(by Ben Rothke)
Learn a few pages in the Mishnah Berurah and you’ll come to the phrase hamachmir tavo alav bracha. While the Chofetz Chaim didn’t coin the phrase, he made it his calling card. He will accept an opinion, but commend those who want to be strict. These stringencies apply throughout Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim, even though most of the topics do not deal with potential capital crimes.
Had the Chofetz Chaim written on Yoreh Deah hilchos Avodah Zara, I think it’s safe to say the phrase would be pervasive.
In a new book, Alternative Medicine in Halachah, Rabbi Rephoel Szmerla attempts to make the halakhic case for alternative medical treatments. It’s a heavy tome; 11 English-language chapters and about 400 pages of Hebrew appendixes.
Yet in close to 200 pages, I was struck by the fact that never once does Szmerla use hamachmir tavo alav bracha. This is noteworthy given that avoda zara is one of the 3 prohibitions one must give up their live rather than violating.
Some of the therapies to which the book details the practical halacha include:
• Remote healing
• Reiki
• Acupuncture
• Kinesiology
• Dowsing
• Homeopathy and flow essences
• Gem therapy
• Geobiology and Feng Shiu
• Hypnotherapy
• Yoga
• Therapeutic touch
• Shamanic healing
Szmerla is a proponent of these alternative therapies. He’s been involved with so-called energy medicine for twenty years and is something of an evangelist for this cause. For this reason, his devotion to this project, perhaps, the author struggled to provide a cogent rationale for his arguments. He also represents a curious trend among some elements of the Orthodox Right to declaim modern science as wisdom. The sinuous logic often takes some unorthodox and untraditional turns.
A Scientific Halakhist?
The failure centers on the author’s attempt to be the medical and halakhic expert. This was not a challenge for some of the twentieth century’s leading halakhic authorities. For example, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein frequently called on the scientific knowledge of his son-in-law Rabbi Moshe Tendler, who had received his Ph.D. in microbiology from Columbia University. In Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach relied on experts in biology and physics when addressing halakhic issues related to these fields.
But it is troubling in this more recent project. While he quotes extensively from myriad new age sources, Szmerla does not reference any non-alternative scientists or medical doctors. What is more, the book’s bibliography lists a mere 29 citations, none of which are science-based works. The result is a goodly number of botched scientific proofs and imprecise—or wrong—terminologies.
One example is his equating data and evidence as being the same.
Sometimes, the scholarship just does not back up the claim. For instance, an “aura,” according to new age thought is an emanation that encloses a human body. However, the myth-buster Joe Nickell writes that tests to observe alleged aura emanations have repeatedly met with failure. Nonetheless, Szmerla writes that “it is worthwhile to note that there exists scientific data supporting the existence of the aura.”
Rabbinic Authority
It’s not just Szmerla’s understanding of science that is lacking, his disdain for the halakhic process and understanding of the nature of halakhic development are also quite troubling. His portrayal of the rabbis of the Talmud deserves specific mention. Szmerla portrays rabbis of the Talmud as gullible. He writes that “halachic determinations do not require the rigorous evidence of scientific double-blind studies.” This is plainly crass, ignoring the fruitful scholarship conducted by Rabbi Nahum Rabinovitch, among others. The rabbis of the Talmud certainly didn’t use a chi-squared test or regression and correlation analysis as we know it, they did operate with sophisticated levels of statistical analysis, the best of what was known to them in their time.
To boot, Szmerla’s proof for this criticism is rather simplistic. For example, he notes that “in the eyes of the Torah, any phenomenon that has been validated three times is considered authentic.” He is referring to the Talmud in Shabbat 61a that discusses when amulets are to be approved as medical devices. He takes a discussion limited to amulets and applies it to all medical therapies. In any system, be it legal, mathematical, or theological, one can’t take a limited item; and pro forma apply it globally.
Further, Szmerla’s methods are precarious from a practical halakhic perspective. He assumes to know exactly what the Talmud is discussing, and can precisely correlate it to a particular new age therapy. Contrast that with the notion that the Talmud states in Shabbat 35a: that we are not experts in identifying “medium-sized stars” to determine nightfall. If we can’t expertly identify the size of the stars in the sky, it’s hard to understand how he can know the specific new age therapy. Yet, Szmerla does exactly that. For example, the Talmud in Horayot 12a discusses the concept of a babuah di-babuah, a shadow of a shadow. Szmerla writes that this description is identical to the description of the “aura” given by energy healing practitioners, a therapy he therefore allows.
He also ignores notions of rabbinic consensus and debate. In the foreword, Rabbi Shmuel Meir Katz of Lakewood writes that a “hallmark of a genuine moreh hora’ah is the intellectual honesty to examine an issue from various standpoints and the capability to honestly evaluate dissenting opinions.” Yet, one of the most egregious problems with Szmerla’s approach is that he does not significantly reference those dissenting opinions. He writes that there is scientific data to support his findings, but much of his data is based on vibrational medicine, to which a 2008 study by noted researcher Edzard Ernst found that the evidence is not fully convincing for most complementary and alternative medicine modalities.
Finally, he writes “the efficacy of homeopathy has been well-established.” That simply is not true. No large-scale study has found homeopathy any more effective than a placebo. Yet that assertion is what allows him to permit ineffectual therapies, as he believes that any phenomenon that has been validated three times is considered authentic. With enough of a sample size, it’s easy to get three cases of anything. Science would call that the placebo effect. Szmerla would call that authentic.
An Orthodox Counterculture
Looked at more broadly, this book reflects disturbing trends in some subculture elements of Orthodoxy to disdain modern science and certain medical developments and to engage new age therapies.
Why the opposition? For Szmerla, modern science is not God-focused. He contrasts the opinions of atheistic scientists with those of the creators of alternative therapies, who he feels realize that their healing powers originate from the Divine. Both characterizations are overly generalized, and his simplistic observation does nothing to support his claims. The author does not explain why alternative therapies, which may have their ancient roots in Krishna or Vishnu, may be more acceptable or effective than those from non-believing scientists and doctors such as Linus Pauling or François Jacob.
What Hath the New Age Movement Done to Us?
The New Age movement, with its acceptance of occult practices, pantheism, and a “spirituality without borders or confining dogmas that is inclusive and pluralistic” is anathema to halakhah. Rabbi Szmerla’s book, I fear, reflects a trend within some parts of the Orthodox Right to eschew modern science and contemporary medicine.
