Jewish Science is a

Judaic Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, monotheism, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots ...

spiritual

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

comparable with the

New Thought Movement The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

. Many of its members also attend services at conventional

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

s. It is an interpretation of

Jewish philosophy Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcile ...

that was originally conceived by Rabbi Alfred Geiger Moses in the early 1900s in response to the growing influence of

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

and the New Thought Movement. Rather than the paternal God figure encountered in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

tradition, "Jewish Science views God as an Energy or Force penetrating the reality of the universe. God is the source of all Reality and not separate from but part of the world and Right thinking has a healing effect".Jewish Science groups explore karma, reincarnation
'Jewish News Weekly'' His fundamental teachings are found in his 1916 book ''Jewish Science: Divine Healing in Judaism''. The movement was institutionalized in 1922 with Rabbi

Morris Lichtenstein Morris Lichtenstein (1889–1938) was the founder of the Jewish Science, Society of Jewish Science. Born in Lithuania, he later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he was ordained by the Reform Hebrew Union College in 1916, becoming the first Eastern E ...

's founding of the Society of Jewish Science.

History

Jewish Science shares several principle beliefs with

and the

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

movement, and it is intended to function as a counterweight to the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

elements in both of these movements and strictly maintain its Jewish identity. It was founded by Alfred G. Moses,

and

Tehilla Lichtenstein Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893 – 1973) was a cofounder and leader of Jewish Science, as well as an author. She was born in Jerusalem and immigrated to America when she was eleven years old. Her parents were Hava (Cohen) and Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn. ...

in 1916. It emphasizes the role of

affirmative prayer Affirmative prayer is a form of prayer or a metaphysical technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation. For instance, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state o ...

, "

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells i ...

" and "Right thinking" as

self help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

methods essential to a Jew's physical and spiritual health, but does not rule out the importance of medical intervention - unlike Christian Science. Jewish Science also incorporates

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

, and concepts about practical spirituality similar to beliefs developed in the New Thought movement. Thanks to radio broadcasts on

WMCA WMCA may refer to: *WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City * West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom *Wikimedia Canada The Wikimedia Foundation, ...

and the establishment of the ''Jewish Science Interpreter''

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

the movement attracted numerous adherents, thereby helping its rise to prominence in the Jewish community. The Society's "Home Center" and synagogue is located in midtown Manhattan, NY. The Society also maintains a congregation in Los Angeles California and many study groups around the country which focus on each of the main texts of Jewish Science.

Affirmative prayer

Lichtenstein found

to be particularly useful because, he believed, it provided the personal benefits of prayer without requiring the belief in a supernatural God who could suspend the laws of nature. He considered affirmative prayer to be a method to access inner power that could be considered divine, but not supernatural. He taught that the origins of affirmative prayer can be found in the Hebrew Bible's Book of

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, and that affirmations, or affirmative prayers, are best offered in silence.

References

Primary sources

* Jewish Science and Health: The text book of Jewish Science, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein. * Jewish Science: Divine healing in Judaism with special reference to Jewish scripture and prayer, Rabbi Alfred G. Moses. * Jewish Science: Psychology of health, joy and success or the applied, Rabbi Alfred G. Moses. * Applied Judaism, Tehilla Lichtenstein. * Peace of Mind, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein. * How to Live, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein. * The Healing of the Soul, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein. * Healing the Distressed, Rabbi Steven J. Kaplan. * Judaism, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein. * Joy of Life, Rabbi Morris Lichtenstein.

External links

Society of Jewish Science

A Look Back at 'Jewish Science'
- Jenna Weissman Joselit, ''The Forward''

published January 16, 1998

- book, history of the movement; subscription required for full text. {{Jews and Judaism Jewish religious movements New religious movements New Thought denominations Jewish organizations established in 1922

History

Affirmative prayer

See also

References

Primary sources

External links