The four "R"s: Strategies for tailoring science for religious publics and their prices

A recent wave of studies has diversified science communication by emphasizing gender, race, and disability. In this article, we focus on the understudied lens of religion. Based on an analysis of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) science journalism and its readership, we identify four main strategies for tailoring science, which we call the four "R"s-removing, reclaiming, remodeling, and rubricating science. By analyzing how science communication is produced by and for a particular religious group, we reveal the diverse ways a religious-sensitive science communication is shaped by community gatekeepers, while also exploring the ethical and epistemological tensions this tailoring entails.

Health, Religiosity and Hatred: A Study of the Impacts of COVID-19 on World Jewry

This exploratory study examines the likely causes of the alarming global rise of antisemitism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning with an appraisal of today's world Jewry, this exploratory study highlights the main social, health, and religious impacts COVID-19 has had on Jews worldwide and goes on to highlight how various Jewish communities managed and adjusted to COVID-19 public health restrictions. From this contextual backdrop, an assessment of how and why antisemitism has surged during the pandemic is presented, along with a review of what efforts are being taken to curtail this rise in hatred toward Jews. A central aim of this study is to underline the point that until meaningful, broad, and international steps are taken to curb online hate, the historic antisemitic tropes and myths suggesting Jews are the cause of disease will undoubtedly evolve and surge (especially across social media) during future pandemics and times of global crisis and unrest.

Review of the Cardiovascular Implications of the Social and Religious Practices Associated with Donning Phylacteries

We previously published a manuscript suggesting that use of phylacteries, ritual straps worn during Jewish prayer services, affects cardiovascular and inflammatory function (Owens et al., Am J Physiol-Heart Circ Physiol, 315(6):H1748-H1758, 2018). Observed physiologic changes were associated with improved cardiac outcomes, though a direct link between phylactery use and improved cardiovascular outcomes is difficult to prove as there are a number of associated religious and spiritual practices that may confound the observed effects. In this review, we assess the scientific literature regarding religious and spiritual practices associated with phylactery in order to better understand the cardiovascular implications of the practice of donning phylacteries. We focus on key aspects traditionally associated with donning phylacteries including gathering in groups, meditation and prayer.

Religious Doctrine and Attitudes Toward Vaccination in Jewish Law

Individual and herd immunity against communicable diseases requires high rates of timely and complete vaccination, particularly in closely knit communities, densely populated areas, and places with high influx of potentially infected individuals. Recent outbreaks of COVID-19 and, previously, measles in religious Jewish communities of New York, as well as the rise of vaccine hesitancy in faith communities, call for the examination of Jewish attitudes toward vaccination. In this article, we examine religious doctrine and guidance on vaccination in Orthodox (including Modern Orthodox, Chabad-Lubavich, and Ultra-Orthodox), Conservative, and Reform denominations of Judaism and apply these principles to vaccinations against measles, human papillomavirus (HPV), and COVID-19. We found that the leaders and scholars in these three major denominations of Judaism are uniform in their strong support, often to the point of mandate, for the principles of vaccination. Support for vaccination is deeply rooted in the Torah, Jewish law, and contemporary rulings of poskim (Jewish legal scholars). These principles are applied by each denomination in strong support of measles and COVID-19 vaccination, though there is less certainty in their support of vaccination against HPV.

Chaplaincy, Judaism, Ukraine, COVID-19 and JORH Jubilee

This first issue of JORH for 2023 considers (1) the ministry of chaplains, (2) Judaism, (3) the people of war-torn Ukraine, (4) the ongoing saga of COVID-19 and, on a happier note, (5) we celebrate a belated jubilee by presenting a bibliometric analysis of the Journal of Religion and Health (1961-2021). To conclude this issue, a book review is presented, "The Desperate Hours" by award winning journalist Marie Brenner, focusing on one hospital's fight to save New York City during COVID-19. A reminder is also provided to readers on the call for papers regarding a future issue on religion, spirituality, suicide and its prevention.

Judaism

Judaism offers a rich body of traditional beliefs and practices surrounding end-of-life, death, mourning, and the afterlife. A more detailed understanding of these topics might prove helpful to clinicians seeking guidance for how best to care for Jewish patients, to anyone supporting dying individuals, or to anyone interested in learning more about the subject. The objectives of this chapter are to examine Jewish approaches to key bioethical issues surrounding palliative care, to analyze meaning-making rituals following a loss, at a funeral, and throughout mourning, and to explore Jewish beliefs in an afterlife. Research was collected from sacred texts, legal codes, modern rabbinic responsa literature, and secondary sources. Core, guiding principles include human beings' creation "in the image of God," an obligation to save life, an obligation to mitigate pain, a prohibition against self-harm and hastening death, respect for the dead, and ritualized mourning periods ("shiva," "shloshim," and "shanah"), which feature special liturgy ("kaddish") and practices. Judaism is a religion that values thorough questioning, debate, and argumentation. It also encompasses diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and various denominations. Many Jews are also unaffiliated with a movement or rarely engage with traditional law altogether. For all of these reasons, no summary can comprehensively encapsulate the wide range of opinions that exist around any given topic. That said, what follows is a detailed overview of traditional Jewish approaches to artificial nutrition/hydration, extubation, dialysis, euthanasia and more. It also outlines rituals surrounding and following death. Finally, views and beliefs of the afterlife are presented, as they often serve to imbue meaning and comfort in times of grief, uncertainty, and transition.