This comes at a significant cost. The author’s weltanschauung leads him to be a promulgator of bad science while misrepresenting Chazal. The danger with Alternative Medicine in Halachah is that the author oversimplifies both halakhah and the often-complex fields of science and medicine. This leads to his acquiescence to therapies that other major poskim outright forbid. Perhaps more disturbing than the poor scholarship in this book, is the underlying trend it illustrates.
Ben Rothke lives in New Jersey and works in the information security field. He blogs about information security at The Security Meltdown and is the associate editor of the Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective. He writes technology book reviews for Security Management, and reviews of books on Jewish thought for The Jewish Press, The Lehrhaus and Times of Israel.
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40 Responses
Yair Hoffman was mild in his analysis of Rabb Szmerla’s alternative medicine.
Rav Eliyashev, Z”L, per Rabbi Morgenstern was not at all in favor of alternative medicine.
Rav Elyashiv wasn’t against “Alternative medicine ” per se, Rav Elyashivs psak only refers to Alternative medicine that has it’s roots in Idolatry, or/and can’t be understood under laws of nature, which includes Energy healing, kinesiology and the like. Rabbi Hoffman should clarify that.
maybe R Hoffman can write also about the increase of all types of ‘tzdaka’ promises to pray for you here or there by him or them.
Is this really helpful?
Ben Rothke, did you discus your issues with R’ Szmerla??? Probably not!
Did you speak to Rabbi Shmuel Meir Katz of Lakewood about your concerns? Probably not!!!
Are you a Rabbi with a Smicha? Probably not!
Do you believe that modern science and medicine are biased and highly politicized? Probably not!
Maybe, you should educate your self a little more about before disparaging R’ Szmerla, who happens to have a smicha, who consults with R’ Shmuel Meir Katz on regular bases, and who deals with allot more real life Shailois in medical field than the articles and posts that you mr. Ben Rothke managed to google up over last few days to educate yourself on issues of alternative medicine!
It is interesting that in recent weeks we are seeing such venomous hit pieces in the frum media world, on alternative medicine in general and on Rabbi Szmerla’s work in particular. Clearly, Rothke has not done his research and knows nothing about biophotonics. Yes the body emits light and it is only in recent years that the technology was developed to actually photograph this light. In fact the thinking is that it will be possible to diagnose disease states by measuring this “aura” or photonic emission as it would be called scientifically. It is also conceivable that disease states may be treated by manipulating the photons that go in or out of the body. Actually there are currently ongoing clinical trials in major medical centers utilizing Infrared light to treat Dementia and Alzheimers. Infrared light is invisible to the human eye. What is quite disturbing is the elevation of commercial medicine and science to a point which borders on idolatry. This is actually part of an intellectual perspective known as scientism which is basically an atheistic religion and worship of and belief in the purported majority views of the contemporary scientific community. Essentially anyone who questions accepted mainstream scientific dogma is attacked and treated like a heretic. Besides the atheistic motivation to elevate commercial science and medicine, there is a strong corporate interest in protecting profits in various industries. So for example we now know that the whole low fat movement in food was a deception perpetrated by the sugar industry which sought to blame fats for heart disease and diabetes instead of sugar. We now know that the “diet” artificial sweeteners are even worse for you than the sugar and yet we see no regulation from the FDA on any of these substances. We now know that the CDC and the pharmaceutical industry has been misleading the public on the safety and efficacy of vaccines for decades. We now know that many contemporary illnesses are actually caused by antibiotics due to the destruction of the the gut and brain microbiome. It is because of the failure of conventional medicine that people have been turning to alternative medicine much of which is based on thousands of years of observational evidence and tradition. It is foolish to dismiss this evidence simply because it can not be patented by a drug company.
@East12th
You are confusing physics with metaphysics.
So next time I have a shayle ( halachick question) I should ignore the dayanim from Beit din of Rav Wosner , Eidah Charedit & all the others who gave a haskama on the sefer. But i should turn to the Bloger rav, internetter rav , or any rabbi who shoots from the hip, without bothering to discuss 1st with the author or the endorsers
To Ben : Is this a mistake or are deliberately misleading, it clearly says in the sefer kniesilogy & dowsing may not be used for predicting the future .And one should be machmir not use it to ask if this person is compatible with me now, since it resembles predicting the futre
@think don’t sink
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but many of those are Haskomos are off!
@think don’t sink
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but many of those are Haskomos have been retracted!
Also would like to point out that Rav S.Z. Auerbach did not “rely” on experts as characterized by Rothke. He actually went and studied things like electricity to gain an expertise in it in order to correctly Pasken Shailos. Note to Torontonian, Physics is beginning to catch up with metaphysics or more accurately the intuited knowledge that mankind collected by observation over many thousands of years. Many of the notions in alternative medicine although perhaps having some historical correlation with idol worshiping culture, are nonetheless based on observation of natural phenomena by people who were much more observant ,and aware of nature than modern man. As such their observations and practices constitute a form of science and experimentation that should be considered an important contribution to the healing arts.
@Torontonian
where do we see that the Haskomos were retracted ?
thx
@telesave : let @Torontonian live in his imaginary world. FYI there is another sefer in the works, with even more haskomos, destroying the avoda zara of vaccines
@East12th
The ancient wisdom Red Flag!
What caused life expectancy to rise more then double to what it was a few hundred years ago? (Al pi derech hateva of course) Or even 100 years ago, ancient wisdom? Huh
As far as my definition of medicine is, anything that works is called medicine, what doesn’t work gets thrown into the ancient wisdom file, until proven that it works.
Yes, i know your conspiracy, modern science is out to kill us all, so they can go out and get all our money. Pure Ancient wisdom!
Alternative medicine works well for people who live alternative lifestyles and believe in alternative facts and listen to alternative music.
Alternatively, the author of this article may just be an idiot..
@Torontonian can you provide proof that 1 haskomo was withdrawn, Or you expect blind trust like a pediatrician.
@thinksontsink
Post your email and ill send it to you
(I do not endorse alternative medicine in general, and would like to quote the Alter of Slabodka’s statement that the first mitzva is “Do not be a fool.” Whether a particular foolish thing is halachically permissible or not is a different story.)
The author of the article contrasts the Chofetz Chaim’s frequent use of “hamachmir tavo alav bracha” regarding
halachos involving non-capital offenses with Rabbi Szmerla’s non-use of the phrase in a sefer dealing with halachos involving possible capital offenses; he believes this to be noteworthy.
Given the rest of the article, we are presumably meant to interpret this as an indictment of the author.
