Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- THE HEALTHY JEW
- Introduction: “Links in a Long Chain”: Jews, Judaism, Health, and Hygiene
- 1 “'Tis a Little People, But It Has Done Great Things”: The Role of Health and Medicine in Modern Jewish Apologetics
- 2 Moses the Microbiologist: Alfred Nossig's The Social Hygiene of the Jews
- 3 Healthy Hebrews, Healthy Jews: The Bible as a Sanitary Code in Anglo-American Medical Literature
- 4 From Ghetto to Jungle: Darwinism, Eugenics, and the Reinterpretation of Jewish History
- 5 TB or Not TB, That Was a Jewish Question: Moses, Kashrut, and the Prevention of Tuberculosis
- 6 “Then What Advantage Does the Jew Have?”: Judaism as a Model for Christian Health
- 7 Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - TB or Not TB, That Was a Jewish Question: Moses, Kashrut, and the Prevention of Tuberculosis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- THE HEALTHY JEW
- Introduction: “Links in a Long Chain”: Jews, Judaism, Health, and Hygiene
- 1 “'Tis a Little People, But It Has Done Great Things”: The Role of Health and Medicine in Modern Jewish Apologetics
- 2 Moses the Microbiologist: Alfred Nossig's The Social Hygiene of the Jews
- 3 Healthy Hebrews, Healthy Jews: The Bible as a Sanitary Code in Anglo-American Medical Literature
- 4 From Ghetto to Jungle: Darwinism, Eugenics, and the Reinterpretation of Jewish History
- 5 TB or Not TB, That Was a Jewish Question: Moses, Kashrut, and the Prevention of Tuberculosis
- 6 “Then What Advantage Does the Jew Have?”: Judaism as a Model for Christian Health
- 7 Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In March 1900, an individual identified only as “Medicus” wrote a letter to the New York Times about “the tuberculosis problem.” The very immediate and practical crisis of tuberculosis, “Medicus” suggested, could possibly be addressed and remedied through the ancient laws of Moses. It was now generally conceded, with the acceptance of the germ theory of disease, that tuberculosis was infectious and not hereditary. This meant that health officials and policy makers must begin to think not only or primarily about what to do with those who were already ill, but how to prevent the healthy from becoming sick.
“Medicus” devised an imaginary dialogue between an older, more traditional medical authority and a young, progressive voice. The former believes that treating TB means dealing with those already ill: those in an advanced state must be isolated, given whatever aid can be provided, and prevented from infecting others; those in the early stages of the disease should be treated and cured if possible. Then the progressive voice is heard. Why not try to prevent the disease? How? It is generally agreed that the cow and cow's milk are the origin of tuberculosis. “Keep your cattle in good shape, learn to recognize disease in them and consumption will cease.” Where is the evidence for such claims? “Talmudic writings show that the wise men of Judea recognized the existence of tubercle in cattle and its consequent danger to human kind.”
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- Chapter
- Information
- The Healthy JewThe Symbiosis of Judaism and Modern Medicine, pp. 143 - 172Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007