Eye on religion: the reflective physician and the Jewish patient.

摘要

These notes are most sharply constructed for the non-Jewish physician who tends to a Jewish patient and who operates-with the assumption that religion is of therapeutic value, having the potential to guide, comfort and motivate.The physician should know that in Judaism, formally speaking, life is carried and guided by beliefs, commandments, rituals and ceremonies, both uttered and enacted, that address all aspects of life, including dietary regulations, moral and ethical behavior, prayer, Sabbath and holiday rules. Yet, Jewish people cover the broadest spectrum of adherence to and knowledge of these particulars. Four major movements of American Jewish life-Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative-offer profiles of observance that present only the broadest characterizations of beliefs and practices.