However, in a case of possible “yehareig v’al ya’avor,” does it not make more sense that one would never see a statement that one can follow a more stringent opinion, because if there is any opinion (worthy of consideration) that something is forbidden with that severity, one must not do it?
I am no scientist however I read most of the book , here’s a few points no one has mentioned yet : A)this book seems to be co-authored by shalom kamenetzky the author mentions him in the preface as having spoke to him very often ,this book has all the hallmarks of shalom’s train of thought line of arguments and sources ,and has been behind-the-scenes of more than one of such controversial books in the past .
B)Probably the most galling, this author does not consider anyone else’s arguments as valid since no one else seems to know the facts ,the facts are as he sees them and no one else has any authority to disagree , he mentions this point one way or another throughout the book.
C)the authors complete lack of fine thinking skills , total lack of traditional halachic analysis . Just one example that comes to mind when discussing kessima ,he brings two descriptions of how the rishonim describe how it’s done , and then makes that assumption since they differ on how they describe it each one would not agree that the other description is kessimah so voila we have a machlokes rishonim if dowsing is mutar,it doesn’t occur to him that they both might agree that both descriptions are prohibited and they only each described one of the many forms of possible kessimah , choosing to describe the form which was common in their place and time .
To Torontonian I would answer your question about life expectancy with the Pasuk from Tanach. The life of a man is 70 years and if with Gevuros 80 years. This Pasuk indicates that historically life expectancy rates today are similar to what they were in the Biblical era. What I would like you to answer though is why does the USA have the fifth highest under 5 infant mortality rate on the planet, despite the fact that we have the most vaccines on our schedule. Could it be that medical interventions like giving babies HEP B vaccine on the day they are born is contributing to increased childhood mortality? Also it is important to note that life expectancy in the US has been slipping lately. Your criticism of “ancient wisdom” is way off the mark. Traditional healing methods developed over thousands of years from trial and error clearly have data behind them and it is simply foolish and arrogant, to ignore, and discount them.
I’m not going to answer everything now, due to lack of time. But anyone can check this.
“What I would like you to answer though is why does the USA have the fifth highest under 5 infant mortality rate on the planet”
Did you find this in Szmerla’s anti Vax kuntris? And you really believe it?
You can spread fake news in lkwd perhaps, and people will fall for it., but here on the internet, you’re doomed to fail.
GOOGLE IT
At the end of East12th letter was written “It is because of the failure of conventional medicine that people have been turning to alternative medicine much of which is based on thousands of years of observational evidence and tradition”.
Correct, but the subject is not whether alternative medicine works, it is whether it is permitted. Whether vaccines should be used is not a relevant within the framework of the critique of the book.
What is relevant is the sources one needs to know to understand the problems with Holistic Medicine.
There are plenty of books in every public library. Pranic Healing by Choa Kok Sui, Esoteric Healing, Vibrational Medicine by Dr. Richard Gerber, Health Kinesiology – “the Muscle Testing System that talks to the body” by Jane Thurnell-Read. And tens of others. These are books that one is prohibited from reading as per the dictates of the Torah – the most Ancient of all Wisdoms. They clearly write that one has to have psychic and clairvoyant powers to see an energy field and to diagnose a sublaxation. The goyishe chiropractors say the same. The book, Pranic Healing also says that any and every person can become a healer! Very reassuring. I am trusting a clairvoyant to heal a sick child. If she is clairvoyant she is admitting she is using kishuf. If she is not then she is abona fide faker. Either way I am seriously at risk of replacing a temporary this-world-dikke illness with an eternal blemish to my neshomah!
Another time East12th writes “intuited knowledge that mankind collected by observation over many thousands of years” Please understated that the first word stated has just destroyed all credibility the argument would have carried. “Intuition” and “wisdom” are worlds apart! Intuition utilizes a sixth sense, the koach hadimyon. Wisdom utilizes the first, second, third fourth and fifth, and common, sense. How can an Orthodox Jew write “perhaps having some historical correlation with idol worshiping culture, are nonetheless based on observation of natural phenomena…” if anything has a “perhaps correlation to idol worship” a yorei shomayim would be prudent to avoid it like the plague.
Finally (for now) E12th writes “As such their observations and practices constitute a form of science and experimentation” It is a form of science that its scientists refer in their books to god. No otherscience book in the history of the subject has ever referred to G-d! Don’t worry, it i the god or gods of the Greeks! Also this so called science, still called pseudoscience, has more of its inventors thrown in jail for fraudulent claims and “machines” deemed illegal and fake by the FBI than any other science. Look in their history, you will see. I will not mention their names.
And by the way , Eleanora Amendolara who is one of the biggest rebbeim of the Frum healers, on her website declares to everyone she is “a powerful healer, teacher and alchemist”. She writes “Bridging the worlds, Eleanora helps people to find solutions to practical issues by showing them how to tap into the Infinite”. “Eleanora has received direct instruction from guides and masters including Sun Bear, who embodies the integrated soul of North American shamanism.
I apologize to the temimusdikke Yidden who have to read this sort of tumoh, but you need to know it – da mah lehoshiv….
Toronto: UN WHO & CIA factbook, both report USA highest infant mortality among developed nations .
Meirke: the seffer forbids shamanic.
Torontonian does not want to answer anything because he/ she is only capable of throwing out insults and disinformation. Meirke completely misunderstood what i was saying. By intuition I do not mean any kind of magical 6th sense. I mean a common sense evaluation based on trial and error and observational experience.So for instance the ancient practice of acupuncture. After sticking sharp things into various parts of the body over thousands of years, it is logical to conclude that the Chinese learned how to use this procedure effectively. You do not have to accept their religion in order to intuit that the treatment may very well work and utilize it even without it being patented by a big corporation. Similarly with herbal remedies. If some Native American or Amazonian tribe not related to Jeff Bezos has been using some kind of herb for healing purposes, it make sense to look into it and maybe even use it. This is because these people have been living very close to nature for a long time and they certainly have a valuable knowledge with regards to healing. Again the fact that they may use a shaman does not detract from the knowledge acquired over thousands of years of experimentation. In terms of a 6th sense, there is a scientific basis for this. For instance, Chromofors in our cells are capable of detecting light in the invisible parts of the spectrum and in turn stimulating a whole cascade of reactions in our bodies. There are many other examples of our bodies and minds sensing things outside of the the normal sensory experience of 5 senses. And yes some people have heightened sensory perception in some or all of the standard 5 senses and some people may have a heightened perception in some kind of extra sense or what we used to call ESP. In fact the defense department took this so seriously that they spent a boatload of money studying it. Speaking of the defense department, recently it has come out that as far back as 1981 they knew that vaccines were causing various cancers, particularly B Cell Lymphomas and Multiple Myelomas. And so to solve that problem what did the government do? It increased the number of vaccines in the schedule. So you can put your Emunah in a scientific enterprise that has demonstrably been corrupted by corporate greed, or you can use your Hashem given intuition and critical thinking skills to start asking a lot of questions and educating yourself.
