Religious Differences in Physical and Mental Health among Israeli Jews: Findings from the Global Flourishing Study.

Numerous studies have identified religious correlates of health indicators, but relatively few have been conducted among Jewish populations in Israel or the diaspora. This study investigates the possibility of a religious gradient in physical and mental health and well-being across the familiar categories of Jewish religious identity and observance in Israel: hiloni (secular), masorti lo dati (traditional, non-religious), masorti (traditional), dati (religious or Orthodox), and charedi (ultra-Orthodox). Data are from Jewish respondents aged 18 and over (N = 2916) from the Israeli sample of the new, 22-nation Global Flourishing Study, which used stratified, probability-based sampling and assessed demographic, socioeconomic, political, religious, health-related, and other variables. This analysis investigated religious differences in nine indicators of physical and mental health and well-being among Israeli Jews. Using a strategy of one-way ANOVA and ANCOVA, adjusting for complex sampling design components, a statistically significant "dose-response"-like gradient was found for eight of the outcome measures, validated by additional multiple comparison tests. For four "positively" worded indicators (physical and mental health, happiness, and life satisfaction), scores increased consistently from the hiloni to the charedi categories. For four of five "negatively" worded indicators (bodily pain, depression, anxiety, and suffering), scores decreased across the same categories. Results withstood adjusting for effects of age, sex, education, marital status, urbanicity, income, and nativity (whether born in Israel). Among Israeli Jews, greater religiousness was associated with higher levels of health and well-being and lower levels of somatic and psychological distress.

A Survey of Jewish Attitudes and Experiences Relating to End-of-Life Care and the "Right to Die".

We conducted a survey of Jewish attitudes towards, and experiences with, end-of-life care. Questions fell into three areas: (1) Expectations for Jewish end-of-life care; (2) Experiences with such care; and (3) Attitudes toward the "right to die." Examining denominational differences in belief in, and adherence to, Halakha (Jewish law), we confirm many expectations described in the literature. We find notable nuances in specific areas of need across Jewish denomination, and in terms of acceptance of the withdrawal of life support vs assisted suicide. Care for the nuances of Jewish belief is indicated for effective and satisfying Jewish end-of-life care.

The four "R"s: Strategies for tailoring science for religious publics and their prices.

A recent wave of studies has diversified science communication by emphasizing gender, race, and disability. In this article, we focus on the understudied lens of religion. Based on an analysis of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) science journalism and its readership, we identify four main strategies for tailoring science, which we call the four "R"s-removing, reclaiming, remodeling, and rubricating science. By analyzing how science communication is produced by and for a particular religious group, we reveal the diverse ways a religious-sensitive science communication is shaped by community gatekeepers, while also exploring the ethical and epistemological tensions this tailoring entails.

Engaging with the unknown: How Judaism enabled Freud's psychological discoveries.

A large literature has formed around the question of how Freud's Jewishness and/or Judaism influenced his psychological discoveries and development of psychoanalytic theory and methods. The article organizes the literature into several core theses but brings new clarity and insight by applying two essential criteria to demonstrate an impact of Judaism on Freud's thinking: direct content and historical timing. First, there should be evidence that Freud incorporated actual content from Jewish sources, and second, this incorporation must have occurred during the most crucial period of Freud's early discovery, conceptualization, and development of psychoanalysis, roughly 1893-1910. Thus, for example, Bakan's well-known theory that Freud studied Kabbala is completely negated by the absence of any evidence in the required time period. Part I reviews the literature on the influence of Freud's ethnic/cultural Jewish identity. Part II introduces the Judaic sacred literature, explores Freud's education in Judaism and Hebrew, and presents evidence that Freud had the motive, means, and resources to discover and draw from the "Dream Segment" of the Talmud-along with the traditional Judaic methods and techniques of textual exegesis. Freud then applied these same Judaic word-centered interpretive methods-used for revealing an invisible God-to revealing an invisible Unconscious in four successive books in 1900, 1901, and 1905.

Judaism.

