Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews

Presented by Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel.

The practice of herbal healing has seen a resurgence in the last few decades in the United States. Most if not all who study these ancient traditions look to their ancestors’ plant knowledge for guidance and inspiration. But what if your ancestors didn’t leave a written legacy or even a hint that they themselves had folk healers among their ranks? That’s where the presenter found herself when she began to study European herbalism. Not only was there no written evidence of plant medicine among her more recent ancestors, the Ashkenazim of the Pale of Settlement at the turn of the twentieth century, there seemed to be no record of any folk healers themselves. The book documents the uncovering of Jewish natural and herbal medicine, and this talk will trace the path the authors initially stumbled upon and then traversed, to reveal a hidden world of medicinal plants and the Jewish healers who knew them well.

Presented by Jewish Community Library. No charge. Click on MORE INFO below for registration information.