@East12th
“Torontonian does not want to answer anything because he/ she is only capable of throwing out insults and disinformation”
It doesn’t become disinformation just because you call it disinformation.
What didn’t i answer?
I would like to ask East 12th a couple of questions. Do not fear the truth as the truth is available in every single publication published on this subject by any authoritative Non-Jewish author on the subject. (vedok!) I admit publicly that I have indeed studied this subject in depth, for many years and have tens of books available at my disposal to refute every single fact that Rabbi Szchmerla misquotes. So do you. Any local library has the books required. For example, books on Reiki, e.g. “The Basics of Reiki by Penelope Quest”, she introduces Reiki: as “… a Japanese word meaning “spiritual energy” or “universal life force””. I was taught that Hashem is the life force! The first ani maamin “hu borei umanhig lechol habre’uim vehu levado osoh ve’oseh’ veyaaseh lechol hamaasim! He is the manhig, not universal energy, not prana, not qi. I think Rabbi Szchmerla missed this small detail. He has no problem with Reiki. (Maybe he has a different definition or “girse”- or, I am sorry to say, a different version, of god!!)
On page 4 (All punctuation, quotation marks and parenthesis are hers, nothing left out.) she says that Rei can be translated from Japanese into English as “Universal, boundless, transcendental, spirit, soul, divine, sacred, essence, mysterious power, god’s wisdom, higher power, supernatural knowledge, spiritual consciousness”. The word “ki” can be translated as “spiritual life, life force energy, cosmic energy (also represented in other languages as Chi Qi, prana, Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit)”.
She continues that “as we can see, there are a number of ways of interpreting the word Reiki, but one way to summarize this is: “Rei” can be understood as the Higher Intelligence that guides creation and functioning of the universe; the wisdom that comes from god (or is the Source, Creator, the Universe, the All-That-Is), which is all knowing and which understands the need for, and cause of, all problems and difficulties and how to heal them. “Ki” is the life-force energy that flows through every living thing – plants, animals and people – and that is present in some form in everything around us, even rocks and inanimate objects. When these words are put together, therefore, the meaning of Reiki is simplified as “spiritual energy,” “soul energy,” or “universal life-force energy,” – a form of energy that is guided by a subtle wisdom to heal all aspects of the person – body, mind and spirit””. Afreh lepumayhu!
When these New Agers use the word god they are not referring to ours The One Who created the world ex nihilo. They are referring to Brahm- and Buddh- and all the other gods of theirs.
I am very sorry East 12th, but the phrase “Rei can be understood as the Higher Intelligence that guides creation and functioning of the universe” is undiluted, unadulterated, and unequivocal APIKORSUS! Ani Maamin number one again. Sorry Rabbi Sczmerla, you must have missed this quote as well. And if you want to tell me that they mean Hashem, how can they channel Him???
One more quote, from the book Health Kinesiology by Jane Thurnell–Read, copyright © 2002 Published by Life-Work Potential. (Recommended by Eleanor herself to frum healers to learn the trade) On page 16 she writes “HK uses muscle testing to access the body’s own knowledge of its needs by asking verbal questions and getting yes/no answers according to the muscle response. (Page 28) Once the client’s energy system is balanced, (not nogeah for now what that is all about) the therapist asks the first question which is always for energy permission to begin work. The client has given conscious permission by coming to see the practitioner, but the practitioner also wants to establish energy permission for the work. To establish energy permission the therapist says “do we have permission to work together now….?”
Conversing with “energy”? Asking permission from “energy”? Is a Jew permitted to ascribe such powers of free choice to a non human being or anything other than Hashem? I am very sorry to tell you that the answer is no! This technique of muscle testing is no different than using a dowsing rod which the rishonim say is KOSEIM! And all the goyim doing it say the same thing – you have to have psychic or intuitive powers to access or to communicate or channel this energy! (And please do not be presumptuous enough to tell me that you are arguing with all the Rishonim that say that koseim is also forbidden to be used to ascertain the otherwise unknown present, not only to ascertain the future. For example, see Gittin 68:, Medrash Tanchumeh Mikeitz, concerning Yosef’s goblet, Malbim Shoftim 5:28, Ramban Devorim 13:5 and Malbim Devorim 18:10).
Yidden, wake up, were you to go to the local library, or utilize any other method you have for searching for information, you would see the same things as all the poskim have, who have forbidden these methods. Do not do so, it is forbidden under the prohibition of lo sosuru achrei levavchem ve’achrei eyneichem! And if you do not want to believe that your frum neighbor who is practicing this is a modern day witch, then you must conclude that she must be a faker! Forget arguing about vaccination. These people may have made prana into a neevad and we might be discussing the possibility that people are transgressing yehoreig ve’al yaavor to get rid of a G-d-decreed allergy.
Earning parnassah is a curse, but just like the means that we use to earn parnassah must be in in accordance with Shulchan Aruch, so must the ways in which we heal ourselves. If your Rabbi would permit you to charge ribbis or cheat another Jew, or to swindle, or lie, or steal so as to be able to put bread and butter on the table for your starving children, would you listen to him? NO! No! NO! It wouldn’t occur to you. You would just daven harder and admit it is bashert! Sickness is also, lo oleinu, bashert and it is also a test. Have bitachon in Hashem, daven harder and longer. It is also just another test.
Finally, I beg everyone who is following this, please see Malbim Zecharye Perek 10 posuk 2 for a major shock that will change your understanding of this subject for ever….
Meirke.
Ok Meirke you are rambling and it is just grating. The human body has lots of different types of energy flowing through it. One of the basic energy staples in the body is adenosine tryphosphate – ATP, the production of which is triggered by c cytochrome oxidase in the mitochondria of most of the cells in your body. C cytochrome oxidase is activated by specific wavelengths of light at the red end of the spectrum. You can not live for more than 10 seconds without this energy source. This is simply a fact. As far as your contention that Hashem is a life force and that is the meaning of the first Ani Maamin. I don’t think so. Hashem created life as we know it but I do not think we have permission to define the Borei as a life force. That would in essence be a form of attributing physicality to Hashem which I think the Rambam was against. The bottom line is It should be quite possible to separate the alternative healing modalities in most instances from and philosophical roots that may be problematic.