Judaism offers a rich body of traditional beliefs and practices surrounding end-of-life, death, mourning, and the afterlife. A more detailed understanding of these topics might prove helpful to clinicians seeking guidance for how best to care for Jewish patients, to anyone supporting dying individuals, or to anyone interested in learning more about the subject. The objectives of this chapter are to examine Jewish approaches to key bioethical issues surrounding palliative care, to analyze meaning-making rituals following a loss, at a funeral, and throughout mourning, and to explore Jewish beliefs in an afterlife. Research was collected from sacred texts, legal codes, modern rabbinic responsa literature, and secondary sources. Core, guiding principles include human beings' creation "in the image of God," an obligation to save life, an obligation to mitigate pain, a prohibition against self-harm and hastening death, respect for the dead, and ritualized mourning periods ("shiva," "shloshim," and "shanah"), which feature special liturgy ("kaddish") and practices. Judaism is a religion that values thorough questioning, debate, and argumentation. It also encompasses diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and various denominations. Many Jews are also unaffiliated with a movement or rarely engage with traditional law altogether. For all of these reasons, no summary can comprehensively encapsulate the wide range of opinions that exist around any given topic. That said, what follows is a detailed overview of traditional Jewish approaches to artificial nutrition/hydration, extubation, dialysis, euthanasia and more. It also outlines rituals surrounding and following death. Finally, views and beliefs of the afterlife are presented, as they often serve to imbue meaning and comfort in times of grief, uncertainty, and transition.

Chaplaincy, Judaism, Ukraine, COVID-19 and JORH Jubilee.

This first issue of JORH for 2023 considers (1) the ministry of chaplains, (2) Judaism, (3) the people of war-torn Ukraine, (4) the ongoing saga of COVID-19 and, on a happier note, (5) we celebrate a belated jubilee by presenting a bibliometric analysis of the Journal of Religion and Health (1961-2021). To conclude this issue, a book review is presented, "The Desperate Hours" by award winning journalist Marie Brenner, focusing on one hospital's fight to save New York City during COVID-19. A reminder is also provided to readers on the call for papers regarding a future issue on religion, spirituality, suicide and its prevention.

Review of the Cardiovascular Implications of the Social and Religious Practices Associated with Donning Phylacteries.

We previously published a manuscript suggesting that use of phylacteries, ritual straps worn during Jewish prayer services, affects cardiovascular and inflammatory function (Owens et al., Am J Physiol-Heart Circ Physiol, 315(6):H1748-H1758, 2018). Observed physiologic changes were associated with improved cardiac outcomes, though a direct link between phylactery use and improved cardiovascular outcomes is difficult to prove as there are a number of associated religious and spiritual practices that may confound the observed effects. In this review, we assess the scientific literature regarding religious and spiritual practices associated with phylactery in order to better understand the cardiovascular implications of the practice of donning phylacteries. We focus on key aspects traditionally associated with donning phylacteries including gathering in groups, meditation and prayer.

Religious Doctrine and Attitudes Toward Vaccination in Jewish Law.

Individual and herd immunity against communicable diseases requires high rates of timely and complete vaccination, particularly in closely knit communities, densely populated areas, and places with high influx of potentially infected individuals. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and, previously, measles in religious Jewish communities of New York, as well as the rise of vaccine hesitancy in faith communities, call for the examination of Jewish attitudes toward vaccination. In this article, we examine religious doctrine and guidance on vaccination in Orthodox (including Modern Orthodox, Chabad-Lubavich, and Ultra-Orthodox), Conservative, and Reform denominations of Judaism and apply these principles to vaccinations against measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), and COVID-19. We found that the leaders and scholars in these three major denominations of Judaism are uniform in their strong support, often to the point of mandate, for the principles of vaccination. Support for vaccination is deeply rooted in the Torah, Jewish law, and contemporary rulings of poskim (Jewish legal scholars). These principles are applied by each denomination in strong support of measles and COVID-19 vaccination, though there is less certainty in their support of vaccination against HPV.

How religion affects sleep health: exploring the perspectives of religious Muslims and Jews in Israel.

