What is Traditional Jewish medicine?

Dear Friend, colleagues and patients,


Welcome to my new blog. I love writing and am passionate about what I do. Practicing Jewish medicine for me is much more than a profession, it is a calling. I am often asked, what exactly is Traditional Jewish Medicine (TJM)?

TJM is an approach to healing that uses Torah principles to help Man fulfill his mission in this world. The Rambam teaches that the purpose of life is to know Ha-Shem and… "It is impossible to know Ha-Shem when one is hungry, sick or a part of the body is in pain." (Deyos 3:3) Illness, therefore, needs to be viewed as the imbalance of body and spirit, their synergistic relationship disrupted. The Baal Shem Tov would frequently say that a small hole in the body means that there is a big hole in the soul. TJM, treats physical symptoms as but one aspect of the whole person, considering the emotions, mind, and spirit as well. We find the precedent for this in the Gemara in Brachos which teaches that "When one becomes sick, he should first examine his deeds and then return to Ha-Shem." TJM encourages the physician and patient to act as a team, to look for clues and to determine the pathogenesis of the patient’s illness as the first step in the process of restoring health and balance. Utilizing a wide range of diagnostic and clinical tools such as Chinese medicine, CranioSacral therapy, and Bioset allergy desensitization, the physician serves as a messenger, addressing previously unresponsive health issues in a new (yet very old!) integrative manner, by treating the whole person rather than local signs and symptoms. Traditional Jewish Medicine is a roadmap, based upon ten principles from the Torah and our sages, which guides us in promoting our health, balancing our lives, making us whole, and enabling us to receive the bounty we have been blessed with.