B’nai Sholom Course Looks at Maimonides and Health

A course at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation will introduce the venerated scholar, philosopher and physician Maimonides and his views of health and disease.

“Maimonides and the Regimen of Health” will be offered four Tuesday evenings beginning April 12 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation, 420 Whitehall Road, Albany, New York.

Maimonides, who lived and wrote primarily in Morocco and Egypt in the 12^th century, is revered not only as a Torah scholar and philosopher, but also as a physician, serving as personal physician to the grand vizier, the sultan and the royal family. This course, led by B’nai Sholom congregant Dr. Richard Propp of Albany, will introduce Maimonides and the medieval world in which he lived before focusing on some of his views of health and disease. Topics will include exercise, nutrition, healing, studies of chicken soup, and psychosomatic medicine, among others.

Propp has studied and presented talks on Maimonides since 1985. Following a research fellowship in hematology at Harvard Medical School, he joined the Albany Medical College faculty in 1968 and undertook research, teaching and patient care until 1975. He then practiced and taught internal medicine and hematology until 1995, when he began work on patient safety at the New York State Health Department. Since retiring in 2005, he has worked as volunteer chair of the Capital District Alliance for Universal Healthcare.

Registration for this four-session course is required. Cost is $25; for B’nai Sholom members, it is just $18. For more information or to register for this course, contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or e-mail office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.

Founded in 1971, B’nai Sholom Reform Congregation in Albany is a home for contemporary Reform Judaism in the Capital Region, creating a vibrant Jewish present that links ancient traditions with the promise of the future. Nearly 130 diverse households from eight counties seek religious, educational and social fulfillment at B’nai Sholom. For information about B’nai Sholom and the benefits of belonging, visit www.bnaisholomalbany.org or contact the B’nai Sholom office at 518-482-5283 or office@bnaisholom.albany.ny.us.