Few empirical studies have explored the links between sleep and religion and no research has examined how religious individuals view these links. This article contributes to the literature by drawing on in-depth interviews with 31 midlife Israeli Muslims and Jews who describe themselves as religious or very religious. Findings indicate that respondents shared the view that sleep is important for health and wellbeing, as well as for religious practice and the proper worship of God. Their accounts clarified that religious observance entails a set of social rules and prescriptions as well as beliefs that may affect sleep behaviour and sleep outcomes. Traditional prayer times affected sleep duration for observant Muslims and Jews because respondents woke up early for prayer but could not always retire early enough so as to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep. Religion also dictated a preferred sleep position, to which participants became accustomed and found to be helpful. Respondents maintained that their deep faith in God and the practice of praying helped reduce stress, which contributed to sleep quality. However, among Muslims, missing prayers could arouse feelings of guilt and unease, thus affecting sleep quality. The article concludes that religion affects the sleep of both Muslims and Jews, but these effects vary by how individuals practice their religion and by how religiosity intersects with other social categories, such as gender. Future studies could enrich understanding of the social determinants of sleep by designing research inspired by lay persons' insights into the association between religion and sleep.

Health, Religiosity and Hatred: A Study of the Impacts of COVID-19 on World Jewry.

This exploratory study examines the likely causes of the alarming global rise of antisemitism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning with an appraisal of today's world Jewry, this exploratory study highlights the main social, health, and religious impacts COVID-19 has had on Jews worldwide and goes on to highlight how various Jewish communities managed and adjusted to COVID-19 public health restrictions. From this contextual backdrop, an assessment of how and why antisemitism has surged during the pandemic is presented, along with a review of what efforts are being taken to curtail this rise in hatred toward Jews. A central aim of this study is to underline the point that until meaningful, broad, and international steps are taken to curb online hate, the historic antisemitic tropes and myths suggesting Jews are the cause of disease will undoubtedly evolve and surge (especially across social media) during future pandemics and times of global crisis and unrest.

La Paz entre judíos y cristianos. El aporte de Juan Pablo II, a la paz interreligiosa en el siglo xx / Peace between Jews and Christians. John Paul II's Contribution to Interreligious Peace in the 20th Century

Resumen Juan Pablo II no sólo expresó sus ideas políticas y sociales a través de Encíclicas y discursos, sino también a través de la diplomacia y diversas acciones cargadas de simbolismo. Acciones que tuvieron por objetivo mostrar como ejemplo a los pertenecientes de ambas religiones, la paz subyacente entre sus líderes religio sos. De lo anterior, aunque muchos datos biográficos y logros han sido tenidos en cuenta por los biógrafos de Wojtyla, el acercamiento generado entre cristia nos y judíos es quizás uno de los puntos menos profundizados en las reflexiones históricas sobre la labor de Wojtyla.

Abstract Not only did John Paul II express his political and social ideas through Encycli cals and speeches, but also through diplomacy and various actions loaded with symbolism. These actions were aimed at showing as an example to the mem bers of both religions, the underlying peace between their religious leaders. From the above, although many biographical data and achievements have been taken into account by Wojtyla's biographers, the rapprochement generated be tween Christians and Jews is perhaps one of the least deepened points in the historical reflections on Wojtyla's work.

Challenges and strategies in the psychiatric care of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population: A thematic analysis of 18 psychiatrist interviews.

Despite the importance of accessible psychiatric care for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, prior research has characterized how stigma and suspicion of secular institutions limit mental healthcare utilization by this population. No study, however, has interviewed a cohort of psychiatrists to identify commonly encountered challenges or successfully employed strategies in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish psychiatric patients who have overcome these barriers to present for care. We recruited by snowball sampling from a sample of convenience 18 psychiatrists affiliated with the Weill Cornell Department of Psychiatry, experienced in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients. Each participant was engaged in a 20-45-min, semi-structured interview, which was subsequently transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed with combined deductive and inductive thematic analysis. We identified 12 challenges and 11 strategies as particularly significant in psychiatric work with ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients at every phase of treatment, including rapport-building, history-taking, diagnostic formulation, and achieving concordance with patient and family. These challenges and strategies revolved around themes of community stigma, an extended family-patient-community team, cross-cultural communication, culture-related diagnostic complexity, transference/countertransference, and conflicts between Jewish law /community norms and treatment protocol. Psychiatrists caring for ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients face a range of complex challenges stemming from factors unique to ultra-Orthodox Jewish religion, culture, and family/community structure. However, they have also identified strategies to manage these challenges and provide culturally sensitive care. Further research is necessary to directly elicit perspectives from within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and validate our initial findings.