How religion affects sleep health: exploring the perspectives of religious Muslims and Jews in Israel

Few empirical studies have explored the links between sleep and religion and no research has examined how religious individuals view these links. This article contributes to the literature by drawing on in-depth interviews with 31 midlife Israeli Muslims and Jews who describe themselves as religious or very religious. Findings indicate that respondents shared the view that sleep is important for health and wellbeing, as well as for religious practice and the proper worship of God. Their accounts clarified that religious observance entails a set of social rules and prescriptions as well as beliefs that may affect sleep behaviour and sleep outcomes. Traditional prayer times affected sleep duration for observant Muslims and Jews because respondents woke up early for prayer but could not always retire early enough so as to obtain a sufficient amount of sleep. Religion also dictated a preferred sleep position, to which participants became accustomed and found to be helpful. Respondents maintained that their deep faith in God and the practice of praying helped reduce stress, which contributed to sleep quality. However, among Muslims, missing prayers could arouse feelings of guilt and unease, thus affecting sleep quality. The article concludes that religion affects the sleep of both Muslims and Jews, but these effects vary by how individuals practice their religion and by how religiosity intersects with other social categories, such as gender. Future studies could enrich understanding of the social determinants of sleep by designing research inspired by lay persons' insights into the association between religion and sleep.

A Canadian story of Jewish divorce: listening to rabbis across denominations wrestle with egalitarianism and K'lal Yisrael

This ethnographic interview-based research (2016-2021) analyzes the narratives of a cohort of rabbis in Ottawa who share their experiences of Jewish divorce. Jewish religious divorce is gendered and asymmetrical where the husband gives the divorce to the passively receiving wife who may not herself initiate divorce. This project interrupts the ways in which Jewish divorce is primarily identified in terms of get abuse in the Orthodox world. The asymmetrical divorce process contributes to get abuse, which includes delaying, refusing, or extorting favourable terms in exchange for the husband providing the wife with her get (religious divorce). Women who cannot secure divorces are known as agunot (singular agunah, chained women), who cannot remarry and who commit adultery if they have sexual relations with another man. Women face the additional burden that if they bear children to anyone other than their husband, such children would have the status of mamzerim (singular mamzer, legally illegitimate, product of an illicit union) who may not marry other Jews except other mamzerim, who may not hold certain positions of communal leadership, and whose status is inherited from generation to generation. This gendered injustice becomes the focus of scholarship even as it arouses both communal activism and internal debates. While get abuse is most common in the Orthodox Jewish community, our interviews with Canadian rabbis reveals that Jewish divorce is a transdenominational phenomenon that plays out within and across denominational boundaries. Against a backdrop of increasing stringency in the Orthodox world transnationally, and intensifying concern for the consequences of inegalitarian Jewish divorce, rabbinic stories point to shifting denominational practice. This transdenominational context is key to understanding Jewish divorce in North America. Attending to Jewish divorce in Canada through a denominational lens does important work in disentangling systemic and local factors. We argue that rabbinic stories about how rabbis engage with divorce reveals how the twin challenges of egalitarianism and rabbinic concerns for the unity and continuity of the Jewish people (K'lal Yisrael) shape the experience of Jewish divorce and divorce practice itself. Jewish divorce impacts women in particularly gendered ways but is largely interpreted and practiced by male rabbis. Through our original theoretical framework of "troubling orthopraxy", we analyse how orthopraxy (correct divorce practice) is conflated with stringency, and how that dynamic pushes and pulls at divorce practice.

"We think this way as a society!": Community-level science literacy among ultra-Orthodox Jews

Despite growing interest in community-level science literacy, most studies focus on communities of interest who come together through particular science, environmental or health-related goals. We examine a pre-existing community-ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel-with a particular history and politics vis-à-vis science, technology, and medicine. First, we show how Haredi cosmologies and culture come together to critique science as an epistemology while engaging with science as a technology. Then, we demonstrate how community-based medical experts serve as both science-related knowledge mediators and gatekeepers. Whereas Haredi Jews are constantly critiqued for their low levels of individual secular and science education, these community-based webs of knowledge seemingly position Haredi individuals with knowledge that surpasses the average "secular" Israeli. This case study develops unique analytical tools in the growing field of community-level science literacy, while pushing forward conversations about self-ascribed experts, knowledge gatekeeping, and the socio-political contexts of group critiques of science.

Challenges and strategies in the psychiatric care of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population: A thematic analysis of 18 psychiatrist interviews

Despite the importance of accessible psychiatric care for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, prior research has characterized how stigma and suspicion of secular institutions limit mental healthcare utilization by this population. No study, however, has interviewed a cohort of psychiatrists to identify commonly encountered challenges or successfully employed strategies in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish psychiatric patients who have overcome these barriers to present for care. We recruited by snowball sampling from a sample of convenience 18 psychiatrists affiliated with the Weill Cornell Department of Psychiatry, experienced in the care of ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients. Each participant was engaged in a 20-45-min, semi-structured interview, which was subsequently transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed with combined deductive and inductive thematic analysis. We identified 12 challenges and 11 strategies as particularly significant in psychiatric work with ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients at every phase of treatment, including rapport-building, history-taking, diagnostic formulation, and achieving concordance with patient and family. These challenges and strategies revolved around themes of community stigma, an extended family-patient-community team, cross-cultural communication, culture-related diagnostic complexity, transference/countertransference, and conflicts between Jewish law /community norms and treatment protocol. Psychiatrists caring for ultra-Orthodox Jewish patients face a range of complex challenges stemming from factors unique to ultra-Orthodox Jewish religion, culture, and family/community structure. However, they have also identified strategies to manage these challenges and provide culturally sensitive care. Further research is necessary to directly elicit perspectives from within the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and validate our initial findings.

