From Christian Science to Jewish Science: Spiritual Healing and American Jews

Author	Ellen M. Umansky
Format	Hardcover
ISBN	9780195044003
Publication Date	23/08/2009
Publisher	USA Oxford University Press
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press Inc

This book examines how the teachings of Christian Science influenced American Jews in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At the time, many American Reform Rabbis were alarmed by the growing popularity of Christian Science, which they saw as a threat to the traditional Jewish view of health and happiness. In response, they formulated their own version of Jewish spiritual healing, which emphasized the power of visualization and affirmative prayer. Though the number of Jews formally affiliated with Jewish Science remained small, its emphasis on the connection between mind and body influenced scores of rabbis and thousands if not hundreds of thousands of American Jews. This book provides a unique perspective on the religious and social concerns of twentieth-century American Jewry, and sheds light on how adherence to Jewish Science helped thousands bridge the perceived gap between Judaism and modernity.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thousands of American Jews were drawn to the teachings of Christian Science. Viewing such attraction with alarm, American Reform Rabbis sought to counter Christian Science's appeal by formulating a Jewish vision of happiness and health. Unlike Christian Science, it acknowledged the benefits of modern medicine yet, sharing the belief in God as the true source of healing, similarly emphasized the power of visualization and affirmative prayer. Though the numbers of those formally affiliated with Jewish would remain small, its emphasis on the connection between mind and body influenced scores of rabbis and thousands if not hundreds of thousands of American Jews, predating contemporary Jewish interest in spiritual healing by more than seventy years. Examining an important and previously unwritten chapter in the story of American Judaism, this book sheds light on religious and social concerns of twentieth-century American Jewry, including ways in which adherence to Jewish Science helped thousands bridge the perceived gap between Judaism and modernity.