how to quit. Public libraries with consumer health collections should not bypass this work, but it may not be the practical self-help book many patrons are seeking. Appropriate for larger synagogue libraries as well.-Rachel M. Minkin, Graduate Theological Union Lib., Berkeley, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Why a Hadassah Jewish Family Health Book?

PART ONE: Health in the Jewish Tradition.

Hadassah’s Commitment: Jewish Perspective on Health.

The Jewish Way of Healing.

Ten Jewish Psychological Insights.

Why Are So Many Hospitals Named After Mount Sinai?

The Healing Path of Jewish Tradition Is Entering Upon an Awakening.

PART TWO: Taking Care of the Body.

Whose Body Is It Anyway?

Jewish Stress Management.

Nurturing the Nurturer: Be Good to Yourself.

The People of the Treadmill.

Finally, Kosher Yoga.

Special Focus: Specific Health Care Issues.

How to Talk to Your Doctor: An Rx for M.D. Visits.

Women and Heart Disease.

Take Control of Your Heart’s Health.

Stress and Heart Disease.

Menopause and Hormones.

PART THREE: Nutrition.

You Are What You Eat.

Making Your Kitchen Healthy: Food, Halakhah, and Hygiene.

Vegetarianism and Judaism: Frequently Asked Questions.

Tips on Fasting.

Special Focus: Health Habits for Kids.

Children and Exercise: A Lifelong Habit Starts Young.

Healthy Children Today, Healthy Adults Tomorrow: A Formula for Heart Health.

PART FOUR: Jewish Genetic Diseases.

Genetic Diseases Among Individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish Heritage.

Therefore Choose Life.

Testing Genetic Tests for Jewish Values.

Ethics and Genetic Testing.

Hadassah Policy Statement on Genetic Testing.

Special Focus: Specific Genetic Conditions.

Gaucher’s Disease, Type 1.

Living with Gaucher’sDisease: A Guide for Patients, Parents, Relatives, and Friends.

Hadassah Saved My Daughter.

Niemann-Pick Disease, Type A.

Information from the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation, Inc.

Tay-Sachs Disease.

Crohn’s Disease.

Canavan’s Disease.

Bloom’s Syndrome.

PART FIVE: Raising Our Children.

Infant and Child Care.

Some Answers from a Mohel.

Breast-Feeding: Insights from the Torah and Sages.

Breast-Feeding Questions and Answers.

Turning Your Kid into a Mensch.

Special Focus: Infertility.

Infertility and the Jewish Couple.

Assisted Reproduction in Judaism.

PART SIX: Caregiving.

The Physician’s Daily Prayer.

The Many Worlds of Family Caregivers.

Honoring the Elderly.

Ten Guiding Principles of Long-Term Health Care Planning.

On the Quest for Resources: A Guide for Caregivers and Professionals.

A Crisis of Caregiving, a Crisis of Faith.

Special Focus: Hospice Care.

What Is Hospice?

Frequently Asked Questions About Hospice Care.

Hadassah Hospital Kay Hospice for the Terminally Ill.

Myths and Facts About Hospice, Pain, and Dying.

PART SEVEN: Visiting the Sick.

Bikkur Cholim: Visiting the Sick.

What to Say When Visiting the Ill.

Jewish Folk Traditions That You Can Use.

PART EIGHT: Prayer and Meditation in Practice.

Eight Possible Ways in Which Prayer May “Work”.

Healing at Bedtime: The Traditional Kriat Sh’ma.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe on Health and Healing.

Meditation.

What Is Reiki, and Is It “Jewish”?

PART NINE: Keeping Healthy in a Changing World.

The Challenges of Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle in Today’s Society.

Alternative Versus Complementary: What’s the Difference?

Special Focus: Medical Research.

Clinical Trials: The Way We Make Progress Against Cancer.

Judaism and Stem Cell Research.

Stem Cell Research in Jewish Law.

PART TEN: Organ Donation.

Judaism and Organ Donation.

The Gift of Life.

The Myth of Organ Donation.

Tradition, Transcendence, and Transplantation.

Jews and Organ Donations: All Take and No Give?

When Is Death?

Coordinating Mitzvah and Miracle.

PART ELEVEN: Jewish Views on AIDS, Smoking, Abortion, and Eating Disorders.

AIDS: The Basics from the Jewish AIDS Trust.

AIDS: A Jewish Perspective.

Smoking: Is It Kosher?

Smoking: The Rabbinical Council of America Roundtable’s Proposal.

Smoking: A Jewish Perspective.

Abortion: What Jewish Law Says.

Abortion: The Controversy over Jewish Religious Rights and Responsibilities.

Eating Disorders: Perceptions and Perspectives in Jewish Life Today.

Eating Disorders: The Jewish Community’s Perspective.

Eating Disorders: Six Ways to Boost Girls’ Self-Esteem.

Eating Disorders: A Young Woman’s Story.

A Note from the Editors.

About Hadassah.

The Editors and Contributors.

Credits.

Index.