"We've all got the virus inside us now": Disaggregating public health relations and responsibilities for health protection in pandemic London

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted ethnic minorities in the global north, evidenced by higher rates of transmission, morbidity, and mortality relative to population sizes. Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods in London had extremely high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rates, reflecting patterns in Israel and the US. The aim of this paper is to examine how responsibilities over health protection are conveyed, and to what extent responsibility is sought by, and shared between, state services, and 'community' stakeholders or representative groups, and families in public health emergencies. The study investigates how public health and statutory services stakeholders, Orthodox Jewish communal custodians and households sought to enact health protection in London during the first year of the pandemic (March 2020-March 2021). Twenty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted across these cohorts. Findings demonstrate that institutional relations - both their formation and at times fragmentation - were directly shaped by issues surrounding COVID-19 control measures. Exchanges around protective interventions (whether control measures, contact tracing technologies, or vaccines) reveal diverse and diverging attributions of responsibility and authority. The paper develops a framework of public health relations to understand negotiations between statutory services and minority groups over responsiveness and accountability in health protection. Disaggregating public health relations can help social scientists to critique who and what characterises institutional relationships with minority groups, and what ideas of responsibility and responsiveness are projected by differently-positioned stakeholders in health protection.

The View of the Three Monotheistic Religions Toward Cadaveric Organ Donation

Religious concerns regarding the legitimacy of cadaveric organ donation have been found to be major inhibiting factors for people to consent to donate organs post-mortem for transplantation; this constitutes a major cause for the grave shortfall of available organs for transplantation. The purpose of this review is to explore the view of the three monotheistic religions, namely Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, toward cadaveric organ donation. The literature review reveals that all three monotheistic religions support cadaveric organ donation but within certain restrictions. We provide a detailed description of the approach of each religion and the inhibiting considerations as interpreted by religious authorities. Health professionals need to collaborate with faith leaders in order to optimize the education of the public of believers with regard to the benefits stemming from organ donation. Developing transplantation medicine does not depend solely on technical capabilities and expertise; rather, this development should go hand in hand with religious, traditional and cultural beliefs and rituals. Providing a believer with a religious authority about cadaveric organ donation is very effective in helping families and individuals cope with difficult and critical decisions.

[Jewish spirituality in the face of illness, suffering and care]

Jewish spirituality in its principles, its means and its practice offers the possibilities to cope with sickness, suffering and more broadly with the human condition.

Construction and evaluation of an online module addressing counseling patients with diabetes observing religious fasting

INTRODUCTION

Little research has been conducted on training students of different health professions to deliver culturally appropriate care to patients observing religious fasting. This study aimed to formulate an online educational module on caring for patients with diabetes observing religious fasting and evaluate the module's impact.

METHODS

Third-year doctor of pharmacy students participated in an online module at the end of their core pharmacist-patient communication class. The module involved discussions and case scenarios addressing Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu patients with diabetes considering fasting. Students were provided with Ramadan Communication (RAMCOM), a tool designed to facilitate counseling of patients on religious fasting and were encouraged to use principles of motivational interviewing in addressing cases. A 13-item questionnaire was administered before and after the module. Answers provided on an open-ended item addressing students' experiences with the module were analyzed qualitatively using conventional content analysis.

RESULTS

Of 140 students taking the class, all students completed the module and 135 completed both questionnaires. The module elicited a statistically significant improvement in confidence across all 13 survey items. The computed aggregate score increased from 2.65 (0.56) to 3.66 (0.50) (P < .001), with 71% of students finding the module to be useful or extremely useful. Qualitative analysis provided insight into students' experiences, including how the module produced an improvement in student confidence as well as opportunities for module improvement.

CONCLUSIONS

A brief online module significantly improved pharmacy students' confidence in working with patients from different cultures and religions considering religious fasting.

Is Physical Alteration a Sufficient Reason to Prohibit Ritual Infant Circumcision?

European culture and thought have long disfavored ritual child circumcision, which is obligatory to Jews and Muslims. Much opposition to this practice hinges on the notion that it represents an unwarranted unconsented physical assault on the child. This article takes issue with that conclusion. Furthermore, even if one were to grant this conclusion, the offense is not of sufficient magnitude to warrant government action to halt the practice. On the other hand, suppression of ritual child circumcision may represent an attack against cultures and societies in which circumcision is practiced.

Anti-Semitism in the United States: An Overview and Strategies to Create a More Socially Just Society

Hate crimes against members of the Jewish community have increased dramatically over the past few years. According to federal data, the number of hate crimes directed at Jews now appears to exceed those directed at many, if not most, minority groups. Yet, despite the number of hate crimes aimed at Jews, little recent scholarship has considered the issue of anti-Semitism. To address this gap in the profession's literature, this article examines the issue of anti-Semitism in the United States. Toward that end, the Jewish population is described and data on anti-Semitism are reviewed along with factors that contribute to this prejudice. The article concludes by discussing strategies that social work educators, practitioners, and researchers might pursue to help create a more socially just society for the Jewish community in the United States and elsewhere. For instance, social workers might seek to address spiritual microaggressions aimed at members of the Jewish community. As part of this process, social workers might help create a culture that respects religious freedom, a fundamental human right, and advocate for equitable portrayals of Jewish people and perspectives in diverse media. Particular attention should be paid to Orthodox Jews, who are often targets of anti-Semitism.

Becoming Sincere: Why Do Jewish Inmates in Israeli Prisons Embrace Religion?

Why do Jewish inmates in Israeli prisons embrace religion? What initially motivates them to participate in prayers during incarceration and what are their motivations to make a deeper commitment to observe orthodox Judaism while in prison? We conducted 30 qualitative interviews with 29 Jewish-Israeli men who underwent a process of "religious invigoration" or "religious strengthening" during their prison term and chose to continue being observant following release. We examine their motivations to initially participate in the less restrictive prison seminaries as well as their motivations to transfer to religious wards where incarcerated men must commit to a fully religious lifestyle. Building on the scholarship on the motivations and benefits of religious participation and conversion in prison, we suggest that incarcerated Jewish-Israeli men embrace religion for both sincere reasons and for the extrinsic benefits. Those who progress to a second stage of religious observance and transfer to religious wards do so primarily for extrinsic benefits. However, they report many intrinsic benefits of religion that lead them to continue to pursue religion once released. We suggest that men have different motivations at different stages of the path of religious invigoration in prison but that those men who commit to observance gain intrinsic benefits that may give them sincere reasons to continue religion upon reentry.

