Title Details

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.

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’s Disease: 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.

"This novel blend of religious and scientific information is a unique resource for families interested in preserving optimal health and curing illness."
—Marianne J. Legato, M.D., professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons; founder and director, Partnership for Health at Columbia

"A healthful lifestyle is a cornerstone of Jewish teaching. Hadassah WZO has provided a provocative, practical, accessible, and highly readable guide to prevention of disease and enjoyment of life to the fullest. And it does so from a uniquely Jewish perspective. This outstanding guide offers answers from medical experts, rabbis, caregivers, and other health professionals on how to live long and well and triumph over life’s adversities. Words of Jewish wisdom and advice on health, the care of the body, medical and environmental ethics, diseases, healing, and more make the Hadassah Jewish Family Book of Health and Wellness a must-read."
—Carol Diament, Ph.D., former director, Hadassah’s Jewish Education Department