A Canadian story of Jewish divorce: listening to rabbis across denominations wrestle with egalitarianism and K'lal Yisrael.

This ethnographic interview-based research (2016-2021) analyzes the narratives of a cohort of rabbis in Ottawa who share their experiences of Jewish divorce. Jewish religious divorce is gendered and asymmetrical where the husband gives the divorce to the passively receiving wife who may not herself initiate divorce. This project interrupts the ways in which Jewish divorce is primarily identified in terms of get abuse in the Orthodox world. The asymmetrical divorce process contributes to get abuse, which includes delaying, refusing, or extorting favourable terms in exchange for the husband providing the wife with her get (religious divorce). Women who cannot secure divorces are known as agunot (singular agunah, chained women), who cannot remarry and who commit adultery if they have sexual relations with another man. Women face the additional burden that if they bear children to anyone other than their husband, such children would have the status of mamzerim (singular mamzer, legally illegitimate, product of an illicit union) who may not marry other Jews except other mamzerim, who may not hold certain positions of communal leadership, and whose status is inherited from generation to generation. This gendered injustice becomes the focus of scholarship even as it arouses both communal activism and internal debates. While get abuse is most common in the Orthodox Jewish community, our interviews with Canadian rabbis reveals that Jewish divorce is a transdenominational phenomenon that plays out within and across denominational boundaries. Against a backdrop of increasing stringency in the Orthodox world transnationally, and intensifying concern for the consequences of inegalitarian Jewish divorce, rabbinic stories point to shifting denominational practice. This transdenominational context is key to understanding Jewish divorce in North America. Attending to Jewish divorce in Canada through a denominational lens does important work in disentangling systemic and local factors. We argue that rabbinic stories about how rabbis engage with divorce reveals how the twin challenges of egalitarianism and rabbinic concerns for the unity and continuity of the Jewish people (K'lal Yisrael) shape the experience of Jewish divorce and divorce practice itself. Jewish divorce impacts women in particularly gendered ways but is largely interpreted and practiced by male rabbis. Through our original theoretical framework of "troubling orthopraxy", we analyse how orthopraxy (correct divorce practice) is conflated with stringency, and how that dynamic pushes and pulls at divorce practice.