Unmet communication needs and moral work in the disposition decision concerning surplus frozen embryos: The perspectives of IVF users

The disposition decision is a frequently unresolved issue for many IVF users with surplus frozen embryos (SFEs), and this study draws attention to their experiences and moral work, locating it in the Jewish-Israeli context that legally enables the donation of SFEs to research but prohibits donation to other infertile people. To explore the (mis)understandings and (mis)communication underlying IVF users' decisions concerning the fate of their SFEs, the records of 674 IVF users with SFEs stored for more than 5 years during 1996-2011 were analyzed, and 89 IVF users with different disposition decisions were recruited for semi-structured interviews. With an average of 5.1 SFEs, after an average of 8 years of storage, no response to a written request for a disposition decision came from 60% (n = 404) of IVF users with SFEs. Payment for storage and defrosting were the two most frequent choices (13%, n = 89 and 89, respectively) followed by donation to research and transfer (7%, n = 47 and 45, respectively). Three themes emerged from the interviews: misunderstanding the consequences of not returning the disposition form, communication gaps regarding donation to research, and the unmet wish to donate embryos to infertile people. We conclude by discussing the experiences and views of IVF users as reflecting the implications of the liminality and boundary-work surrounding the frozen embryo as a moral work object, and their consequences for policy recommendations.

Justifications for Medical Quarantine in Jewish Ethics

The current Corona epidemic broke out at the end of 2019 and by early in the year 2020 was spreading all around the world from China to the USA. Among the moves in the fight against the proliferation of the illness, international borders were closed to prevent travel among countries. In the next stage in the fight, many countries imposed quarantines on carriers of the disease as well as on those around them and even on entire civilian populations. Herein, I offer the religious justifications in Judaism for preserving the public's health in general and particularly in the face of disease, especially during of the course of an epidemic. Similarly, I also deal with the religious requirements for preventing the spread of an illness, which come at the expense of fulfilling religious commandments (mitzvot) and suspending them with a view toward preserving life. My conclusion is that ever since the time of the Bible, Judaism has viewed the maintenance of health as having social, religious, and medical importance. Rabbis over the last centuries have justified separating and isolating the sick and extending that isolation to individuals who are in danger of succumbing to the illness. They have found religious justifications for issuing instructions to suspend religious observances in order to prevent the spread of a disease, as is the case in the epidemic that the world is now experiencing with the Corona virus.

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Caring for Jewish Patients

Judaism, one of the world's oldest religions, claims an estimated 14.3 million members worldwide. There is great diversity in terms of identity, practice, and belief among people who identify as Jewish. As of 2017, 40% of the global Jewish community resided in the United States, making it essential for palliative care clinicians to understand religious and cultural issues related to their serious illness care. In this article, we will discuss 10 important concepts relevant to the inpatient care, advance care planning, and bereavement needs of Jewish patients and families.

Kurt Aterman, MUDR, MB, BCh BAO HONS, DCH, MRCP, PhD, DSc, FRCPath: "A Small Man With a Very Large Cerebrum and a Soul to Match"

Kurt Aterman was raised in the Czech-Polish portions of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I and the interwar period. After completing medical school and beginning postgraduate pediatrics training in Prague, this Jewish Czech physician fled to England as a refugee when the Nazis occupied his homeland in 1939. He repeated/completed medical training in Northern Ireland and London, working briefly as a pediatrician. Next, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corp in India, working as a pathologist. After the war and additional pathology training, he spent the next decade as an experimental pathologist in Birmingham, England. After completing a fellowship with Edith Potter in Chicago, Aterman spent the next 2 decades as a pediatric-perinatal pathologist, primarily working in Halifax, Canada. Fluent in many European languages, he finished his career as a medical historian. Aterman published extensively in all 3 arenas; many of his pediatric pathology papers were massive encyclopedic review articles, accurately recounting ideas from historical times. Aterman was a classical European scholar and his papers reflected this. Aterman was one of the founding members of the Pediatric Pathology Club, the predecessor of the Society for Pediatric Pathology. This highly successful refugee's writings are important and memorable.

At the crossroads of religion and palliative care in patients with dementia

The timing of palliative care initiation may be more appropriately directed using a needs-based approach, instead of a prognostically driven one. Jewish Law or Halachah (“the way”) upholds a strong commitment to the sanctity of life and teaches that the duty to prolong life supersedes the duty to end suffering prematurely, unless one is expected to imminently die. This intersection of palliative care and a reliance on prognostic triggers with an individual’s observance of religious traditions complicates matters nearing the end-of-life. A recent pilot study by Sternberg et al. of 20 patients with advanced dementia in Israel found that home hospice care significantly reduced distressing symptoms, caregiver burden and hospitalization and teaches us important lessons about some of the essential elements to providing excellent palliative care at home, including the 24/7 availability of healthcare providers outside of the emergency department. In light of specific religious practices, palliative care should strive to incorporate a patient’s specific religious observance as part of high-quality end-of-life care.

Abrahamic traditions and egg freezing: Religious Women's experiences in local moral worlds

In this article, we elucidate how elective egg freezing (EEF) has been received within the three Abrahamic traditions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-and how these religion-specific standpoints have affected the EEF experiences of women who self-identify as religiously observant. Through an analysis of religious women's narratives, the study explores the "local moral worlds" of religious women who chose to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons. It draws on ethnographic interviews with 14 women in the United States and Israel who had completed at least one EEF cycle, and who were part of a large, binational study that interviewed, between 2014 and 2016, 150 women who pursued EEF. These religious women, who were all highly educated, faced a particular challenge in finding appropriate marriage partners. Feeling pressured but still hopeful to marry and create large families, the women used EEF to extend their reproductive timelines and reduce their anxieties. As the study showed, the women reinterpreted or reconciled religious restrictions on the use of EEF in various ways, believing that their ultimate pursuit of religiously sanctioned reproduction justified the means. This study, which is the first to compare Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women's experiences of EEF, illustrates how this novel technology is now shaping the local moral worlds of religious women.

