Awards

• Winner of 73rd National Jewish Book Award, The Modern Jewish Thought and Experience Dorot Foundation Award in Memory of Joy Ungerleider Award.
• Winner of Winner, Modern Jewish Thought and Experience Dorot Foundation Award in Memory of Joy Ungerleider Award, 73rd National Jewish Book Awards.

Overview

A physician and historian of science and medicine at the National Institute of Health tells the hidden story of how plagues and pandemics shaped the history of the Jewish people.Plagues, pandemics, and infectious diseases have shaped the history of the Jewish people. Of course, there were the ten biblical plagues that famously smote the Egyptians--from the rain of frogs to the deaths of the firstborn--but that is just the start of the story. For the Talmudic Sages infectious diseases were part of the fundamental fabric of God's created world. In later times, however, disease was often thought to be caused by malign spells and incantations. A counter-magic developed to combat them. Amulets were deployed and miracle workers sought out. Surprisingly, Jeremy Brown shows, Jews sometimes even visited Christian shrines and beseeched the intervention of their saints. In 1348, when the Black Death swept through Europe, Jews fell victim both to the disease, for which they were blamed, and to the anti-Semitic violence that followed. At least 235 Jewish communities were persecuted even as Pope Clement IV ruled that anyone joining or authorizing the persecution would be excommunicated. In The Eleventh Plague, Brown investigates the relation between Judaism and infectious diseases throughout the ages, from premodern and early-modern plagues, to rabbinic responses to smallpox and cholera, to the special vulnerabilities Jewish immigrants faced in the US as result of prejudice, and to the curious practice of

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9780197607183

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Reviews

Jeremy Brown's The Eleventh Plague is a monumental contribution to both the history of pandemics and to Jewish (medical) history. The content and staggering breadth of sources alone are well worth the purchase, but Jeremy's literary flair serves to elevate the reading experience. This book provides a much needed historical perspective that has been missing from our current pandemic discourse. * Rabbi Edward Reichman, MD, author of The Anatomy of Jewish Law: A Fresh Dissection of the Relationship Between Medicine, Medical History and Rabbinic Literature * With astonishing learning that embraces Jewish, non-Jewish and medical sources, Jeremy Brown demonstrates that Jewish life has been shaped and reshaped by pandemics from biblical days to our own. Anyone looking for context on Covid-19 and the Jewish community should start with this book. * Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University; Chief Historian, The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History * In this expansive and sweeping volume, Brown takes readers on a spellbinding tour of the myriad ways that Jews have responded to plagues. Beginning with the world of the biblical Israelites and closing with an analysis of Jewish encounters with Covid-19, Brown debunks persistent misrepresentations of Jews as perpetuators of disease and embodiments of suffering. Brown's erudition and passion for his subject shimmers on every page, and his lucid style offers surprise and insight at every turn. * Malka Z. Simkovich, author of Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism. *

Author Information

Jeremy Brown is a physician and historian of science and medicine and directs the Office of Emergency Care Research at the National Institutes of Health. His previous books include Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History, New Heavens and a New Earth: The Jewish reception of Copernican Thought, Cardiology Emergencies, and as editor, The Oxford American Handbook of Emergency Medicine.

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