Daniel Hillel Freelander From Reform Judaism, Fall 1994Reprinted with permission. Reform synagogue architecture in America has from the beginning followed artistic trends and architectural norms. Jewish immigrants from Central Europe, who erected their community’s first and second synagogues between the 1840s and 1930s, sought to win the respect and admiration of their non-Jewish neighbors by …

Jewish tradition has long recognized that there are two components of health: the body and the spirit. The Mi Sheberach prayer, traditionally recited for someone who is ill, asks God for refuah shleima, a complete healing, and then specifies two aspects: refuat hanefesh, healing of the soul/spirit/whole person, and refuat haguf, cure of the body. …