Conscientious Objection: A Talmudic Paradigm Shift

Conscientious objection remains a very heated topic with strong opinions arguing for and against its utilization in contemporary health care. This paper summarizes and analyzes various arguments in the bioethical literature, favoring and opposing conscientious objection, as well as some of the proposed solutions and compromises. I then present a paradigm shifting compromise approach that arises out of very recent Jewish bioethical thought that refocuses the discussion and can minimize the frequency with which conscientious objection is required.

Israel's Immigration Policies and the Promotion of Genetic Testing: Empiricizing Definitional Criteria, Bolstering State Demographic Security, or Hastening the Messianic Era?

The aims of this study are to document a relevant array of perspectives on the use of genetic testing for the purposes of approving immigration to state of Israel, and to consider the potential implications of such testing for the larger Jewish world. Further, this work analyzes the views of a number of prominent national figures-in the rabbinical, governmental, educational, and private sectors in Israel-on this subject. Finally, it provides a critical assessment of the varying contentious scenarios that may manifest themselves with regard to the claims of contested Jewish communities from the Global South whose genetic "evidence" is not as readily accessible as is that of Jews hailing from established centers of Jewish life.

Culturally Congruent Care From the Perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Introduction: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are three world religions that occupy much of the world stage in health care, journalism, and media. Nurses frequently provide care for representatives of these groups. Culturally competent nurses recognize that there are differences and similarities within and between these religions. Methodology: This article incorporates findings from a scholarly review of the literature and transcultural nursing/health care principles and is guided by Leininger's Culture Care Diversity and Universality Theory. It discusses the roots from which these religions emerged, and the similarities and differences in religious beliefs and practices as pertained to health care. Conclusion: Nurses and other health care professionals may use knowledge presented in this article to conduct individualized cultural assessments and provide culturally congruent health care to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations. Leininger's three culture care modes of decisions and actions offer a creative approach to providing meaningful and helpful culturally sensitive care.

Exploring the Protective Effects of Judaism on Risky Behaviors in College Students: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Common risky behaviors among college-aged young adults include risky sexual behaviors and substance use.

PURPOSE

This study examines the protective effects of Judaism on students' engagement in risky behaviors, building on a body of research on the protective effects of religious beliefs on risky health behaviors.

METHODS

Validated and reliable measures were used to assess religiosity and risky behaviors through anonymous surveys. Data was collected in Fall 2018 from a small cohort (N = 15) of Jewish day school students.

RESULTS

Females had overall higher rates of risky behaviors such as drinking or using drugs before sex (27% compared to 13% for males), not using condoms (62% to 0% for males), and higher rates of binge drinking (62% to 20% for males).

CONCLUSION

Higher religiosity was more associated with delayed sexual activity than substance use behaviors. Judaism and religiosity were more strongly associated with the male participants than the female.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Since the participants still had low rates of condom use and other high risk behaviors despite speaking with their healthcare providers, the health care community must better educate adolescents and young adults on the health and social consequences of such risky activities, both in formal education programs during middle and high school, and in office visits.

Go in Peace: Brain Death, Reasonable Accommodation and Jewish Mourning Rituals

Religious objections to brain death are common among Orthodox Jews. These objections often lead to conflicts between families of patients who are diagnosed with brain death, and physicians and hospitals. Israel, New York and New Jersey (among other jurisdictions) include accommodation clauses in their regulations or laws regarding the determination of death by brain-death criteria. The purpose of these clauses is to allow families an opportunity to oppose or even veto (in the case of Israel and New Jersey) determinations of brain death. In New York, the extent and duration of this accommodation period are generally left to the discretion of individual institutions. Jewish tradition has embraced cultural and psychological mechanisms to help families cope with death and loss through a structured process that includes quick separation from the physical body of the dead and a gradual transition through phases of mourning (Aninut,Kriah, timely burial, Shiva, Shloshim, first year of mourning). This process is meant to help achieve closure, acceptance, support for the bereaved, commemoration, faith in the afterlife and affirmation of life for the survivors. We argue that the open-ended period of contention of brain death under the reasonable accommodation laws may undermine the deep psychological wisdom that informs the Jewish tradition. By promoting dispute and conflict, the process of inevitable separation and acceptance is delayed and the comforting rituals of mourning are deferred at the expense of the bereft family. Solutions to this problem may include separating discussions of organ donation from those concerning the diagnosis of brain death per se, allowing a period of no escalation of life-sustaining interventions rather than unilateral withdrawal of mechanical ventilation, engagement of rabbinical leaders in individual cases and policy formulations that prioritize emotional support for families.

Campus diversity, Jewishness, and antisemitism

To explore current attitudes among Jewish students, faculty, and leaders of Jewish campus organizations regarding the putative exclusion of Jewish concerns from campus dialogs around diversity, we recruited 40 such individuals to engage in a semi-structured interview. The consensus among our interviewees was that there is a significant, ongoing, and too-often overlooked problem with virulent anti-Israel activity on many campuses that often seeps into antisemitism; that many, though not all, Jewish students are disturbed by this phenomena; that the consequences of anti-Israel hostility on some campuses are felt most significantly by self-identified progressive Jewish students who feel emotionally attacked for pro-Israel sentiments and ostracized in their attempts to join with seemingly progressive and/or intersectional campus movements; that college diversity officers and courses have, for the most part, failed to include issues of concern to Jewish students; and that psychotherapists, especially those on college campuses, maybe unprepared to deal with concerns specific to Jewish students. We believe that the failure to recognize and deal with campus antisemitism is both dangerous and morally disingenuous.

