Jewish Herbalism for Farmers

This course meets once a week for 3  Sundays in January from 7:00 to 8:30 PM Eastern.

The dates are 01/08, 01/15, and 01/22! 

Join Herbalist Naomi Spector for a 3 part fascinating dive into the long and rich history of Jewish healing with plants, with a special focus on the folk traditions of Jews who work the land. We are honored to also have Mazal Masoud Etedgi of B'samim Apothecary join as a guest educator on 1/22!

Like all peoples of the world, Jews have always used plants for healing, and Jewish tradition is full of beautiful teachings, songs and stories about medicinal plants. In this class we will learn about some of the herbs that were vitally important to historic Jewish communities and explore folk traditions and home remedies connected with these plants. We will study how they were used for healing both by folk healers as well as by some of the most influential Jews in history, from Asaf to Maimonides.

In our learning together we will discuss the following questions: 

• What plants have been historically cultivated by Jewish farmers? 
• How have Jewish farmers healed themselves and their animals with herbs? 
• What do these traditional practices reveal about the worldview of our ancestors, their values, and how they related to our animals and plants?

While this class is intentionally designed for Jewish farmers, herbalists, and others who work with plants in diverse capacities, it also serves as an introduction to Jewish herbalism and to creating your own herbal remedies for Jews who do not have a background in herbal or plant studies but are interested in getting to know our plants more Jewishly.

This course meets once a week for 3  Sundays in January from 7:00 to 8:30 PM Eastern.

The dates are 01/08, 01/15, and 01/22! 

In registering, you are registering for all 3 classes 

Scholarships are available if the program cost would make it hard to participate. Please reach out to liel@jewishfarmernetwork.org for more information, we would love to have you :)

About Naomi Spector

Naomi is a Jewish herbalist, ethnobotanist, and educator in Massachusetts, on Nipmuc and Wampanoag land. Some of her favorite plants include garlic, pomegranate, chamomile, mulberry, and cedar. She hopes through her work as an educator and community herbalist to help connect fellow Jews to the plant traditions of our ancestors. Her practice draws on Sefardi, Ashkenazi and Mediterranean plant medicine traditions. She provides holistic plant-based care (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) to those seeking root cause changes in their lifestyle.

About Mazal Masoud Etedgi

Mazal Masoud Etedgi (they/them/theirs) is a trans/non-binary and queer artist, arab/mizrahi/amazigh jew, drama therapist, cultural organizer and founder of b’samim apothecary. In their healing and ritual work, they utilize imagination, art, ancestral wisdom and somatic practices as tools for transformation, liberation, and connection.