From Christian Science to Jewish Science Spiritual Healing and American Jews [Hardcover]

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.

...an engaging account of an otherwise hardly known chapter in American Jewish history. --CHOICE

Ellen Umansky's fascinating account of the Jewish Science movement in America explains how and why the promise of health and well-being proved attractive to so many thousands of Jews in the past century--and still does today. The book also examines the remarkable personalities who built and led Jewish Science--including Tehilla Lichtenstein, an inspiring figure who stood at the head of the movement for thirty-five years. Umansky has written a thorough, highly readable, and extremely relevant study of an aspect of American Judaism too long neglected by scholars and community leaders. --Arnold M. Eisen, author ofRethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment, Community

This carefully researched and sensitive book rescues froml3(