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of a Religious Conversion

Religious conversion is an important phenomenon in contemporary religious climate, but existing psychology research work is mostly based on quantitative methods. In an attempt to contribute to this field, the present study proposes a qualitative exploration of religious conversion. The in-depth interview of a French woman is examined in order to investigate her experience of religious conversion, 40 years prior. The interview was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, with the purpose of revealing how the participant experienced the process of religious conversion, what was its impact on her life, identity and personality and how she coped with this impact. The four emerging themes were: conflicted relationship with Judaism, the pursuit of a spiritual quest, changes after conversion and life after conversion. These themes painted the image of a powerful spiritual transformation, a profound and dynamic lifelong process, integrating concepts and practices, life changes and developments. The findings are explained with the help of available literature.

Problematic Sexual Behavior and Religion Among Adult Jewish Males: An Initial Study

A growing body of research has tied religion to problematic sexual behavior in both positive and negative ways. On the one hand, religious belief and engagement buffer against incidence and severity of problematic sexual behavior, but on the other hand religiously affiliated individuals who engage in such behavior tend to experience spiritual struggles (negative religious coping) and poor psychosocial outcomes. No published empirical studies have examined these variables among adult Jewish males. In the present study, 94 adult Jewish males completed measures of religious belief/practice, positive religious coping, spiritual struggles, and problematic sexual behavior. General and positive aspects of Jewish religiosity were unrelated to problematic sexual behavior. By contrast, spiritual struggles were tied to higher levels of problematic sexual behavior, but only for individuals who were raised as Orthodox Jews. Surprisingly, this latter finding was independent of current Orthodox affiliation. These results suggest that a religious Jewish upbringing, irrespective of current religious identity, can moderate ties between sexual behavior and spirituals struggles.

Religion and Suicide: New Findings

Suicide rates and risk and protective factors vary across religions. There has been a significant increase in research in the area of religion and suicide since the article, "Religion and Suicide," reviewed these issues in 2009. This current article provides an updated review of the research since the original article was published. PsycINFO, MEDLINE, SocINDEX, and CINAHL databases were searched for articles on religion and suicide published between 2008 and 2017. Epidemiological data on suicidality and risk and protective factors across religions are explored. Updated general practice guidelines are provided, and areas for future research are identified.

Religion and the Plastic Surgeon: an Imam, a Minister, and a Rabbi Walk into a Surgical Centre

Cultural competency has become a keystone in forming a successful doctor-patient relationship to provide culturally appropriate services that respect patients' ethno-cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, and conventions. In cosmetic surgery, an often-overlooked aspect of a patient's cultural is his and her religious beliefs. In response to this paucity of resources for cosmetic surgeons to enable them to properly service their religious patients, this project was undertaken. This review article covers the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and was written with the assistance of a prominent bioethicist from each religion (see Acknowledgements). In discussing each religion, the article has been divided into two sections. The first section is a general overview of the religion's relationship with cosmetic surgery as summary provided by the consulting bioethicist. The second portion is an annotated review of additional resources providing the reader further details on that religion. For example, our bioethicists provide a general perspective on Christianity as a whole, and the annotated review focuses on differences between Catholics and Protestants. We recognize the heterogeneity that is inherent in religion and the cultural and geographic biases that affect it. However, we aim to provide the reader a broad and basic foundation of the relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with cosmetic surgery to begin to create common ground between the physician and the patient and improve the process of shared decision-making and thus our outcomes. This paper should be seen as a foundation to build upon rather than an authoritative source, and specific patient concerns should be addressed with the patient's own religious advisor. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Health and Religions: A Bibliometric Analysis of Health Literature Related to Abrahamic Religions Between 1975 and 2017

Bibliometrics is a high-demand and fast-growing statistical area for the analysis of scientific literature in a certain field. Although religion and health (R&H) field has been a developing study area in recent years, only a few bibliometric studies have been published on the literature in R&H. In this study, we aimed to perform bibliometric analysis of the health literature related to the most populous Abrahamic religions during the period of 1975-2017 by using Web of Science database including WoS Collection Core Collection, Korean Journal Database, Russian Science Citation Index and SciELO Citation Index. In overall evaluation, the USA ranked first in publication productivity with 1388 items and covered 37.21% of total literature. The Journal of Religion and Health published the highest number of documents (n = 351). We found a total of 1329 items in health and Christianity field, and the USA was the most productive country followed by the UK and Canada (n = 166 and 63 documents, respectively). Loma Linda University was found to publish the highest number of items. We detected 1965 publications in Islam and health area, and top three countries were the USA, the UK and Saudi Arabia (n = 387, 194 and 137 items, respectively). University of London was the most productive institution (n = 72, 3.67%). A total of 436 articles were detected in Judaism and health. Top three countries in productivity were the UK, Israel and the UK (211, 151 and 36 items, respectively). Hebrew University of Jerusalem produced 17.43% of total documents as the topmost institution. Although Abrahamic religions originated from Middle East, we noted that most productive authors in this field were not Middle Eastern and from developed countries. Researchers from developing or least developed countries should be encouraged to carry out more studies in R&H field.

From Religion to Secularism: the Benefits of Fasting

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Since the early development of human societies, religious beliefs, and practices has been integral to their identity, culture, and social structure, traditions are influenced by the area, era, and culture wherein they developed. Some religions offer advice on behavioral and diet modifications as strategies to fortify the body, purify the spirit, and elevate consciousness. This review is an attempt to compare different practices, describe the health benefits and risks of fasting, and reconcile these age-old recommendations with practical modern life.

RECENT FINDINGS

Research to clarify and quantify the impact of these dietary modifications is challenging due to the variability in recommendations among various religions and in day-to-day practices. Most religions share common goals of well-being, body-mind integration, and spiritual attainment. Historically, the transformational power of fasting periods has been appreciated, but there is still much to discover about the underlying beneficial physiologic mechanisms of fasting in preventing and treating metabolic diseases.

