Texts on Healing

Jewish Meditation, Aryeh Kaplan

    Many Jews are unaware of the strong tradition of meditation and mysticism in ancient and modern Judaism.  Committed and uncommitted Jews alike, turn to other eastern religions for techniques of meditation and healing.  Because Judaism was first an eastern religion that made its way to the west, Jewish meditation would logically pertain the most to the western world.  Kaplan suggests that  synagogue services were initially meant to serve as meditative experiences.  In this exploration of Jewish mediation, Aryeh Kaplan links the east to the west by examining the beginning of mediation in early Judaism. 

Women's Spirituality, Women's Lives, Judith Ochshorn and Ellen Cole

    Judith Ochshorn and Ellen Cole have formed a collection of   feminist writing that explores women of all cultures and their spirituality.   This compilation describes how feminists are changing the content of world religions and how those changes clarify the dynamics of spirituality and its effects on mental heath.  They hope to alert health professionals to the link between religion and health so that it might figure into their strategies for health and healing.  This book also explores the psychodynamics of women in groups and the healing power of ritual ceremony.