Healing and Otherness: Jewish Attitudes towards Medical Care from and for Non-Jews in Medieval Catalonia

The Talmud prohibits, in principle, receiving medical treatment from non-Jewish practitioners and providing medical treatment to non-Jewish patients. In 13^th century Catalonia, a society that valued medical care and enjoyed an increasingly sophisticated medical system, these prohibitions and their underlying assumptions conflicted with the growing integration of Jewish doctors and patients into the medical system. Jewish doctors, who constituted a significant percentage of all physicians, maintained a clientele outside of the Jewish community, and eminent Jewish physicians were often called upon to treat important persons. Many Jews consulted non-Jewish physicians and used medications prepared by non-Jewish pharmacists.

Approaches to this conflict varied. Maimon Gallipapa and Shem Tov of Tortosa decried the recourse of Jews to non-Jewish physicians. On the other hand, Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) ruled that receiving medical care from a non-Jew is prohibited only if religious practice forms part of the treatment. He permitted treatment from a qualified doctor or pharmacist healing by conventional methods. His opinion reflects his perception of the physician as a professional committed to the principles of a cohesive discipline, irrespective of his religious community, an attitude in keeping with the growing professionalization of medicine in 13^th century Spain. Shlomo ben Aderet (Rashba) and Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet (Rivash) discussed the use of medications containing non-kosher ingredients without reference to their preparation by non-Jews. Regarding the Jewish practitioner`s treatment of non-Jews, traditional attitudes toward non-Jews prevailed. Both Ramban and Rashba permitted Jewish physicians to treat non-Jews, not from professional considerations, but to prevent animosity.