Ashkenazi Herbalism with Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel
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“[Ashkenazi Jews] had a feeling of interconnectedness with all different kinds of communities…despite all the differences and all the horrible stories that you read, people cared about each other...We did this, we can do this, and maybe the plants can help us facilitate this healing of each other.”
-Deatra Cohen
Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel have explored the world of Jewish medicinal plant healers within the communities of the Pale of Settlement in Eastern Europe, and written a book to share their findings. As trained librarians and linguists, Deatra and Adam were uniquely suited to uncover these practices that lasted from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era, hidden by language barriers and obscure documents. The book is eye-opening and includes the first materia medica of 26 plants and herbs essential to Ashkenazi folk medicine. In this interview, Deatra and Adam discuss their research process, the legacy of Ashkenazi herbalism, and how their experiences as Jews interacted with their work.
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If you liked this episode try out Embracing Yiddish Language, Theater, Culture, and History, with Rokhl Kafrissen or Jewish New York with Dr. Deborah Dash Moore .
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This episode was produced and presented by Clarissa Marks with music by Gillicuddy.
This episode was recorded on the traditional land of the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People past, present, and emerging. As a land-based people in diaspora, we recognize first nations and indigenous people as the stewards of this land from time immemorial. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe.