Judaism

1
Judaism Mental IllnessAn Introduction to
Jewish Law Serving a Jewish Client

• Presentation by Amy Greenbaum,
• Executive Director Rabbinic Resource,
• Hillel at Miami University
• Visiting Faculty, Miami University
• Department of Comparative Religion

2
Brief Background on Judaism

• Monotheistic 4,000-year-old religion.
• Tanach (also called Torah) contains the same
  books as what many Christians call The Old
  Testament (different order)
• Commentaries on the Tanach began approximately
  100 BCE and continue to this day. The
  commentaries are central to halachah (Jewish law)
  and are considered by many to be continual oral
  revelation from God through humans.
• Examples include Mishnah, Talmud, Shulkhan Aruch

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Brief Background on Judaism, continued

• God is a loving Wellspring of Life
• Judaism is a way of life.
• Teshuvah, the process of repentance and turning
  within, recognizes the reality of human nature
  and encourages people to regularly accept faults,
  learn from them and try not to make the same
  mistakes again.
• Teshuvah can be a model for a system of change.
• Friedman Yehuda argue We posit that these
  systems psychotherapy teshuvah are distinct,
  yet overlapping, and we focus on three areas
  where these points of convergence are manifest
  locus of authority, use of the transference, and
  establishment of goals.1

4
A Taste of Textual/Jewish Legal Responses to
Mental Health Issues

• Whenever two people sit together and exchange
  words of Torah, the Divine Presence hovers
  between them. (Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the
  Ancestors, 33)
• Therapy as a form of Torah study
• Maimonides (Rabbi Physician) when a doctor
  observes a mental problem, treatment of the
  psychiatric malady must take priority2

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Sin Guilt in Judaism

• No original sin in Judaism.
• Term for sin in Judaism more accurately defined
  as missing the mark.
• Every person has a neshamah (soul) given by God
  in the image of God. (God in Judaism is beyond
  human, humans do not physically look like God.)
• Each person born with two aspects to their human
  nature
• Yetzer tov - good inclination
• Yetzer hara - evil inclination
• Both are necessary
• and behold it was good is a reference to the
  yetzer tov, while behold it was very good is a
  reference to the yetzer hara. But, is the yetzer
  hara to be considered very good? Yes, for
  without the yetzer hara people would not marry,
  build a home, beget children or engage in
  business. (Genesis Rabbah 99)

6
Some Over-Generalizations of the Jewish Patient

• Some Jews are deeply religious and may wish to
  frame their therapy with Jewish law and values.
• Many Jews in America today are not religious.
• Many Jews connect with their Jewish identity on a
  cultural level. Jewish values inform their daily
  decisions.
• Such cultural connection can include a strong
  sense of social justice / tikkun olam which can
  be important for therapeutic work.
• How to include Judaism? Therapist may follow the
  lead of the patient, especially if the patient is
  aware that s/he may utilize Jewish values
  culture as part of therapy (pamphlets, books in
  waiting room).

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Treatment as Tikkun Olam Tikkun Atzmi

• Tikkun Olam - Repair of the world
• Tikkun Atzmi - Repair of the self
• Commandment or mitzvah from God
• Therapist as facilitator of this process
• A cautionary word

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Resources (1 of 2)

• Book on Basic Judaism
• Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy the most
  important things to know about the Jewish
  religion, its people, and its history, New
  YorkW. Morrow, 1991.
• Books on Judaism Mental Health
• Richard Address, ed., Caring for the Soul Rfuat
  HaNefesh, A Mental Health Resource and Study
  Guide, New York UAHC Press, 2003.
• William Cutter, ed., Healing and the Jewish
  Imagination Spiritual and Practical Perspectives
  on Judaism and Health, Woodstock, VT Jewish
  Lights Publishing, 2007.

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Resources (2 of 3)

• Journals on Judaism Mental Health
• Journal of Psychology and Judaism, Kluwer
  Academic/Plenum Publishers, ISSN 0700-9801
• Web Resources
• Jewish Healing Centers - http//jewishhealing.org/
  
• Judaism Substance Abuse - http//jacsweb.org/
• Resource on Judaism - http//myjewishlearning.com
• Reform Judaism on mental health issues -
  http//urj.org/jfc/bioethics/mentalhealth/
• The Kalsman Center on Jewish Healing -
  http//www.huc.edu/kalsman

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Resources (3 of 3)

• Articles on Judaism Mental Health
• Michelle Friedman Rachel Yehuda, Psychotherapy
  and Teshuvah Parallel and Overlapping Systems
  for Change, Torah u-Madda Journal, Vol. 11,
  (2002-3), pp. 238-253.
• Julie L. Goldberg Karen OBrien, Jewish
  Women's Psychological Well-being the Role of
  Attachment, Separation, and Jewish Identity,
  Psychology of Women Quarterly, Vol. 292 (June
  2005), p. 197-206
• Theologies of Suffering How Judaism Can Help
  You Cope, Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu,
  http//www.huc.edu/kalsman/writings/

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Sources

• 1 (slide 3 on Teshuvah) Michelle Friedman
  Rachel Yehuda, Psychotherapy and Teshuvah
  Parallel and Overlapping Systems for Change,
  Torah u-Madda Journal, Vol. 11, 2002-3, 238-253.
• 2 (slide 4 Maimonides quotation from ) Mental
  Illness The Moral Imperative, Sermon by Rabbi
  Barry H. Block, Temple Beth-El, San Antonio,
  Texas, as found on website http//www.beth-elsa.or
  g/bb102502.htm)