How can religious obligations adapt to illness without compromising faith or well-being?

In Episode 6 of Healing People, Not Patients, Rabbanit Miriam Fenster, a Halacha advisor, discusses navigating Jewish observance amid mental and physical health challenges. Drawing from her work with the Maaglei Nefesh program and decades of advising, she addresses conflicts like fasting during Yom Kippur for those with diabetes or eating disorders, Shabbat observance in mental health crises, and tailoring guidance to personal stories. Miriam emphasizes empathy, flexibility within Halacha's "four walls," and empowering individuals to find their path, offering insights for religious practitioners and healthcare providers alike.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• Flexibility in Halacha: Jewish law provides a structured framework but allows vast adaptability for individual health needs, viewing deviations not as "cheating" but as valid alternative paths.
• Person-Centered Guidance: Effective advice requires listening to the "question behind the question," understanding personal context, and sometimes consulting experts or deferring to the individual's self-knowledge.
• Lessons for Medicine: Healthcare professionals can learn from Halacha's nuanced approach—balancing evidence-based guidelines with empathy, avoiding premature closure, and recognizing social or emotional factors influencing patient needs.

About the Guest:

Rabbanit Miriam Fenster is a Halachic advisor and long-time student and teacher at Matan HaSharon in Ra'anana, Israel, specializing in advanced Halacha for women. She advises individuals aged 15 to 85 on family life, life cycles, Shabbat, and Kosher laws. Through the Maaglei Nefesh program, she supports those with mental illnesses in aligning Jewish observance with their health needs, drawing from personal experiences and a compassionate, individualized approach.

🔗 Connect with Rabbanit Miriam Fenster:

https://mnefesh.org/ Maaglei Nefesh

https://www.matan.org.il/en/ Matan

Healing People, Not Patients explores ways to enhance medical practice by infusing it with compassion, humanity, and a deeper sense of purpose, aiming to help healthcare professionals rediscover the "soul" of their work. Framed around the four questions of the Passover Seder, it probes how to transform medicine for the better, promoting an empathetic and supportive approach that empowers patients to create meaningful, sober lives, while drawing on Jewish teachings about community and friendship.

"Our theme song, "Room for the Soul," is available on Bandcamp at https://jonathanweinkle.bandcamp.com/track/room-for-the-soul."

Dr. Jonathan Weinkle is an internist and pediatrician who practices primary care at a community health center in Pittsburgh. He strives to be a "nice Jewish doctor" focused on patient-centered healthcare, emphasizing effective communication and holistic well-being.

He teaches the courses, “Death and the Healthcare Professions” and “Healing and Humanity” at the University of Pittsburgh, authored the books Healing People, Not Patients and Illness to Exodus, and runs ‘Healers Who Listen’, where he blogs on healing and Jewish tradition. Once an aspiring rabbi, he now integrates faith and medicine to support other physicians and his own patients.

🌐 Website: healerswholisten.com

🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jonathan-weinkle-3440032a

📸 Instagram: @HealersWhoListen

📘 Facebook: @JonathanWeinkle

The Healing People, Not Patients Podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult qualified professionals regarding your personal or organizational decisions.

How do we welcome the stranger in today’s clinics?

In Episode 5 of Healing People, Not Patients, Dr. Naghmeh Rowhani, and Ashok Gurung, join Dr. Jonathan Weinkle to discuss refugee and immigrant health. Dr. Rowhani, building a new pediatric immigrant clinic in San Diego, shares barriers like language gaps and fear of ICE. Ashok, a Bhutanese refugee now in medical school, recounts surviving refugee camps, community suicides, and translating mental health concepts across cultures. Together they explore cultural humility, somatic symptoms of trauma, and community resilience amid political turmoil—urging clinicians to advocate beyond medicine and foster trust through genuine care.

Top 3 Takeaways:

• Cultural Humility Over Competency: No clinician can master every culture; success lies in humility, curiosity, and building trust over time—especially when language or worldview gaps persist.
• Trauma Hides in the Body: Refugees often present with unexplained pain (headaches, abdominal pain) rooted in stress and displacement; ruling out physical causes while gently addressing psychological roots requires patience and cultural sensitivity.
• Community as Medicine: Tight-knit immigrant networks provide food, support, and hope during crises (e.g., food stamp cuts); clinicians succeed by connecting patients to these lifelines and advocating for housing, education, and safety.

About the Guests:

Dr. Naghmeh Rowhani, is an academic faculty in Pediatrics at UC San Diego, developing an immigrant/refugee health clinic with a federally qualified health center. With an MPH from Harvard focused on child protection, she previously worked with global orphans and near-border Mexican communities.

LinkedIn : linkedin.com/in/naghmeh-rowhani-md-mph

Ashok Gurung, a Bhutanese refugee orphaned young, survived refugee camps and now pursues his MD at AdventHealth/University of Chicago. A community leader addressing Bhutanese mental health crises and suicides, he bridges cultural concepts of trauma for better care.

Healing People, Not Patients explores ways to enhance medical practice by infusing it with compassion, humanity, and a deeper sense of purpose, aiming to help healthcare professionals rediscover the "soul" of their work. Framed around the four questions of the Passover Seder, it probes how to transform medicine for the better, promoting an empathetic and supportive approach that empowers patients to create meaningful, sober lives, while drawing on Jewish teachings about community and friendship.

"Our theme song, "Room for the Soul," is available on Bandcamp at https://jonathanweinkle.bandcamp.com/track/room-for-the-soul."

Dr. Jonathan Weinkle is an internist and pediatrician who practices primary care at a community health center in Pittsburgh. He strives to be a "nice Jewish doctor" focused on patient-centered healthcare, emphasizing effective communication and holistic well-being.

He teaches the courses, “Death and the Healthcare Professions” and “Healing and Humanity” at the University of Pittsburgh, authored the books Healing People, Not Patients and Illness to Exodus, and runs ‘Healers Who Listen’, where he blogs on healing and Jewish tradition. Once an aspiring rabbi, he now integrates faith and medicine to support other physicians and his own patients.

🌐 Website: healerswholisten.com

🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jonathan-weinkle-3440032a

📸 Instagram: @HealersWhoListen

📘 Facebook: @JonathanWeinkle

The Healing People, Not Patients Podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult qualified professionals regarding your personal or organizational decisions.