Judaism advocates the use of scientifically validated methods to treat both physiological and psychiatric illnesses. Unlike the priests and shamans of other faith communities in antiquity, our rabbis never attributed any special religious significance to mental disorders or those afflicted with them. What’s most essential from the Torah’s viewpoint is that we acknowledge and ameliorate the symptoms of such maladies as quickly and effectively as possible.
Because of the extremely personal nature of mental illness, congregants will often approach their rabbis with such problems before seeking professional psychiatric help. I have been approached by individuals with obsessive fears of violating religious precepts—especially those related to eating and cohabitation. In one instance, a young man tormented by sexual fantasies that left him feeling deeply ashamed turned to me for halachic guidance. One visitor informed me that he was the Messiah, who had come to solicit my support for his redemptive efforts. I patiently explained that in order to qualify for that position he would need to spend many more years studying Judaism and gaining proficiency in rabbinic texts (and that being Jewish would help as well—he wasn’t!)
The primary role of a rabbi (assuming he is not a psychologist) in the treatment of psychiatric illness should be providing direction, reassurance and encouragement to congregants who are hesitant to seek treatment altogether. Unfortunately, many people who suffer from mental illness or whose family members have been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders are ashamed to acknowledge it and thus fail to take the steps necessary to manage the problem. Jewish teaching is strongly opposed to this kind of response and would counsel a person to be honest about their condition and pursue the best therapeutic means currently at their disposal.
Rabbi Joshua Maroof
Magen David Sephardic Congregation
Rockville, MD
Orthodox
Nothing in Judaism says you’re supposed to suffer the consequences of a disease, whether mental or physical. In fact, the Torah commands us to guard our health, to guard our souls. The Talmud considers this a general commandment and Maimonides and others quote it, too. Healing yourself and healing others is an obligation.
Insofar as mental disease is a part of disease, Torah and Judaism are in favor of treatment, as for any “bodily” disease. According to Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, maintaining a state of happiness is a “foundation of all of Jewish observance.” If you’re depressed, the reasoning goes, you can’t carry out the Torah.
It’s true that certain forefathers of modern psychiatry, like Sigmund Freud, entertained ideas about human nature that run counter to Judaism. Strict Freudian psychoanalysis can lack an understanding of the spiritual self. If there is ever a certain hesitation about psychiatry from more traditional Jewish precincts, then, it would only be toward treatment centered on this idea that there’s something wrong with religion itself. Only an explicitly atheistic or anti-religious approach to treatment would be a problem.
In the same spirit, Judaism sets no stigma against the use of psychopharmaceuticals. If they’re necessary, they’re necessary; there should be no hesitation about getting help. Judaism defers to standard medical opinion, which holds that psychopharmaceuticals can be very useful. But there should be caution about rushing to take a drug to fix a character issue. Sometimes, when a person’s not clinically depressed, he may need to make another kind of effort to find a state of joy.
Rabbi Yosef Edelstein
Associate Director, Mesorah DC
Silver Spring, MD
Modern Orthodox
One of the Bible’s central teachings about humans is the unity of body and soul. The human being is a unitary self—not a union between a mortal, carnal body and a divine, spiritual soul at war with each other. In light of this unity, it’s no surprise that treating the body affects the soul and mind even as illnesses (or strengths) of the soul affect the body. Similarly, emotions lead to bodily reactions; “good news makes one swell with happiness (literally: puts fat on the bone)” says Proverbs. It follows that the embodied, ensouled human can serve God in faith, thought, and song as in dancing, eating and bodily functions.
In Jewish tradition, the doctor is commanded to heal the sick, body or soul, and gets credit for a mitzvah in doing so. Judaism teaches that God and humans are in partnership. Therefore, the physician is not invading God’s domain but rather does God’s work. Using drugs to cure the body or to heal the mind is equally legitimate, so practicing psychopharmacology is just as much a mitzvah as any other type of medicine.
Ideally, psychopharmacological drugs would neutralize any bad chemistry causing dysfunction in the body (as in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), re-enabling moral responsibility and exercise of judgment. The same holds true for psychiatry. There should be no pejorative attitude toward mental illness or treating afflictions of the soul.
The only objection one could raise would be if the psychopharmacological drugs were used as a substitute for emotional rehabilitation. For example, Ritalin and other A.D.D drugs are sometimes over prescribed. To treat the body in a way that overwhelms or silences the mind is wrong because to live fully is to operate through body and soul together. Jewish tradition makes the same distinction for drinking wine, a celebratory element in Jewish tradition, not getting drunk.
Questions have been raised about the scientific efficacy of psychoanalysis, but psychiatry’s combination of drugs and emotional therapy has been proven again and again. In all these treatments, the physician is practicing the noblest calling of Judaism—to heal and save the highest form of life, the human being who is in the image of God.