@East12th
You know pretty well that ” ATP Energy ” is not part of the discussion, unless you’re trying to mislead the reader to believe that the CHI energy which is imaginary as far as the human eye or any instruments can tell is the same as ATP, which we know of through the chochma of science, which you deeply despise.
Please forgive me East12th, as I have more rambling to do. As the Rambam himself wrote, discussing ikrim is more precious to him that all the rest of the Torah. Quid est qua non. Unfortunately you have taken this discussion out of the parameters of whether or not vaccines are good or bad, but into the field of heresy, and therefore I am obligated to publicly correct you. Even if you will not listen, some other readers who are seeking guidance in this complex field, will.
Firstly, a scientific correction for a “subtle” energetic (excuse my humor) misunderstanding. Adenosine triphosphate (with an “i” not a “y”) is a physical chemical which is detectable using various scientifically designed tests. Triggered by another chemical which can also be detected using science. Cell bodies can be seen using a microscope, another scientific tool. No one, again no one, has ever been able to record the existence of an energy field or see it with the physical eye. It is very different! The “energy” in our bodies has no sheychus to the “energy” that you are talking about. Yet another misappropriation and plagiarizing of legitimate scientific terminology to misguide the naïve person into thinking that holistic myth is indeed scientific fact.
Secondly, East 12th has made a fundamental mistake, which I must correct, so that other people do not err in the same way. He writes “As far as your contention that Hashem is a life force and that is the meaning of the first Ani Maamin. I don’t think so”. I must vehemently disagree with you. I do indeed think so, and so does every Maamin that I have met, think so. That is what we say every day in davening ve’atah mechayeh es kulom. YOU Hashem are mechayeh everything. Mechayeh means to give life and to sustain life. The Ultimate life force! If you hold what you are saying is true then you have no business saying elokei neshomoh in the morning (or any other tefillah for that matter).
You continue to say that “Hashem created life as we know it but I do not think we have permission to define the Borei as a life force. That would in essence be a form of attributing physicality to Hashem which I think the Rambam was against”. “Life force” is NOT repeat NOT and once more for emphasis, NOT, PHYSICAL. It is the first sheker that the holistic healers must believe in for their ploy to work. What the rest of the scientific community (and all non- Buddhists or Taoists) call physical they call spiritual and what we call spiritual they call physical. That is how holistic healing can say they “treat the mind, body and soul”. Soul? Who ever said the soul is physical? To all religious Jews (and Christians and Moslems for that matter) the soul is very, very, spiritual. Chelek elokah mimaal. When the physical body dies, it does so because the spiritual component of its existence separated itself from it. Not for the same reasons that the Taoists say.
Furthermore, if prana is physical, like you are insinuating it is, why does one have to be a clairvoyant or a psychic, to see it? The Ramchal in Sefer Haikrim (ruchniyim) defines physical is being “that which can be sensed with our five physical senses”. Anything else is spiritual. (Radio waves are generated by a physical source and received and measured using physical devices and can therefore also be called physical. Microwaves heat food, with no esoteric power required, and can therefore be described as physical). The main tachlis of Richard Gerber’s book, Vibrational Medicine, is to (try to) prove that the whole Prana and chi myth is physical. But he failed miserably. He wrote, in 1978, on page 104 how excited he was with the availability of the MRI and CT scanners, as now the whole world would finally be able to see the true energetic- magnetic resonances that Holistic healing says exists, but they could never actual show. The tragedy is that almost forty years later no one has been zocheh to even get one reading of such an energy field! And it is not because they didn’t try. Kirlian photography claims to be able to film the aura, but does not stand up to the scrutiny of science. Whoops!
Oh, by the way Richard Gerber also disagrees with himself! He says many times, that this energy is spiritual. On Page 44 he clearly spells out how he understands what role this energy plays in our life. (Italics are his) He writes that: “There is an aspect of human physiology that physicians have not yet understood and only reluctantly acknowledge. This dimension of human physiology is the domain of Spirit as it relates to the physical body. The spiritual dimension is the energetic basis of all life, because it is the energy of spirit which animates the physical framework. The unseen connection between the physical body and the subtle forces of spirit holds the key to understanding the inner relationship between matter and energy”.
So if this kofer be’ikur says black on white that this “life-force” is spiritual, why does the Jew have to say it is not?
One more proof that the holistic healers are dealing with non–physical things. Homeopathy. In his update in 1996 (page 567) Gerber again attests to “the fact that the biological activity of substances can be transferred energetically to water further supports the hypothesis that homeopathic and similar types of Vibrational remedies have a non-molecular basis”. Furthermore he also writes “…We know that water is able to extract and store certain types of subtle energies which have measurable effects on living systems… In the process of homeopathic potentization, the progressive dilution removes molecular elements of the physical plant and leaves only the subtle energetic qualities of the plant within the water. The active part of the remedy is, in fact, not even physical as our mathematical argument has demonstrated. Homeopathic remedies are “subtle-energy medicines” which contain the energetic frequencies or “vibrational signature” of the plant from which they have been prepared”.
Please East12th, I beg you! Gerber says energy is not physical. Alice Bailey, Paul Wildish, DD Palmer, Goodheart, and all the other yemach shemom’niks who are the founding fathers of modern day New Age Healing, say it’s not physical. Prana and chi and qi are lechol hadeios not physical. They never were. Please stop implying that they are. If you hold differently than the books you yourself learned this subject from, please tell me what they are, I would like to see them.
And finally, you argue that “it should be quite possible to separate the alternative healing modalities in most instances from any philosophical roots that may be problematic”. Firstly do not say that “they may be” problematic. They are absolutely, definitely, undoubtedly, unequivocally, irrefutably and insolvably problematic. Without the Taoist/Buddhist/Hindu philosophy of the existence of Yin and Yang, and without the heretical belief that prana is mechaya the entire briyoh (afre lepumayu) the concept of energy would be redundant, nay, non existent! As soon as Yidden admit that only Hashem Himself is the life of the world (I won’t use life-force because that is not my shprach), and is not tied down to sustain life through the energy of the sun or the earth or the air, then the entire New Age movement, which is based on these premises, would have no influence on the Frum Yid. Look at any book about, or by, Alice Bailey, yemach shemoh, and the Theosophical society that was at the roots of the New Age Movement and New Age Healing, and you will see for yourself. Spreading Taoist/Buddhist philosophy IS the reason d’etre of the New Age Movement, and Holistic medicine is their vassal. Without the existence of “energy”, there would be no need for meridians, through which chi will flow, no energy to inform a practitioner what diagnosis to give a patient. No energetic component for a homeopathic or bach flower remedy to contain, no subluxations for a chiropractor to sort out, veyomar kol asher neshpomoh beapo Hashem Elokei Yisroel melech!
