places, damp and deserted houses, latrines, squalid lanes and foetid atmos-
pheres, which obviously became associated with disease and ill-health.^30
Mediaeval Jewish medicine
In the Middle Ages there was often a narrow line delineating the role of
traditional healers and practising physicians. The physician was often seen
as a powerful exponent of science and religion while the rationale of super-
stition and magic in medicine had become part and parcel of the Jewish
cultural heritage.31,32 Magical cure and incantations were occasionally
permitted by the rabbis – not because of their likely efficacy but to set at
ease the mind of the superstitious. Thus, it was not really necessary for the
patient to resort to the magician for treatment as the ordinary remedies used
by doctor and layman used the full range of magical devices. Many of these
treatments follow theories of aetiology and pathology, which we can readily
see today as being wrong but from mediaeval beliefs about cause and effect
the treatments follow a logical pattern.33–35The traditional Jewish healer
required knowledge of the Jewish lore surrounding his practice besides an
expertise in medicinal plants and an ability to exorcise the evil eye.^36
Jews and Christians shared much of this popular medicine. Rabbi
Menahem of Speyer was quoted as saying that, as sound effects a cure so a
Christian may be permitted to heal a Jew by incantation, even if he invokes
the aid of Jesus and the saints in his spell.^37 However, religious views
differed on the attitude to healing. Important rabbinic authorities, such as
Nachmanides, considered that right-
eous people should be protected by
God’s blessing while Moses
Maimonides, Rambam (1138–1204),
the greatest of Jewish mediaeval
rabbis and himself a physician,
believed that the divine mandate to
heal derives from the Torah (Figures
11.2 and 11.3). In short, true healing
is a gift from God who has given the
doctor what is required to heal by
natural means.
Mediaeval medicine had inherited
from late antiquity the conviction that
there was a close correlation between
the universe, the macrocosm, and
humans, the microcosm. Both were
said to be formed of the four elements
- air, fire, earth and water – and
Traditional Jewish medicine | 299Figure 11.2 Moses Maimonides
(1138–1204): rabbi and physician.