Congress on “The Meeting of Medicine and Spiritual Care”

On Thursday, May 16, in the afternoon, an interesting congress was held at the Institute for Jewish Studies – Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Jerusalem, organized by the Blaustein Center for Counseling and Spiritual Accompaniment in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic medical center, in Minnesota, USA. The subject of the congress was: The meeting of Medicine and Spiritual Care”. Three members of the Jerusalem kehilla participated in the congress: Father Rafic, Father Daniel OFM and Rivka, a medical doctor.

In the first lecture, Dr. Patricia Simmons explained the activities of the Mayo Clinic and the integrated methods of treatment that are administered there, bringing together medical know how with spiritual accompaniment. After her, Dr. John Davidson, who in addition to having trained to be a doctor, studied at Hebrew Union College in order to train to be a rabbi, showed that the role of the rabbi in the medical center is not only to be a religious presence but also to help the patients in their emotional states and to help them try to decipher the mysterious meaning of their suffering. Thereafter, Professor Nathan Cherni spoke about spiritual accompaniment in Shaarei Tsedek Hospital.

In the second part of the event, Professor Mordechai Muszkat opened the session with a pedagogical lecture on the use that can be made of poetry in order to educate medical students and teach them how to relate to the patients and take into account their difficult experiences. After him, Dr. Larry Bergstrom lectured in a fascinating way on the treatment of patients in a technological age: it is not enough to give a patient a precise and sophisticated prescription from the scientific point of view, because it is often the case that the source of the trouble is difficult experiences that need first and foremost a listening ear in order the healing take place. Finally, Dr. Daniel Drubach spoke on the richness of the thinking that is expressed in the “Ethics of the Fathers”, from which doctors can derive a lesson in the fulfilling of their role. He emphasized the importance of doing in the treatment process, i.e. if the patient desires that a change take place in his mood, in his ability to control himself and in managing his life, it is easy to begin with certain acts that form his brain gradually rather than working directly on internal change.

Thanks to Hebrew Union College whih allowed us to participate in this rich experience.