To end with some good news. Unless you challenge me again, I will stop rambling and grating on your nerves.
” heretical belief that prana is mechaya the entire briyoh”
lost you there – what;s wrong with saying that the world is filled with light? you know, the Ohr Ain Sof. Just because an Indian who opens himself up to higher perception and becomes aware that the world is filled with light doesn’t make it heretical. If he chooses to bring avoda zoras into it that’s his problem, but it doesn’t take away from his perception.
it is easy to discus the Eastern roots of alternative medicine and forget to talk about the Western roots of science and conventional medicine. It grew up in the enlightenment, that denies anything other than the physical. period. no metaphysics, no spiritual. just the physical that you see. Is this a belief that you share?
In conventional medicine this plays out quite openly. Not so obviously with appendicitis, that you can see. But psychiatric disease – psuche is the Greek word for nefesh – it openly states in the DSM that it works on “operationalised diagnosis” – diagnosis by appearance. No attempt to see what is really happening inside. Do you accept that the mind is only the brain and that life stops at death? That is the basis of modern psychiatry.
Whilst ranting about the avoda zara of eastern medicine, please remember that avoda zara is the 49 gates of tumah. The fiftieth gate, the one of no return, is kefirah, which is modern medicine.
ABC098, welcome! I hope you read the previous responses I wrote to E12th. He/she seems to have been put in his/her place as he’she has not raised his/her head since my last posting. If not please read them carefully and only then continue. I will not repeat what has already been written, but it is an important introduction to this posting.
I need to continue to explain something that most Frum Yidden are unaware of. You write “full of light” well, filled with light is fine. Filled with kefireh is something else. You write “You know, the oh rein sof”; no, I do not know the “ohr ein sof, and nor do you nor anyone else, who I know. Unless you are on the madreigeh of having STUDIED Sifrei Kaballah, and I do not mean READ or VIEWED or PLOIDERED (as they say in Yiddish) then you also do not know what this concept means. And nor did the Taoists and ancient Hindu’s and Buddhists who didn’t refer to it that way, as light, rather by the title ch’i which is their imaginary life force that created the sun and the moon and everything else that we know, including itself! NO SHEICHUS TO HASHEM’S EIN SOF! Or the Indians who called it Prana and are very, very busy worshiping it, as their texts relate. (Its true they worship everything, but Prana is referred to in one of their sacred writings (AtharvaVeda Samhita, Prana Sukta in 11.4) which glorifies Prana and says that “Prāna is worshipped by the Gods”. Now that is real kavod!!!
SO, they HAVE a very real need to present this concept, which is a very ancient kefireh, in a terminology that is understood, or rather deliberately misunderstood, by every maamin. So, let us call it something that everyone knows about. Light. Problem. Light does not travel through dense media. Prana and ch’i do. OK. So let’s call it electromagnetic fields. Problem, electromagnetic fields are detected by MRI, NMR, CT scans and things like that. For some strange reason that meta-science has not quite worked out yet, ch’I and Pranic energy are not scientifically detectable by hook or by crook. Well, by crook yes, Kirlean photography did detect it, until kirlian photography was itself exposed as being a big fat juicy fakery. This ancient concept of a whole energy filling the world with its wonderful life giving energy is a concept probably going back to Nimrod, and Hashem flooded the world because they were oived this avodah zarah nonsense in the days of Enosh. Richard Gerber speaks all about it, over 15 pages.
Your comment “the Indian who opens himself up to higher perception and becomes aware that the world is filled with light doesn’t make it heretical”, is true. But the Indian who invented the concept that the world is full with light and that is what the Taoists call the Tao, and that this light created itself and everything else, is an Apikorus, and espousing to his beliefs and even repeating the words without every fiber of your Jewish Soul cringing, is Apikorsus.
Science is kefirah too. Definitely. But the world can be appreciated by even the believer through the eyes of science. Of course Hashem makes Earthquakes. Is he tied down to the scientific explanation of the movement of those tectonic plates that caused the earthquake? No, but one is not an apikorus if one believes they exist. It is just a very, very powerful cover up. And it works very well, otherwise we would lose our bechireh. Is carbon dating reliable? As genuine as Kirlean photography! So is global warming! Exposed as fake. So was the Rey machine and Biotracker and other such exciting inventions.
Of course there is such a thing as metaphysics. Of course there is such a thing as spiritual. Sure. There is only one problem though, but it is a big problem. An unsurmountable problem. The Torah forbids us to dabble in it. This week’s sedra, last week’s sedra, two week’s ago sedra. Full of it. Bad news. No koseim! Sorry folks; going into a trance, to get enlightenment is not permitted. Altered States of Consciousness are taboo! Kishuf, forbidden. Doresh el hameisim – spirit guides, forbidden, accessing metaphysical information like muscle testing does, is out!
You write “Do you accept that the mind is only the brain and that life stops at death? That is the basis of modern psychiatry”. You are switching sides. ‘The mind is only a brain”, is not something that holistic medicine espouses. “Life stops at death” is very, very untrue in Taoist, Buddhist, Hindu, New Age thought. Absolutely nothing to do with psychiatry, and the quicker psychiatrist recognize this, the quicker they will be able to see the truth – takke through the light of the ohr ein sof, and not the blackness of Taoist “light” in which the Chesil bechosheich holeich.
Talking of light. Beware all holistic healers!! Do not bother trying to heal anyone during today’s solar eclipse. As the Incas will tell you (and of course the Gemarah says so too) that a solar eclipse is a bad omen for the ovdei avodah zarah, because their precious sun is being obliterated by the moon! There will be a very, very serious depletion of Prana throughout the entire region due to the eclipse and many, many people will suffer many ills, many people will die and many, many suicides will occur. However, vekovei Hashem yachlifu koach, we Frum Yidden will see the eclipse and be misorer to teshuva so that we should be zoiche today, vayehi baalos haminchah, on Yom Kippur Koton, to a kesiva vechasimeh tovah!
no, I do not know the “ohr ein sof, and nor do you
how do you know this?
which is a very ancient kefireh
why is it kefirah?