Childhood sexual abuse, mental health, and religion across the Jewish community

Current estimates of childhood sexual abuse among Jews in the United States are only available for females and do not include a spectrum of religiosity. We examined sexual abuse, mental health, and religion, in a religiously diverse sample of male and female Jewish adults from North America, using a novel methodology to minimize sampling/response biases. A total of 372 diversely religious Jews participated. Prevalence of any form of childhood sexual abuse was statistically equivalent to national rates, except that females reported less involuntary penetration (OR = 0.53). All Jewish religious groups reported equivalent levels of sexual abuse, except that history of involuntary penetration was greater among formerly (but not presently) Orthodox Jews (OR = 3.00). Across our sample, sexual abuse was associated with increased likelihood of psychiatric diagnosis (OR = 1.34), greater mental distress (F ranging from 2.99 to 9.08, p < .05 for all analyses), lower religious observance (F = 4.53, p = .03), and lower intrinsic religiosity (F = 4.85, p = .03). Further, across our sample we observed a moderate buffering effect of spiritual/religious factors against mental distress (ΔR² values ranging from 0.028 to 0.045, p <.01 for all analyses). Thus, we found childhood sexual abuse to occur across the spectrum of Jewish religious affiliation and greater prevalence among formerly Orthodox individuals. Furthermore, history of childhood sexual abuse was associated with greater risk for psychiatric distress and less religious involvement, however spiritual/religious engagement and belief appeared to facilitate resilience in the context of abuse.

Sacred Practices and Family Processes in a Jewish Context: Shabbat as the Weekly Family Ritual Par Excellence

The present article provides a deep and more focused look at the utility, meaning, processes, and power involved in a specific, family-level, sacred practice or ritual from Judaism: Shabbat (Sabbath). Content analysis of in-depth interviews with 30 diverse, marriage-based Jewish families living in the United States (N = 77 individuals) yielded three emergent themes: (a) "Shabbat brings us closer together"; (b) How Shabbat brings the family together; and (c) The Power of Blessing the Children. These themes will be discussed respectively, along with related verbatim data from participants' in-depth qualitative interviews.

The "Watchful Eye of God": The Role of Religion in the Rehabilitation and Reentry of Repentant Jewish Prisoners

Can participation in a religious rehabilitation program benefit a released prisoner's reentry into the community, and if so, how? Which elements of the religious worldview can be translated into tools for promoting desistance? Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 30 interviews with released prisoners from 3 months to 5 years beyond release who participated in a Jewish faith-based rehabilitation program administered by Israel's Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority. We interviewed participants in the Torah Rehabilitation Program about the role of religion in their lives and in their desistance from crime. We map out the spiritual, behavioral, and psychological tools they feel aided them in facing the challenges of reentry.

Assisted reproduction and Middle East kinship: a regional and religious comparison

This article compares the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and resultant kinship formations in four Middle Eastern settings: the Sunni Muslim Arab world, the Sunni Muslim but officially 'secular' country of Turkey, Shia Muslim Iran and Jewish Israel. This four-way comparison reveals considerable similarities, as well as stark differences, in matters of Middle Eastern kinship and assisted reproduction. The permissions and restrictions on ART, often determined by religious decrees, may lead to counter-intuitive outcomes, many of which defy prevailing stereotypes about which parts of the Middle East are more 'progressive' or 'conservative'. Local considerations - be they social, cultural, economic, religious or political - have shaped the ways in which ART treatments are offered to, and received by, infertile couples in different parts of the Middle East. Yet, across the region, clerics, in dialogue with clinicians and patients, have paved the way for ART practices that have had significant implications for Middle Eastern kinship and family life.

The Care of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Patient

The Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community embraces a system of values and a rigorous behavioral code that are deeply rooted in religious tradition and history. Here we describe some of the unique challenges that stem from the encounter between modern medical practice and the Ultra-Orthodox world. Through examples of clinical and ethical scenarios ranging from prenatal care to end-of-life decisions, we illustrate problems related to observance of age-old practices in a modern hospital setting, balancing acceptance of Divine will with standard risk assessment, reconciliation of patient autonomy with deference to rabbinic authority and fear of stigma associated with mental illness in a traditional society. We also offer a generalizable model where inquiry precedes pre-formulated judgment to help clinicians provide enhanced care for this population.

Unpleasant Business: Rat, Jew, Payment, and Covenant in Freud's RAT Man

Freud's repression of Judaism and its cultural markers from the published "Rat Man" case history has been noted but never satisfactorily explained. This elision can be interpreted using Freud's suggestion that the paradigmatic "rat" represents (among other things) a circumcised penis marking an intergenerational, covenantal exchange. When read against the case study as originally published, Freud's process notes for the Rat Man's treatment (the only set of such notes on a published case that Freud didn't destroy) suggest that Freud chose to sanitize the published version of explicitly Jewish content, thus repeating a pattern of absence as a marker of debt. This debt only grows more tortuous and powerful the longer it remains unpaid. This system of elision in the Rat Man suggests that Freud understood deferral and denial to be built into the Jewish system of piety. Thus, it would seem that Freud used the Rat Man case history to explore Judaism through its repression; Freud's relation to and interpretation of Jewish values are revealed as a primary, if unconscious, subject of the text.

Inching towards wholeness: C.G. Jung and his relationship to Judaism

The evolution of Jung's relationship with Judaism is interpreted as reflecting aspects of the individuation journey over the course of a long life. The progress and limitations of his public positions and personal relationships are explored through his published work and correspondence. Perspectives from relational psychoanalysis and Jewish philosophy are used to amplify Jung's understanding of Jewish, and specifically Kabbalistic, text and image. Dimensions of the author's own journey toward greater acceptance of his own Jewish soul is also considered, along with the wider contemporary relevance of these themes.