Cette recherche ethnographique basée sur des entretiens (2016-2021) analyse les récits d'une cohorte de rabbins d'Ottawa qui partagent leurs expériences du divorce juif. Le divorce religieux juif est genré et asymétrique où le mari donne le divorce à la femme qui le reçoit passivement et ne peut l'initier elle-même. Ce projet interrompt la manière dont le divorce juif est principalement identifié en termes d'abus du get dans le monde orthodoxe. Le processus de divorce asymétrique contribue à l'abus du get, qui comprend le fait de retarder, de refuser ou d'extorquer des conditions favorables afin que le mari fournisse à la femme son get (divorce religieux). Les femmes qui ne peuvent obtenir de divorce sont connues sous le nom d'agunot (singulier agunah, femmes enchaînées). Elles ne peuvent se remarier et commettent un adultère si elles ont des relations sexuelles avec un autre homme. Elles sont aussi confrontées à un fardeau supplémentaire, car si elles ont des enfants d'un autre homme que leur mari, ces enfants ont le statut de mamzerim (singulier mamzer, légalement illégitime, produit d'une union illicite) qui ne peuvent se marier avec d'autres Juifs, sauf avec d'autres mamzerim, ne peuvent pas occuper certaines positions de leadership communautaire et lèguent ce statut de génération en génération. Cette injustice sexospécifique devient le centre d'intérêt des chercheurs, alors même qu'elle suscite à la fois un activisme communautaire et des débats internes. Si les abus sont plus fréquents dans la communauté juive orthodoxe, nos entretiens avec des rabbins canadiens révèlent que le divorce juif est un phénomène transconfessionnel, se jouant à l'intérieur et au-delà des frontières confessionnelles. Dans un contexte où le monde orthodoxe devient de plus en plus strict au niveau transnational et où l'on s'inquiète de plus en plus des conséquences d'un divorce juif inégalitaire, les récits rabbiniques indiquent une évolution des pratiques confessionnelles. Ce contexte transconfessionnel est essentiel pour comprendre le divorce juif en Amérique du Nord. L'étude du divorce juif au Canada dans une optique confessionnelle permet de démêler les facteurs systémiques et locaux. Nous soutenons que les récits rabbiniques sur la façon dont les rabbins abordent le divorce révèlent comment le double défi de l'égalitarisme et les préoccupations rabbiniques pour l'unité et la continuité du peuple juif (K'lal Yisrael) façonnent l'expérience du divorce juif et la pratique du divorce. Le divorce juif a un impact particulièrement marqué sur les femmes, mais il est largement interprété et pratiqué par des rabbins masculins. Grâce à notre cadre théorique original de « l'orthopraxie troublante ¼, nous analysons comment l'orthopraxie (pratique correcte du divorce) est confondue avec la rigueur, et comment cette dynamique pousse et tire sur la pratique du divorce.

"We think this way as a society!": Community-level science literacy among ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Despite growing interest in community-level science literacy, most studies focus on communities of interest who come together through particular science, environmental or health-related goals. We examine a pre-existing community-ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel-with a particular history and politics vis-à-vis science, technology, and medicine. First, we show how Haredi cosmologies and culture come together to critique science as an epistemology while engaging with science as a technology. Then, we demonstrate how community-based medical experts serve as both science-related knowledge mediators and gatekeepers. Whereas Haredi Jews are constantly critiqued for their low levels of individual secular and science education, these community-based webs of knowledge seemingly position Haredi individuals with knowledge that surpasses the average "secular" Israeli. This case study develops unique analytical tools in the growing field of community-level science literacy, while pushing forward conversations about self-ascribed experts, knowledge gatekeeping, and the socio-political contexts of group critiques of science.

"We've all got the virus inside us now": Disaggregating public health relations and responsibilities for health protection in pandemic London.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted ethnic minorities in the global north, evidenced by higher rates of transmission, morbidity, and mortality relative to population sizes. Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods in London had extremely high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rates, reflecting patterns in Israel and the US. The aim of this paper is to examine how responsibilities over health protection are conveyed, and to what extent responsibility is sought by, and shared between, state services, and 'community' stakeholders or representative groups, and families in public health emergencies. The study investigates how public health and statutory services stakeholders, Orthodox Jewish communal custodians and households sought to enact health protection in London during the first year of the pandemic (March 2020-March 2021). Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted across these cohorts. Findings demonstrate that institutional relations - both their formation and at times fragmentation - were directly shaped by issues surrounding COVID-19 control measures. Exchanges around protective interventions (whether control measures, contact tracing technologies, or vaccines) reveal diverse and diverging attributions of responsibility and authority. The paper develops a framework of public health relations to understand negotiations between statutory services and minority groups over responsiveness and accountability in health protection. Disaggregating public health relations can help social scientists to critique who and what characterises institutional relationships with minority groups, and what ideas of responsibility and responsiveness are projected by differently-positioned stakeholders in health protection.

[Jewish spirituality in the face of illness, suffering and care]. / La spiritualité juive à l'épreuve de la maladie, de la souffrance et des soins.

Jewish spirituality in its principles, its means and its practice offers the possibilities to cope with sickness, suffering and more broadly with the human condition.

The View of the Three Monotheistic Religions Toward Cadaveric Organ Donation.