Rabbi Irving Greenberg
Bronx, NY
Conservative
Jewish tradition and the discipline of psychotherapy can, together, create a mutually beneficial relationship. In the past religion had full responsibility for human mental health. Before psychotherapy was split off, it was the religious officiant who was responsible for healing someone’s emotional life, once considered inseparable from one’s spiritual life. A period occurred in which rabbis were not taught how to communicate wellness and heal to their congregants.
The time is at hand for today’s heterodox religions, grown in their ability to tolerate otherness, and today’s mature psychotherapy to enter into relationship to reconnect in a marriage of sorts where each partner values and appreciates the other’s individuality and uniqueness, maximizing their contact while respecting each other’s boundaries. Their relationship is crucial and when properly tended can bring beneficial change.
Rabbi Jack H. Bloom Ph.D
The Psychotherapy Center
Fairfield, CT
Reform
Psychology and religion are different responses to the same yearning to understand and accept the human condition. These responses are closely related, though. Many see in Freud’s work an elaboration of the levels of consciousness in the Kabbalah, the heart of the Jewish mystical tradition.
Psychology offers ways of interpreting ancient texts as inner rather than outer dramas and gives us a language with which to understand and utilize Jewish texts and traditions in deeper ways. From psychology come teachings that can awaken us to the wisdom of our Jewish spiritual path, and from that path we learn to more deeply appreciate the psychological aspect of our being.
Rabbi Ted Falcon
Bet Alef Meditative Synagogue
Seattle, WA
Reconstructionist
In Deuteronomy, we are commanded to “choose life.” For people facing mental illness and its often devastating effects, the use of drugs can indeed be such a life-affirming choice.
As People of the Book, we love words. But talk therapy, while certainly beneficial, has its limits. Effective biochemical solutions are a gift and a tool, to be used when necessary. No stigma should surround this—no more than offering insulin to a diabetic.
“Better living through chemistry” might seem a light joke to some, but for those who struggle with suicidal thoughts from depression or bipolar disorder, finding the right medication can truly be a matter of pikuach nefesh, of life and death.
Like anything, scientific knowledge of how drugs affect the brain can be used well, or abused. When “Big Pharma” puts profits above health and life, it misuses potentially sacred tools. So, too, does over diagnosing, over prescribing, overdosing, and self-medicating. Still, Judaism embraces all healing power, from the low-tech touch of a hand to the high tech antidepressant.
Refuat haNefesh u’Refuat haGuf, our healing prayers invoke: the healing of soul and body together. Brains bridge body and soul, bearing aspects of each. We speak to the soul, and treat the body; brains deserve both.
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation Bethesda, MD
Renewal
Judaism teaches a holistic path to oneness: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If, in order to love myself, love my neighbor, love and serve God I am in need of an earthly intervention—either medication or counseling—then I should seek that medication and/or counseling. Deny ourselves treatment and we deny ourselves the wholeness of self that can lead us to the Divine. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says causing oneself to suffer does not serve God. Prayer alone is seldom the answer, just as treatment alone in lieu of prayer is never the answer. Only as whole beings can we truly offer up our service to God. This is why the one who chooses to live a life of servitude to humans is blessed.
Rabbi Steven Silvern
Chair, ALEPH Board of Directors
Auburn, AL
Independent
While Judaism encourages us to seek God’s assistance, it does not view God as some kind of cosmic bellhop assigned to carry our burdens. Rather, we are encouraged to make all possible efforts here on earth to help ourselves, through the myriad venues that God created, including the healing wisdom of plants, animals, stones and human healers. “All healing is of the earth,” wrote the 18th-century Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. The wisdom of prophets, prophetesses, sages, ravinas, wise women, herbalists, alchemists, ba’alei-shem (Jewish shamans) etc. were throughout our history considered viable and legitimate means of channeling healing energies from God. Therefore, as the Talmud puts it, “not from all remedies can healing occur”; God can at times choose for whatever reason to retain the illness rather than eradicate it. Nor did the ancient rabbis distinguish between psychiatric and physical ailments but, rather, applied the same rules to both in regards to urgency and to overriding Jewish law for the sake of restoring bodily health and mental balance. The second century Rabbi Akiva put it this way: “The body is like the tree, the medicine is like the fertilizer, and the healer is like the tiller of the soil.”
Rabbi Gershon Winkler
The Walking Stick Foundation
Thousand Oaks, CA
Humanist
With the advent of the Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment) and the development of modern Judaism, many Jews began looking to science and medicine to solve both their physical and psychological problems. Seeking help from a personal God as the only or chief way to find comfort has not been a common Jewish response for some time. I encourage members of our movement to explore a variety of solutions to their personal despair or challenge. This could include consultation with the rabbi or leader of their community, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, meditation, yoga, physical exercise or speaking to friends. Those individuals attracted to Humanistic Judaism would not find seeking assistance from a personal God, in moments of despair, to be helpful. They would find human compassion and contact far more comforting. As the late Rabbi Sherwin Wine taught, “Where is my strength? My strength is in me. And in you.”
Rabbi Miriam S. Jerris, Ph.D.
Community Development Director
Society for Humanistic Judaism
Farmington Hills, MI