[Religious and cultural aspects of organ transplantation]

The number of transplantations is mainly limited by the shortage of organs, thereby leading to potentially lethal delays for patients registered on waiting lists. Among the causes of refusals of organ donation, religious reasons are often advocated. In order to make the point, we organized a debate between representatives of secularism ( " laïcité ") and of the most represented religions in Belgium, i.e. catholic, Islamic and Judaic. Even though the representation of death was variable, organ donation is authorized and even encouraged by the fundamental texts. Refusals of organ donation result more often from personal interpretations by local preachers. Therefore, the gathering of political and religious authorities in order to promote organ donation is desirable instead of sowing doubt for pseudo-religious reasons.

Religion and family planning

Religion is embedded in the culture of all societies. It influences matters of morality, ideology and decision making, which concern every human being at some point in their life. Although the different religions often lack a united view on matters such contraception and abortion, there is sometimes some dogmatic overlap when general religious principles are subject to the influence of local customs. Immigration and population flow add further complexities to societal views on reproductive issues. For example, present day Europe has recently faced a dramatic increase in refugee influx, which raises questions about the health care of immigrants and the effects of cultural and religious differences on reproductive health. Religious beliefs on family planning in, for example, Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism have grown from different backgrounds and perspectives. Understanding these differences may result in more culturally competent delivery of care by health care providers. This paper presents the teachings of the most widespread religions in Europe with regard to contraception and reproduction.

Religious Coping Strategies and Mental Health Among Religious Jewish Gay and Bisexual Men

The present study examined the effects of positive and negative religious coping strategies on the mental health of 113 Israeli gay and bisexual Jewish males with high levels of religiosity, and how sexual identity formation (internalized homophobia and coming out) and societal variables (family and friends' acceptance of sexual orientation and social connections within the LGBT community) mitigated the effects of religious coping strategies on mental health. Findings showed that when dealing with the stress arising from the conflict between religious and sexual identities, individuals used both positive and negative religious coping strategies, but only negative religious coping was associated with poorer mental health. In addition, only in the presence of social resources (social connections with the LGBT community and the acceptance of sexual orientation by friends), did the use of positive religious coping result in better mental health outcomes. These findings underlined the importance of these resilience social factors in the lives of religious Jewish gay and bisexual men.

Jewish ethics and xenotransplantation

BACKGROUND

Although exclusively secular approaches to xenotransplantation are methodologically necessary to establish a fundamental verdict on its theoretical ethical acceptability, it is nevertheless pragmatically appropriate to take into account specifically religious positions, as religion is a factor relevant to societal acceptability. Apart from the aspect of societal acceptability, Jewish bioethics, like other religiously embedded ethics, may enrich the broader ethical discourse on xenotransplantation, as some of its principles-pikuach nefesh being the most prominent one-are plausible even in the framework of secular ethics.

METHODS

This paper first explores concepts of normativity in Jewish ethics before identifying specific ethical issues in Jewish bioethics and possible resolutions offered within the framework of Jewish ethics, and then finally examine the implications for the broader debate on xenotransplantation.

RESULTS

Religions in general and Judaism in specific cannot and should not be systematically excluded from ethical debates, not only because they may provide helpful input, but also because religion, religiousness and the affiliation to a religion can be crucial factors regarding the societal acceptability of specific medical technologies and procedures as they may be important aspects of an individual's identity. The principles of Jewish bioethics may be compelling to those who do not necessarily share the specifically religious prerequisites on which Jewish ethics is established. Among these rather cogent concepts is the status of natural law and naturalness, which is far more open to medical technologies and procedures deemed as unnatural and thus morally wrong by other religious parties in public discourse.

CONCLUSIONS

Jewish ethics has strong tendencies toward supporting xenotransplantation given a certain criteria is met. No categorical bans on xenotransplantation can be established on the grounds of Halacha.

Religious aspects of assisted reproduction

Human response to new developments regarding birth, death, marriage and divorce is largely shaped by religious beliefs. When assisted reproduction was introduced into medical practice in the last quarter of the twentieth century, it was fiercely attacked by some religious groups and highly welcomed by others. Today, assisted reproduction is accepted in nearly all its forms by Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism, although most Orthodox Jews refuse third party involvement. On the contrary assisted reproduction is totally unacceptable to Roman Catholicism, while Protestants, Anglicans, Coptic Christians and Sunni Muslims accept most of its forms, which do not involve gamete or embryo donation. Orthodox Christians are less strict than Catholic Christians but still refuse third party involvement. Interestingly, in contrast to Sunni Islam, Shi'a Islam accepts gamete donation and has made provisions to institutionalize it. Chinese culture is strongly influenced by Confucianism, which accepts all forms of assisted reproduction that do not involve third parties. Other communities follow the law of the land, which is usually dictated by the religious group(s) that make(s) the majority of that specific community. The debate will certainly continue as long as new developments arise in the ever-evolving field of assisted reproduction.

Religion, Judaism, and the challenge of maintaining an adequately immunized population

A slow but steady trend to decline routine immunization has evolved over the past few decades, despite its pivotal role in staving off life-threatening communicable diseases. Religious beliefs are among the reasons given for exemptions. In the context of an overview of various religious approaches to this issue, this article addresses the Jewish religious obligation to immunize. The latter is nested in the more general obligation to take responsibility for one's health as it is essential to living a morally productive life. Furthermore, the individual's responsibility extends to supporting communal health by contributing to herd immunity. Judaism embraces evidence-based information regarding immunization safety and efficacy and holds the resulting professional guidelines to be religiously binding. From a Jewish perspective, government bodies need to weigh respect for individual autonomy to refrain from immunization against preserving public safety, such that waiving autonomy should be reserved for immediately life-threatening situations. Nurses' knowledge and understanding of the Jewish legal approach as explicated in this article and those of other religions in which similar principles apply (such as Islam and Christianity) can enrich their awareness of how revering God can go hand in hand with an obligation to prevent illness for the self and the community by immunizing.