Richard Gerber speaks all about it, over 15 pages
and he seems to be your main source of information. aha.
Altered States of Consciousness are taboo! Kishuf, forbidden
would you call a nevuah an altered state of consciousness (of course not that of Moshe Rabenu)?
You are switching sides
no, just pointing out what the sides say.
Indian who invented the concept that the world is full with light and that is what the Taoists call the Tao, and that this light created itself and everything else, is an Apikorus
mekor?
Ohr ein sof, i will not discuss as I do not know what it is. If I did I would not discuss it anyway. If you did you would not be mixing it up with Taoism.
Why the belief that chi created the world is kefireh, or that anything else is mechayeh the world except the Eybishter was discussed in previous postings, not that it needed discussing as it is basics.
Richard Gerber is by no means my only source of information. He is the worst source in fact. Its just that he is the most quoted source by the New Age Jews who want to pretend they understand all this in modern scientific terms. What they do not realize is that he is not a scientist at all and is soiser himself from beginning to end. He writes acknowledgments that he is getting much of his information from spirits and ghosts called Spirit Guides to make it sound more kosher and accepted. Google search Seth and Hilarion and Jane Roberts if you do not believe me, they re on his list of his rebbeim!. Allice Baileys rebbe muvhok is the Tibetan another ghost!!
The seforim that discuss the ohr ein sof also discuss that the origins of nevuoh come from a very different place indeed from the origins of the spirit world accessed by the oiv viyidoni and the koseim and the other various dorshei el hameisim. (Olom Haasiyeh as opposed to Kochav Shabsai) Also a navi needs years of kedushe and tehara and Torah to be have a nevuoh and when he does his whole body functions are completely jellied, see Rambam. The kosiem however, is able to enter alternate conscious states at will without it being noticed even by looking at him, unless you have a discerning eye. See Pranic Healing by Choa Kok Sui.Health Kinesiology by Jane Thurnel-Read and many many others.
Taoism, if you go to your local library, and take out even one book on the subject you would not talk like you do. But ask your Rabbi first as it is in issur deoraysa to look at sifrei minim, unless you are doing so to teach the public or to understand for yourself why it is forbidden.
I beg you, we are living in a world of information availability. You do not even need to go so far as to google these subjects to become acquainted with these concepts. Any book on this subject studied by anyone entering the holistic healing field has access to all this apikorsus as part of their course. Ask anyone. They will tell you. Without it there is no holistic medicine. No chi, no prana, no holisim!
no mekor for your statements.
you don’t know what it is then claim I wouldn’t mix things up if I knew. How would you know?
things can come from different places. that’s a start. so why is everything that doesn’t come from the place you like called kefirah?
what is tsurah?
Reb Yid what are you talking about? I have answered all your points, I will not continue to discuss this subject with you. You do not want to accept what I am writing so I will not waste my time.
Just go to the information I quoted you, and see for yourself.
But as a last word I would suggest you see the posuk 4 in Tehilim 94, it is the answer you need.
I rest my case.
😉 my friend I was simply trying to wear down your energy, which I succeeded in doing.
I don’t think you understand the metzios, and that is quite normal given the current chinuch.
And there is no point in looking at eastern concepts and rubbishing them when you haven’t truly understood the Jewish take. You have to look in the chassidishe seforim, and understand the Rishonim, to get the Jewish picture here. Richard Gerber won’t do it. And then it becomes obvious what is kefirah, what is avoda zara, and how to see the eastern concepts.
In a nutshell, the world is composed of Chomer and Tzurah. A physical side and a spiritual / metaphysical one. Note that these terms are borrowed from the Greeks, which provides an important crossover. Tzurah is the nefesh, but not just of man but of everything in this world; in other words the world is filled with a spiritual (fuzzy use of the word there because there are many different levels if you remember the doctrine of the tzimtzum). energy / light. This is called on a Jewish level Elokus, the non jews on their levels call it Prana or Chi (not the same) or the forms. The goal of chassidus is to elevate a person so that he uses the simple tools of his nefesh – einei hasechel – and is able to see this light. Hasogas Elokus. See for example Likutei Torah (Chernobyl) end of hadrocho 3. To call this light ‘kefirah’ is daft.
Of course there is one culture in the world that doesn’t want to know, and that is Esov, because he is a kofer beikar, rejects the idea of Hashem. No Creator, no Tzurah, it’s written out of the system. So when western educated Torah people come to look at eastern concepts they don’t realize what they are seeing.
As far as the AZ issue goes, well there are actually rules in halocho of what constitues an AZ, and how it is served. Just as you don’t walk into a kitchen and shout ‘it’s all treife’, rather you examine where the shaaloh is and see exactly what has happened, wandering around alternative practices and shouting AZ is not a rational approach. AZ starts with an elil – kol elohei hoamim elilim – a spiritual being that we would call a malach, that is then elevated to the status of a power in itself. Just as Rashi says in Breishis. This is actually quite rare in alternative medicine. Chi is not an elil, nor is prana.
I rest my case!
Chas vesholom, my life force energy is not run down or depleted at all. I am delighted that you addressed this very important issue that needs major clarification. It is precisely this point that must be understood. What you are saying represents the understanding of thousands of Yidden and it is this demarcation line that must be clarified. Particularly people that discover Chasidus and true Torah machshavah and hashkafah, only after they have discovered Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, have this issue. The way you are speaking I think this is the situation in your case. They think that they have a head start as they know the subject without realizing that im ein daas Havdalah minayin. There is a world apart between our Emesdike Hashkafah and their nonsense. Lehavdil bein kodesh lechol,bein ohr lechoshech and bein yisrael loamim.
The way Chasidus, The Ramchal and other Seforim understand these concepts is very different than the goyim do. Do not think that mysticism is mysticism and is universally applicable and interchangeable between different beliefs and religions.
You said something strange. If we “call something on our level elokus, and they call it ch”i, then you have agreed with me that it is indeed to be understood as a deity in their eyes. So how is that permitted?????
You then contradict yourself and then write chi is not an elil and nor is Prana. Is it elokus by them or not? And how do you refute the quote I wrote from one of their Upanishads that Prana is an elil? EXPLAIN yourself!
Also if chi is indeed identical and interchangeable with the ohr ein sof, chloiloh, that you want it to be, why do you have to poke needles in the body of the patient to redirect it when it goes haywire? How do subluxations happen? How can an Applied kinesiologist ask it things during muscle testing? Why do you have to ask it permission before you try to fix it in Health Kinesiology? How can you direct it into a Bach Flower remedy ? How can you energize a gem with it?
