Healing Plants and the Jewish Table: Carrots, Wax, and Food as Medicine

You may be surprised to learn that Eastern European Jewish communities not only nurtured culturally rich plant healing traditions, but they were also part of broad, intimate networks of communal healing with their non-Jewish neighbors (Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarusians, Romanians, Tatars, Roma, and more). In this virtual course, instructors Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel, authors of the groundbreaking book Ashkenazi Herbalism, will explore how these Jewish folk medicine traditions necessarily encompassed Eastern European Jewish cuisine and foodways. We will discuss the role of "humble" plants in herbal healing and touch upon the fascinating importance of magico-religious medicine for community health.

• Anyone interested in Jewish and Eastern European folk cultures.
• People curious about functional foods and traditional herbal medicine.
• Those looking to understand the historical role of magic and superstition in Jewish life.

• Historical Context: A deep understanding of traditional plant healing in Eastern European Jewish communities.
• Cultural Knowledge: Insight into how these practices were transplanted and persisted in di goldene medine (the "Golden Land" of the United States).
• Actionable Takeaways: Learn how we can recover traditional remedies and foodways today. You will also leave with a traditional healing recipe to try at home.