Reprinted with Permission from ‘Alternative Medicine in Halachah‘, expanded edition (English version of ‘Ki Ani Hashem Rofecha’), Copyright © 2020 by Rabbi Rephoel Szmerla, Rav and Dayan in Lakewood. Published by Israel Bookshop; all rights reserved.
CHAPTER SIX
(Pages 103-108)
What Is Homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a therapeutic system based on the theory that dis- eases can be cured by giving very small doses of substances that, when given to a healthy person, produce symptoms similar to those of the disease. It was developed at the end of the 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German physician and professor at Leipzig University, through experiments he and his students con- ducted, This approach to medicine was termed homeopathy, from the Latin “homeo,” which means “similar,” because it is based on the principle that ike cures like.”
Dr. Hahnemann’s experiments led him to the conclusion that the process of repeated dilution makes a homeopathic remedy more potent. He would dilute the active ingredient in a glass of water, dilute a drop of this mixture into another glass of water, and so on dozens or hundreds of times, finding that the remedy became more powerful with each dilution. Hahnemann also discovered that in order for these successive dilutions to activate the remedy, it was necessary to vigorously shake the product between each dilution.
According to the principles of homeopathy, it is the successive dilutions and shakings that give the remedy its potency.
The Halachic Status of Homeopathy
The requirement diluting and shaking the remedy has convinced many in the scientific community that homeopathy is irrational and fraudulent. Many remedies are diluted to the extent that not a singe molecule from the original tincture remains, making their therapeutic effect incomprehensible. Since the effectiveness of homeopathy cannot be explained by science, some have raised the concern that it should be forbidden by the prohibition against darchei haEmori (Amorite practices). This argument is based on the assumption that only therapies which are based on reason or science are permissible. All other means of healing are forbidden under the prohibition against darchei ha’Emori.
In truth, this prohibition does not apply to homeopathy for two reasons:
- As we clarified in Chapter 2 (p. 34), all the Rishonim agree that it is not necessary for a remedy to be explainable by science in order to be rationally justified and permitted; experiential evidence of its effectiveness is sufficient.
- Only non-Jewish customs are included in the Prohibition against darchei ha’Emori (see Biurim, עמ׳ קכב). Practices that developed from medical experiments are certainly not included, whether they are rationally justified or not. (This argument was acknowledged by Rav Yisroel Belsky zt”l. This is why he held that homeopathy is halachically permitted even though he believed it is nonsense and ineffective (Irgun Shiurei Torah CD 05 Shiur 22 question #40 — CD 01 shiur 2 question #1b).
Indeed, Rav Menashe Klein (1924-2011) ruled that homeopathic remedies are unquestionably permitted, even if their mode of action is beyond comprehension.* Similarly, Rav Shmuel Wosner (1913- 2015) writes:
Regarding the permissibility of homeopathic remedies, which you wrote work in a mysterious way, it depends on whether their effectiveness has been established and if there is empirical evidence of their healing power - even if they are not effective in every case. The fact that their mode of action is not understood should not be viewed as a negative factor, for the permissibility of a therapy depends solely on its effectiveness. (Responsa Shevet Halevi 5:55)*
Although the efficacy of homeopathy has been well-established, many people are still troubled by the fact that its mechanism remains a mystery. Homeopaths concede that many remedies are too diluted to contain any trace of the original substance. However, they maintain that a remedy does not heal through its chemical content but through the energetic frequency it has absorbed from the original substance. Regardless of the way they work, the fact that homeo- pathic remedies have proven to be effective indicates that plants and minerals possess properties that science has yet to discover. Indeed Rabbeinu Bacheye writes:
Some have explained the verse (Shemos 15:25), Hashem gave him a statute and a rule, to mean that Hashem taught Moshe Rabbeinu the knowledge of plants and their properties, both natural and mysterious. For there are plants that can revive the dead, and others that can kill; some plants heal, while others cause illness; some sweeten the bitter, while others make bitter the sweet. They produce these effects either through their natural properties or through their mysterious faculties. This is the meaning of the expression a statute and a rule; "a statute" refers to the mysterious faculties that are not understood, while "a rule" refers to the natural properties that follow the laws of nature.
(Rabbeinu Bacheye, Shemos 15:25)
Although these mysterious faculties are not understood — as they do not follow the known laws of nature — they certainly do not fall under the category of darchei ha’Emori.
It is interesting to note that the concept of “like cures like” is mentioned by the Rashba:
Substances that heat up the body are beneficial against conditions caused by heat; many remedies function in a similar manner
(Rashba, Responsa 1:413)
Likewise, Sefer Midrash Talpios writes:
The aldeghag stone is a cold and moist stone that is poisonous when ingested. However, wearing it is beneficial to someone who has drunk a poisonous beverage, or who has been bitten by a scorpion.
(Sefer Midrash Talpios)
The phenomenon of healing properties existing in a solution devoid the original substance is also not unique to homeopathy. We find in Tractate Shabbos:
A woman may go out on Shabbos wearing an even tekumah [as a protection against miscarriage]. They said in the name of Rabbi Meir that a woman may even go out on Shabbos wearing the counterweight of an even tekumah.
(Shabbos 66b)*
An even tekumah is a hollow stone that naturally contains another stone inside its cavity, resembling a pregnant woman carrying her unborn child.* Chazal ruled that a pregnant woman is allowed to wear it in the street on Shabbos because they recognized its effectiveness in preventing miscarriages. Rabbi Meir added that even a regular stone acquires these properties if it has been weighed against an even tekumah and found to be of equal weight. Although no molecules of the even tekumah are transferred, its healing properties are.
Conclusion
Homeopathy may be counter-intuitive to the modern mind, but that is no reason to deny the healing it can provide. Overconfidence in the human mind has led many cultures to accept only that which their intellect can comprehend. Our Sages, on the other hand, remind us that man’s intellect is inadequate to grasp all of Hashem’s wisdom, and warn us against following the path of the Greeks, who denied anything they did not comprehend.*
*For all sources in Hebrew, please refer to a published copy of the book.