Jerusalém e Atenas / Jerusalem and Athens

O autor examina criticamente as duas grandes tradições responsáveis pela formação da cultura ocidental: a da Bíblia que gerou as três religiões do Livro, judaísmo, cristianismo e islamismo, e a filosofia, inventada na Grécia antiga e desenvolvida até a nossa contemporaneidade, argumentando que nosso presente só pode ser realmente compreendido à luz deste nosso passado.

The author critically examines the two great traditions which mostly contributed to the making of Western culture: on one hand the Bible, which gave origin to Judaism, Christianity and Islamism - the three religions of the Book, on the other philosophy, invented in Ancient Greece and developed up to the present day. He argues that our contemporary world can only be properly understood in the light of this past.

Dr. Haakon Sæthre: a Norwegian neuroscientist and his resistance against Nazi Germany.

Dr. Haakon Sæthre was a leader of Norwegian neurology and psychiatry. He was resourceful, compassionate and had immense pride in his independent homeland. He described Sæthre-Chotzen syndrome (acrocephalosyndactyly type III). When Nazi Germany occupied Norway during World War II, Sæthre fearlessly and actively resisted, from revoking his medical association membership, to hiding persecuted Jews as patients in his psychiatric ward and aiding in their escape to Sweden, to managing the largest "illegal" food warehouse in Oslo with Danish humanitarian aid. As a prominent and noticeable citizen, he was arrested and executed by the Nazis in reprisal for the resistance's assassination of a hated Norwegian Nazi. His legacy lives on in Norway, where he was honored by a scholarship fund, a portrait and multiple plaques at Ullevål Hospital, and a street and memorial statue in his hometown. He was a hero and should be remembered by all who practice neurology.

Surgery in early Jewish history.

The Hebrew writings in early history are dedicated primarily to the explanations and elucidations of Jewish law. In the context of such laws, several medical and anatomical references are made that provide some clues to the medical practices of the day. In particular, this article serves to compile references made to surgical interventions within these texts. Particular attention is paid to the possible use of anesthetics, the environment and equipment utilized in surgery, as well as the indication of knowledge of infection and hygienic practices. An understanding of human morphology was necessary for many of these surgical practices.

Paralelos: 95 anos de Unibes contados através da história de São Paulo / Parallels: 95 years of Unibes through the history of São Paulo

O livro faz um paralelo entre a cidade de São Paulo e fotos, histórias, depoimentos e informações sobre esta instituição sólida, antiga e atuante na coletividade judaica. São relatos e imagens que mostram como uma pequena entidade, fundada em 1915 para dar apoio aos imigrantes que se estabeleciam no Brasil, conseguiu crescer com tanta estrutura e eficiência.

Moisés Maimónides, "médico de príncipes, príncipe de los médicos" / Moses Maimonides, "Physician of princes, prince of physicians"

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) is considered the most prominent figure of Judaism during the Middle Ages. Born within the Sephardic Jewish community of Córdoba, his rich intellectual education (theological, philosophi-cal and medical) together with a deep spirituality gave birth to the figure of a highly humanitarian, rational and dedicated physician. His medical legacy includes ten treatises, among them 'Medical Aphorisms of Moses', a set of 1,500 aphorisms organized in 25 chapters, each dealing with a different área of medicine. His theological works and the renowned 'Guide for the Perplexed' raised his figure as a theologist and modern philosopher, being the latest his most universal creation. His life and legacy are an invitation to raise the medical vocation and practice beyond a simple occupation.

Moisés Maimónides (1135-1204) es considerado unánimemente la figura más prominente del judaismo durante el período medieval. Nacido en el seno de la comunidad judía sefardí cordobesa, su riquísima formación intelectual (teológica, filosófica y médica) unida a una profunda espiritualidad dio origen a la figura de un médico altamente humanitario, racional y abnegadamente dedicado a su trabajo. Su legado médico consta de diez tratados, entre los cuales destaca la obra 'Aforismos Médicos de Moisés', un conjunto de 1.500 aforismos organizados en 25 capítulos, cada uno versando sobre un área diferente de la medicina. Sus obras de carácter teológico y la célebre 'Guía de Perplejos' alzaron su figura como teólogo y filósofo moderno, siendo esta última considerada la más universal de sus creaciones. Su vida y obra son una invitación a elevar la vocación y profesión médica más allá de un simple oficio.