If you answer these questions, then I know you truly understanding holistic healing and Chasidus, if not then you obviously do not ,and have no case to rest!
However, I beg you. I would like to think that we are discussing this lesheim shomayim. Please do not resort to belittling, or other such silliness. In law school they teach, “when you have facts, bang the facts, otherwise bang the table”. As there is no table on a posting, you are trying to bang me. Do not. It belittles you and your argument, and makes it look as if you do not know what you are talking about. You have some valid points, they are misguided, but I am ready to help you sort them out, IF YOU WANT, but do not turn people away from them by acting with aggression and anger.
You quote some holy words, sound impressively knowledgeable and expect everyone to therefore think that you know everything about the subject and are therefore right. If you really do know, please tell us about it, if you do not or can not, then you have proved to everyone reading this that you do not really understand either subject.
I will not respond to you until you respond to the points I have made. We are all awaiting for your response.
Thank you. I shall try. Not that I know a lot, but I do know a little.
“Particularly people that discover Chasidus and true Torah machshavah and hashkafah, only after they have discovered Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, have this issue. The way you are speaking I think this is the situation in your case.”
Sorry it’s the other way around. I discovered chasidus and then via medicine discovered alternative medicine and whilst exploring why it had worked realised that it opened windows that allowed me to understand chasidus much better.
“There is a world apart between our Emesdike Hashkafah and their nonsense.”
Please, after the necessary lehavdil, a little humility. These traditions have been followed as a derech in avoda by millions of people over thousands of years. All nonsense? All of these people are fooling themselves and getting nothing out of it? All of their insights are the product of rabid imaginations? Well, sorry but I don’t think so. Chochma bagoyim taamin. Their experiences are valid. They aren’t trying to fool you. So the question is really how to understand where their picture fits into a Torah framework, rather than just rubbishing it. In principle, my understanding is that they relate to a lower level of Elokus than we do in the hishtalshelus. And they don’t have the benefit of Torah misinai that (in it’s hidden parts) provides the map. But there are certain basics that remain the same, in the same way that antibiotics work the same for a yid and a goy.
Your quote about prana actually confirms my point. Prana is not a god, it is the origin of the gods, i.e. the real thing. Remember again what Rashi says about the origins of az. You can’t assur elokus just because a goy finds it. Nimrod saw the shaimos, do they then become asur?
“Also if chi is indeed identical and interchangeable with the ohr ein sof, chloiloh, that you want it to be, why do you have to poke needles in the body of the patient to redirect it when it goes haywire?”
Ain oid milvado, really there is only Elokus. Some of it is squeezed off and forms the nefesh of the person. And is changed and directed by our beliefs and emotions. Putting needles in the body affects that energy flow. You can for example release stored pent up emotions like anger and this results in a change in the physical illness. Refuas hanefesh urefuas haguf. The kinesiology stuff is really using a tool to get past the natural barriers and communicate with what is going on at this level – what is called the subconscious but is really the nefesh. In a world of Elokus everything is alive and has what to say. Western medicine sees a dead world and just bashes, but in alternative medicine you are really trying to communicate with a person and all his parts and gain their approval for a change to happen.
The Rambam writes in his medical books that herbs have an effect from their chomer and from their tzurah. He doesn’t say it, but it seems obvious to me that the chomer of the herb will affect the chomer of the person, and the tzurah of the herb (what is called the energetics of the herb) will affect the tzurah of the person, i.e. on a metaphysical level. I have seen this work in practice, when you use herbs to release emotional blocks and bring about a physical change. There are many many stories in the alternative literature where a shift of emotions causes a healing. The Greeks called this catharsis.
Chasidus is beyond this, you use the emotions as in Tefilah to connect up to the higher levels. Shift past nefesh habehamis into nefesh hasichlis.
“As there is no table on a posting, you are trying to bang me.”
Not really, there’s no point in doing that. What I was trying to do – and succeeded – was to break down your resistance. Read the delightful story of the professor who went to the tea ceremony. There’s no way you can shift your understanding as long as you are convinced that you know everything, you can’t hear what the other person (in this case me!) is trying to say until you stop darshening, ask questions and start to listen.
Again, I don’t know everything about the subject, far far from it, but I did take a look at it without the benefit of a preconditioned mind. It is frustrating to see how your (not just you personally) western conditioned mindset is viewing this subject and not realising how distorted a perspective you have, because you are brought up within a culture that does everything to exclude anything non physical.
I don’t think I’m quite as “misguided” and of need of your help as you make out. Nor did I write with “aggression and anger”. Is alleging that I did called banging me? And what makes you think I “expect everyone to think that you know everything about the subject”? Please remember the Besht says that what you see in the world is a reflection of yourself, so if you see that in me…..
I have probably studied more ancient Chinese texts than you have ever heard of. And Buddhist ones and Taoist ones. And Vedic ones and also Lubavitch Chasidus as well! And Sifrei Baal Shem Tov and a whole load of Rishonim and Achronim who you have probably never even heard of.
Chazal say there is none so foolish as the one who thinks he knows it all. I bestow on you that title.
The story of the professor with the tea, is from them too. I will not discuss this matter any further with you.
You know everything already so you have nothing to learn.
One closing piece of advice, Just don’t get burned on the Tea.
Hatzlochoh Rabboh.
If anyone else out there wants to know the truth, post a request and we will be happy to help you.
“Alternative Medicine” in halacha is a closed issue. I quote from Shulchan Halevi (English Edition) by Rav Yisroel Belsky ZT”L, p. 141 (emphasis added):
” The author has encountered and researched several types of alternative medicine … these healing techniques frequently fall into the category of casting spells (menachesh, kosem kesamim), or conjuring up spirits (ov v’yidoni). Others are actual forms of idolatry (avodah zarah) … Sadly, these techniques and the people who practice them have found their way into the observant Jewish community … Jews must beware of these healing powers; ANYTHING THAT CAN BE CATEGORIZED AS “EASTERN” OR “ALTERNATIVE” IS SUSPECT. This includes “new age” healing performed by very religious Jews, even those who are supported by WELL-MEANING BUT IGNORANT RABBONIM. KEEP AS FAR AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, “בני אל תלך בדרך אתם, מנע רגלך מנתיבתם – My son, do not walk on the way with them, keep your feet away from their paths” (Mishlei 1:15) “