Religious concerns regarding the legitimacy of cadaveric organ donation have been found to be major inhibiting factors for people to consent to donate organs post-mortem for transplantation; this constitutes a major cause for the grave shortfall of available organs for transplantation. The purpose of this review is to explore the view of the three monotheistic religions, namely Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, toward cadaveric organ donation. The literature review reveals that all three monotheistic religions support cadaveric organ donation but within certain restrictions. We provide a detailed description of the approach of each religion and the inhibiting considerations as interpreted by religious authorities. Health professionals need to collaborate with faith leaders in order to optimize the education of the public of believers with regard to the benefits stemming from organ donation. Developing transplantation medicine does not depend solely on technical capabilities and expertise; rather, this development should go hand in hand with religious, traditional and cultural beliefs and rituals. Providing a believer with a religious authority about cadaveric organ donation is very effective in helping families and individuals cope with difficult and critical decisions.

Progressivism, Old and New: The Spiritual Moorings of Progressive Reforms.

With the tide of progressive reforms facing strong headwinds today, this essay offers a retrospective look at the progressive movement in the U.S.A. and reflects on the lessons to be learned from its triumphs and failures. The case is made that major advances in the progressive agenda came at historical junctions precipitated by dramatic events. The stretch between 1900 and 1920 saw the first wave of social reforms following the late nineteenth century recessions and upsurge in labor unrest. The New Deal took shape in the 1930s in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The Civil Rights movement burst onto the scene in the 1960s in the face of bitter attempts to shore up segregationist practices in southern states. And the 2020s spike in progressive activism gained momentum against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the January 6 Capitol riots. Special attention is paid to the interfaces between Social Gospel theology and efforts to ground progressive rhetoric in what John Dewey called "common faith," Robert Bellah "civil religion," and Richard Rorty "liberal pragmatism."

The concept of Messiah in abrahamic religions: A focused study of the eschatology of Sunni islam.

The purpose of this research is to conduct a comparative analysis of the Messiah in Semitic religious discourse, focusing on Muslims' specially the Sunni school of thought. The notion of Mahdism is generally recognized in all three major sematic faiths. Muslims scholars, particularly Shiites, believe in Mahdi and see him as the cornerstone of their faith, to the point where Shiites theology is difficult to fathom without it. We argued in this article that the Shiites' concept of Mahdism is derived from both Jewish theological literature, which is based on the concept of a savior who will arrive at the end of time, and Christian theology, which considers Jesus as a Redeemer who came for the salvation of Humanity after grave sin. Sunnis, who constitute the majority of Muslims, hold a different view of Messiah. The objective of this study was to establish the actual Sunni Muslim position on the issue of Mahdism and salvation, as obtained from authentic sources of Islam.

Construction and evaluation of an online module addressing counseling patients with diabetes observing religious fasting.

INTRODUCTION: Little research has been conducted on training students of different health professions to deliver culturally appropriate care to patients observing religious fasting. This study aimed to formulate an online educational module on caring for patients with diabetes observing religious fasting and evaluate the module's impact. METHODS: Third-year doctor of pharmacy students participated in an online module at the end of their core pharmacist-patient communication class. The module involved discussions and case scenarios addressing Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu patients with diabetes considering fasting. Students were provided with Ramadan Communication (RAMCOM), a tool designed to facilitate counseling of patients on religious fasting and were encouraged to use principles of motivational interviewing in addressing cases. A 13-item questionnaire was administered before and after the module. Answers provided on an open-ended item addressing students' experiences with the module were analyzed qualitatively using conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Of 140 students taking the class, all students completed the module and 135 completed both questionnaires. The module elicited a statistically significant improvement in confidence across all 13 survey items. The computed aggregate score increased from 2.65 (0.56) to 3.66 (0.50) (P < .001), with 71% of students finding the module to be useful or extremely useful. Qualitative analysis provided insight into students' experiences, including how the module produced an improvement in student confidence as well as opportunities for module improvement. CONCLUSIONS: A brief online module significantly improved pharmacy students' confidence in working with patients from different cultures and religions considering religious fasting.