O processo como alegoria de ser Judeu: Franz Kafka e um de seus destinos / The Trial and its outcomes: Kafka and his vicissitudes

A literatura de Kafka, produzida no alvorecer do século XX, é mais um processo em andamento na Europa fin-de-siècle. É a escrita de um jovem que busca, para além de seu trabalho burocrático, um sentido para estar ali. Sua produção literária é a tentativa de dar conta desse mundo que não permite uma apropriação, que ora o incorpora, ora o exclui, por sua condição judaica. Condição muitas vezes secundária para ele e os de sua geração, mas que não deixa de marcá-los significativamente. Marcas involuntárias, que não os abandonam e retornam conforme as produzem. Marcas que caracterizam e permitem a construção de uma obra e de uma vida. Aqui tenta-se ler os vestígios dessa tradição abandonada, mas que não se deixa apagar. Que retorna, que impulsiona a produção, não como uma Musa, mas sim como angústia e necessidade de produzir.

Kafka's literature is one of the many intellectual projects underway in the European fin-de-siècle. It is the work of a young man in search of a meaning for being there, despite his bureaucratic work at a government agency. His literature is an attempt to get a hold of a society that sometimes accepts him and sometimes rejects him, for his Jewish background. A background usually not considered by him and his fellows, but always present in many different ways. It is this background that gives way to his literary production and, thus, his own life. This paper is an attempt to read the Jewish background that is behind Kafka's work, a background always present, which works in favor of his production, not as a Muse, but as anguish and the necessity to write.

Fragmentos: a construção do histórico em Freud / Fragments: the construction of the historic in Freud

O artigo parte da distinção encontrada no trabalho freudiano Moisés e o Monoteísmo: Geschichte (o acontecer histórico), a Historie (a historiografia) e o historish (o adjetivo histórico). Apoiando-se nos fragmentos de narrações, de relatos ou de imagens que constituem o acontecimento histórico e suas versões historiográficas, a construção do historish na psicanálise é acompanhada. Mostra como o historisch preenche as lacunas entrevistas na Geschichte e na Historie ao abordarem os feitos de Moisés e o estabelecimento do judaísmo. Conclui por identificar nesse procedimento o compromisso ético de Freud de sustentar o ato teórico que funda a verdade histórica dessa religião.

The text uses a distinction found in Freudïs Moses and Monotheism between Geschichte (historical event), Historie (historiography) and historish (historical truth). Supported by fragments presented in narratives, reports and images that constitute the historical event and its historiographic versions, the construction of the historish in psychoanalysis is followed. The article demonstrates how the historish comes to fulfill gaps presented by Geschichte and Historie in what concerns the deeds of Moses and the setting up of Judaism. It concludes by identifying in this procedure Freudïs ethical commitmen to support a theoretical act which founds the historical truth of this religion.

A case of cranial surgery in the Talmud.

The history of Jewish discourse on law and philosophy was transformed from an oral teaching to a written teaching around the beginning of the Common Era. The result of these written laws and commentaries is known today as the Talmud. Many pages of the Talmud discuss illnesses and diseases and their potential treatments, however very few of these potential treatments involve invasive surgery. In one instance, involving a painful skin ailment called ra'aton, the authors of the Talmud suggest cranial surgery as the cure and describe the preparation of a potential anesthetic, the surgery environment, and the removal of a growth. Although this account raises several questions about the ailment itself, it provides us with a rare look at invasive cranial surgery dating back nearly 2,000 years.

Max Eitingon and a question of politics.

Max Eitingon is thought not to have left behind original theoretical work, despite the fact that he wrote some 40 articles and a dozen psychoanalytic congress reports. He has been almost forgotten over the years, even though he occupied an important political place in the history of the psychoanalytic movement. In recent times, he has again become a subject of attention. In this article the author takes a look at Eitingon as an activist who was intensely involved in the social and political struggles of his time. He represents the political aspect of psychoanalysis on two counts: first, within the psychoanalytic movement, where he had a particular role in the institutionalizing of psychoanalysis, and, second, in relating it to wider social and political ends.

Cleft lip in the Talmud.

