Facing Illness, Finding God

Are you facing the kind of illness that makes you think about your life? Are you a caregiver for a loved one? Are you a medical professional who wants to do more than aid a person's body? Are you struggling with what the word 'God' might mean when your life has been changed by illness?Through the lenses of personal stories and Jewish tradition, this guide can help you cope with the difficulties of disease, whether you are facing illness yourself, serving as a caregiver or simply questioning where God is when we get sick. The sages of Judaism advocated having realistic expectations about illness while also seeking out the spirituality of relationships. Judaism has traditionally understood healing to not only be a physical process but also a spiritual journey. While it is easy to be overwhelmed by the physical nature of illness, also neglecting the human spirit allows our sense of self to become threatened. To address these realities, Jewish tradition asks us to bring both those who are ill as well as their caregivers into the embrace of community and to see God within both the healer and those needing to be healed.