Pittsburgh physician’s new Passover book prescribes lessons for long after holiday ends
'The things we do Jewishly have a direct bearing on how we conduct our lives. They are supposed to change us and help us grow'
Grocery shoppers and seder makers are keenly aware that Passover is just around the corner. A new book by local physician Dr. Jonathan Weinkle offers a prescription for an optimal holiday experience and beyond.
Published Jan. 31, by Resource Publications, “From Illness to Exodus: A Passover Meditation on Empathy, Health, and Healing” delivers 358 pages and 52 chapters of seder-related instructions and thoughts.
Weinkle, chief medical officer of Squirrel Hill Health Center, said he conceived of the idea years earlier while writing his first book, “Healing People, Not Patients: Creating Authentic Relationships in Modern Healthcare.”
That work was about “how to be a nice Jewish doctor,” a formula, he said, that was akin to Judaism: follow rituals. By listening, asking questions and listening, one could become a better physician.
The listening-questioning-listening exercise, Weinkle realized, is most evident on Passover. So, in an effort to enrich others’ seders, the physician dedicated his second book to the topic.
“For patients who are sick, or especially chronically ill, it’s like being stuck in your own personal Mitzrayim (Egypt),” Weinkle said. “Everything you need to do is a million times harder than if you are well.”
But it’s not just patients who can see themselves in the ancient Israelites. Physicians, or anyone involved in the healing process, can also draw parallels to the classic Exodus tale, he explained.
During the seder, people traditionally sing “Dayenu,” a text recalling numerous gifts and miracles delivered to the Jewish people.
The song’s lessons are relevant to healthcare, Weinkle said.
Gratitude is important, but it’s for individuals to “realize themselves and not for us to impose on other people,” he continued. “Twisting someone’s arm into being grateful is really unhealthy for them. Someone has to come to that on their own.”
Another familiar passage in the Haggadah involves the image of an outstretched arm. The reference, which stems from Deuteronomy 5:15 and is often cited as a reminder of God’s power to deliver the ancient Israelites from bondage, is not about anger or furious strife, Weinkle said.
“It’s about going to bat for people, advocating for people and thinking about all the times as someone in a helping profession you have to knock down a barrier for someone and fight for them.”
Combat isn’t always against an army, he continued. The adversary could be a “bacterium or a cancer, or some type of a system that isn’t working, or even something in that person’s own head that is making them unwell.”
Reading or hearing about an outstretched arm should prompt seder-goers to say, “It’s time for me to stretch out my arm,” Weinkle said. After all, “everyone is going to end up on both sides of the equation: Sometimes we are sick and sometimes we are helping. The lessons apply to both people.”
Writing “From Illness to Exodus” was an opportunity for Weinkle to scour classical Jewish texts. It was also a way of reclaiming his professional duties.
“This offered me a lens to really see what I was doing,” he said.
One of the Squirrel Hill resident’s biggest takeaways was the need to synthesize and clarify communication.
Midway through the Haggadah is a reference to Deuteronomy 26:5: “My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation.”
In many ways, that verse summarizes the “whole arc of the Torah,” Weinkle said. “Four hundred years of history are boiled down” to a few sentences.
Similarly, the Haggadah includes Rabban Gamliel’s instruction that one who celebrates Passover must recite three words — pesach, matzah and maror (Passover, unleavened bread and bitter herbs).
For Weinkle, the Haggadah’s quest for brevity is edifying.
“When you go into a medical setting, it’s busy, it’s loud, and sometimes all you get are four sentences,” he said.
Imagine entering a hectic venue or even a quiet room, he continued. It’s best to employ a four-sentence Haggadah-inspired narrative: “This is what I’m feeling. This is what I think is wrong. This is what I’m worried about. And, this is what I’m hoping you’ll do for me.”
The chronicling formula elicits insight.
“The things we do Jewishly have a direct bearing on how we conduct our lives. They are supposed to change us and help us grow,” he said.
“From Illness to Exodus” follows that model.
“I’m hoping people can pick it up, and even read one chapter,” he continued. “I hope it will transform them and be something meaningful.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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