The authors address the problem of why the cleft lip anomalad is not mentioned even once in the Talmud, which contains detailed reports of numerous other forms of pathology and congenital anomalies. It also attempts to define the Sandal deformity, one of the most common congenital anomalies mentioned in the Talmud. It is assumed that cleft lip, the most common major facial defect, existed at the time of the Talmud. It is proposed that the Sandal deformity was actually made up of a number of entities grouped together because of a theorized common etiology, and that the cleft lip entity is included in the Sandal anomalad. This deformity, in its various forms, included, besides cleft lip, aborted tissue and products of gestation. They are all related to the common etiology of a twin gestation during which one fetus presses against the other causing the deformity. The Sandal was noted to look like the Sandal fish or sole, for which it is named. When photos of the Sandal fish and the cleft lip deformity are compared, a similarity is seen. In addition, this deformity apparently was thought to be fatal, and none of these babies survived. It is theorized that cleft lip babies were allowed to die because they were considered nonviable in the eyes of Jewish law. Supporting evidence for the ideas presented by the authors is derived from the talmudic texts and commentaries. If the Sandal does indeed include the cleft lip entity, the citation in the Mishnah (70-200 AD) makes it the earliest historical reference to the cleft lip deformity.

Inflammatory bowel disease up to 1932.

Inflammatory bowel diseases have been a major interest of generations of Mount Sinai Hospital gastroenterologists. Although clinical descriptions of diarrhea with or without blood go back thousands of years, clear distinctions between enteritis and ulcerative colitis were possible only in the 19th century. At that time, many case reports were published of, in retrospect, classical regional enteritis. The term "ulcerative colitis" dates from 1888; the introduction of the electric sigmoidoscope soon after made it possible to make proper diagnosis of ulcerative colitis and distinguish it from infective dysentery, membranous mucous or catarrhal colitis, and nervous diarrhea. Doctors at The Mount Sinai Hospital adopted this diagnostic approach in the 1870s and 1880s, and were particularly interested in patients with tuberculosis-like ileocecal disease without tubercle bacilli. Articles were written by Weiner in 1914, Moschcowitz and Wilensky in 1923 and 1927, and Goldfarb and Suissman in 1931. Dr. A.A. Berg, in 1925, encouraged his assistant Leon Ginzburg to conduct a study of the inflammatory granulomatous diseases of the bowel, when Ginzburg and Gordon Oppenheimer were working in Dr. Paul Klemperer's laboratory. Initial reports came in 1927 and 1928, but Ginzburg and Oppenheimer "in conjunction with Dr. Burrill B. Crohn" presented a definitive paper, "Non-specific Granulomata of the Intestine," on May 2, 1932, to the American Gastro-Enterological Association. On May 13, 1932, Dr. Crohn presented a paper on "Terminal Ileitis" to the American Medical Association; this was published later that year with the title "Regional Ileitis: A Pathologic and Chronic Entity," under the authorship of Crohn, Ginzburg and Oppenheimer.

Inflammatory bowel disease after 1932.

The clinical diseases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) were defined by 1932-1933. After that, the major conceptual developments were the recognition that regional enteritis could clearly involve the colon, and that cancer and toxic megacolon could occur in both CD and UC. In the last half of the 20th century the main thrust of gastroenterology at The Mount Sinai Hospital has been in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with contributions to extra-intestinal manifestations, measurement of clinical activity in CD, the natural history of the placebo arm of controlled trials, complications and therapy with corticosteroids, 5-ASA, 6-mercaptopurine, immunomodulators and cyclosporine. Actuarial life tables were introduced for postoperative recurrence and re-operation rates, as well as for quality of life analysis. Two forms of CD were defined, perforating and non-perforating, and the role of the fecal stream was explored in light of the higher risk of recurrence after operations with anastomosis as compared with ileocolostomy.

The history of surgery for Crohn's disease at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Almost certainly, the physicians and surgeons of The Mount Sinai Hospital cared for patients with inflammatory bowel disease prior to 1932. However, the accepted beginning of the surgery of granulomatous inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and Crohn's disease (CD) at our institution occurred when the landmark paper by Crohn, Ginzburg, and Oppenheimer was published in 1932. As a major referral center for patients with both medical and surgical complications of IBD, the surgical service has had a long and abiding interest in the disease. This review highlights the major contributions of our staff to the management of this illness over the past 67 years. Despite major innovations in both medical and surgical management of patients with Crohn's disease, individuals suffering from this condition are ideally managed by a multidisciplinary team.

Pioneer gastroenterological radiologic studies.

In the middle third of the 20th century, Mount Sinai radiologists were able to describe and establish specific radiologic criteria for the diagnosis of many gastrointestinal diseases. They then delineated specific radiologic patterns to diagnose such diverse conditions as inflammatory bowel disease of the small bowel and colon, protein-losing disorders, vascular disease of the small bowel, benign and malignant tumors, metastases and lymphoma of the gastrointestinal tract. Richard H. Marshak, Bernard S. Wolf, and Mansho T. Khilnani were the leaders in these radiologic investigations which established criteria that enabled generations of subsequent radiologists to arrive at definitive diagnoses.