Book Review - Ashkenazi Herbalism

Review from Maryanne Schwartz:

When Tina mentioned we were going to do an excerpt from a new book on Ashkenazi Herbalism, I jumped at the chance to read and review the book. 

 

My results from 23 & Me were pretty disappointing (total French & German) except for one little .01% of Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. I’d heard the term and was somewhat familiar before because there are certain diseases that seemed to be connected with that heritage. Tay-Sachs disease is the one I remember.

For me, defining the area called “The Pale” where they lived was interesting in itself, and I thought perhaps that was where the phrase “Beyond the Pale” came from, but in further reading I found that the Pale usually refers to agreed upon boundaries where one is safe, so I think it’s the same idea, just that this area was in Russia/Poland/Germany.  I think we more commonly think of it as a ghetto, although ghettos were more like smaller settlements in specific parts of cities. My conclusion in respect to the phrase though, seems to refer to the idea of certain agreed upon limits in general, so if we are beyond the pale, we have passed normal boundaries in speech or action.

It took a lot of sleuthing and research to find the herbal history of the Ashkenazi people, but the author(s) discovered a history and hierarchy that sounded very familiar to the way healers and herbalists and midwives and physicians have developed in our own history:

The old ways remain, but they are pushed aside for the newer ways which are then pushed aside for even newer, and more powerful healers.  The earlier ways are still found to have value by many, even as they are cast aside by the newer, more scientific establishment. We are seeing a bit of this now with the return of respect toward midwives and the widespread acceptance of various supplements by many main-stream medicinal authorities.

Reading through the Materia Medica, the same thing is found to be true with the herbs themselves.  One herb may have been used for something in the past until it is found to possibly be doing more harm than good for that purpose, but that same herb may still contain value for some other afflictions. 

It is interesting to see how the herbs were used - and how their uses may have changed or how they may still be used in the current day. Even though this was across the ocean and many miles, many of the same herbs that we use today are discussed.

Although we are fortunate to be able to have access to the most up to date medicine of the day now, herbs are still so useful for many of the same first aid type occurrences as they were way back when..

Please Note:  The publisher (North Atlantic Books) has provided Essential Herbal readers with a very nice excerpt and a substantial discount code, which will be published in the May/June issue which comes out on April 20.  It is time sensitive, so if you want this book at a GREAT price, heads up!