In times of sickness, many Jews seek spiritual comfort and healing through non-Jewish means. For some people, however, there comes a point when they turn back to the Jewish tradition and community to see what it has to offer. Such seekers can find abundant resources in Judaism, which has addressed questions of health and recovery for millennia.

Body and Spirit
Shoshanna had never been religious or affiliated with any synagogue. But when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, she called the Jewish Healing Center. "I rebelled against Judaism all my life," she said. "But now I'm sick and I'm not sure how to cope, and I wonder what I've been rejecting all these years. Maybe Judaism has something to offer me."

Jewish tradition has long recognized that, at times of illness, the body and spirit together need healing. The Mi Sheberach prayer, traditionally recited for someone who is ill, asks God for refuah shleima, a complete healing, and then specifies two aspects: refuat haguf, cure of the body, and refuat hanefesh, healing of the soul/spirit/whole person. To cure the body means to wipe out the tumor, clear up the infection, or regain mobility. To heal the spirit involves creating a pathway to sensing wholeness, depth, mystery, purpose, and peace. Cure of the body may occur without healing of the spirit, and healing without cure. Pastoral caregivers and family members of seriously ill people know that sometimes lives and relationships are healed even when there is no possibility of physical cure; in fact, serious illness often motivates people to seek healing of the spirit.

Recent research in the mind-body field suggests that the disease process itself may be affected by psychosocial healing; mind and spirit may not be as separate from the biochemistry of physical illness as we once thought. For instance, in Healing and the Mind, Dr. David Spiegel of Stanford University reported that women with metastatic breast cancer who participated in a one-year support group lived significantly longer than women who received similar medical treatment without a support group. Being part of a meaningful community that encourages self-expression can affect the course of an illness.

Faced with terminal illness, Shoshanna turned toward the Jewish community. Though she was not expecting to find a physical cure, she desperately hoped for healing of the spirit. At 50 years of age, she began her own journey of Jewish learning and spiritual development.

Spiritual Healing: Bikur Cholim
A fundamental feature of Jewish spiritual healing is bikur cholim (visiting the sick), a practice that is particularly important in contemporary life, when isolation and lack of community are two of the greatest burdens people face. At a time of illness, bikur cholim offers the comfort of human connection and interdependence, a sense of desperately needed community.

The mitzvah, or obligation, of bikur cholim helps fulfill the obligation to love our neighbor as ourself, and is required of every Jew. Like comforting mourners and performing other acts of kindness, bikur cholim brings goodness to the world.

In response to his AIDS diagnosis, David tried to meet his emotional needs by working with a therapist and staying in contact with close friends. Then, one day he saw an advertisement for a "Spiritual Support Group for HIV+ Jews."

Through the group, David had his first positive adult experience of Jewish community. When the group came to a close, David and two other participants joined a local Reform synagogue. His fellow synagogue members provided bikur cholim visits, bolstering David tremendously during his difficult days of illness.

Spiritual Healing: Prayer
In addition to bikur cholim, Jewish tradition teaches that we should pray for ourselves and for others during a time of illness. Many modern Jews are resistant to praying in general, and especially skeptical about praying for something specific, such as good health.

Yet prayer offers a quiet time for reflection, providing release from anxious thoughts that exacerbate both physical and psychic pain. The mental relaxation of prayer can bring comfort when we take the perspective that our lives are ultimately in God's hands. In addition, when we pray in community and use Jewish liturgy, we not only benefit from the company of other Jews, we find comfort in knowing that the words of the psalms and blessings have been spoken by millions of Jews past and present who, like us, yearn for healing.

When Eve was diagnosed with lymphoma, she sought the finest medical treatment available. Deeply committed to her Judaism, Eve was nonetheless unaware of Jewish practices for strengthening the body and spirit at times of illness.

A spiritual counselor introduced Eve to the Mi Sheberach prayer. Before going into surgery, she decided to send copies of that prayer to her doctors, both of whom were Jewish. Immediately following the surgery, Eve's doctors prayed on her behalf, and when her husband described this final ritual of the operating room to Eve after she woke from surgery, she was deeply moved and grateful.

Jewish Tools
The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, can be a source of healing for the spirit and psyche. Some rabbis "prescribe" sacred verses for use in meditation. Rabbi Richard Levy of Los Angeles teaches the wisdom of writing the verse and affixing it where one will see it throughout the day: above the desk, on the telephone key pad, on the dashboard.

The psalms have been Jews' primary devotional literature of healing. These sacred verses invite the person reading them to identify with the psalmist in his pain and longing. Psalms of healing take the reader through a cycle of bewilderment, anguish, complaint, and renewed hope and faith.

Some Jews have used the niggun, the wordless tune, which has become part of many Jewish worship services. By repeating a wordless tune over and over again, or one with nonsense syllables, one can begin to still the mind and open the heart.

Jewish tradition also offers active modes of spiritual healing. When the experience of illness compromises our sense of power, we need to feel that we are contributing to the good of the world because, for Jews, tikun olam (repair of the world) and tikun hanefesh (repair of the soul) are inseparable.

Finally, any amount of personal obser-vance that contributes to feeling that one lives in a meaningful universe is beneficial. Immersion in Jewish ritual can help heal the spirit, highlighting community, connection, meaning, and God.

Rabbi Nancy Flam is a co-founder of the Jewish Healing Center. She is currently the Director of the Spirituality Institute at Metivta: A Center for Jewish Wisdom.