L'Shleimut: A Jewish Radical Tradition Against Capitalist Science and Medicine

A restoration of Jewish traditions for healing the world.

L'Shleimut uncovers an overlooked Jewish tradition of resistance to capitalist science and medicine. Yarden Azoulay Katz traces the lives and work of Jewish scientists, healers, artists, and activists who challenged the racist, sexist, and for-profit expectations of science and medicine. They all aspired toward shleimut (wholeness): repairing what's broken in this world and creating life-affirming alternatives. The book explores diverse figures, including anarchist midwives, radical herbalists, AIDS activists, and socialist biologists. Working as part of broader social movements, these Jewish radicals employed their own ancestral traditions in fighting capitalism while creating an interdependent view of our bodies, our health, and ecology. Accompanied by original illustrations from physician-artist Anna Zeligowski, L'Shleimut shows how this radical tradition has been passed down from generation to generation. It offers wholeness as a principle to inspire anyone engaged in the struggle for a better world.