A nation without borders?: Modern European emancipation as negation of Galut

This essay examines the concept of shelilat hagalut (negation of exile/Diaspora) and argues that in many ways, the political and structural changes entailed in the granting of citizenship to Jews in modern Western nation-states can be viewed as already constituting a negation of galut well before the emergence of Zionism. Through comparison to traditional rabbinic conceptions of Jewish communal-national status, we will see that the modern insistence upon national identification with a geographically bounded nation-state constituted a direct undermining of previous theopolitical conceptions of Israel as a geographically unbounded “nation in exile.” In light of this reframing, the usage in contemporary discourse of “center” and “Diaspora” is shown largely to constitute a false binary that generates unproductive and interminable dispute between “diasporists” and classical Zionist “centralists.” By contrast, clarifying the ways in which ideologies of European emancipation and of Zionism have both been complicit in negating galut can aid in producing better understandings of the relation between past and present Jewish culture and conceptuality, and in enabling more fruitful intellectual efforts to engage presently unresolved conflicts in the spheres of Jewish politics, culture, and identity.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Purdue University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sho.2016.002

Ethics without substances: Foucault, mishnaic ethics, and human ontology

The purpose of this article is twofold: to illuminate Foucault by looking at the Mishnah, and to illuminate the Mishnah by looking at Foucault. We argue that the Mishnah challenges the universality of Foucault’s claims about ancient thought. Yet, at the same time, Foucault’s framework helps to highlight ways in which the Mishnah can be read as a signpost for advancing contemporary philosophical thought. While in its outward form, the Mishnah puts forth an account of normative-legal duties to God and to human beings, we show that it can also be read as an exemplary instance of an ethics without a substantialist ontology

Aquinas’s opposition to killing the innocent and its distinctiveness within the Christian just war tradition

This essay argues that Aquinas's position regarding the killing of innocent people differs significantly from other representatives of the Christian just war tradition. While his predecessors, notably Augustine, as well as his successors, from Cajetan and Vitoria onward, affirm the legitimacy of causing the death of innocents in a just war in cases of necessity, Aquinas holds that causing the death of innocents in a foreseeable manner, whether intentionally or indirectly, is never justified. Even an otherwise legitimate act of just war cannot legitimate causing the death of innocent people, as this can never advance the common good. This stance also contrasts sharply with much modern and contemporary double effect theorizing in relation to jus in bello. In this regard, Aquinas's position, shaped decisively by his biblical and theological commitments, may point the way towards an ethical orientation beyond the typical divisions of “pacifism” and “just war.

Born into Covenantal Salvation? Baptism and Birth in Early Christianity and Classical Rabbinic Judaism

This article seeks to propose a new conceptual framing for the question of baptism in early Christianity. It takes for its starting point a study that puts forth the claim that in the first three centuries, infants born into a Christian household were not baptized; if the parents were already part of the Christian community, then any child born to such parents was considered to be born Christian. Such a claim would imply that salvational status can be passed down genealogically by Christian parents to their children. I demonstrate that a detailed examination of the theological understanding of conversion and birth in classical Jewish, rabbinic literature can shed light on how we might historically understand the status of baptism and birth in early Christianity

Introduction to Shofar special issue: Rethinking exile, center, and diaspora in modern Jewish culture

The essays in this special issue stem from a conference held at the University of Cambridge in May 2016 on the theme of “Rethinking Exile, Center, and Diaspora in Modern Jewish Culture.” With participants from the UK, Israel, Germany, and the US, the discussions and presentations took their starting point from the reflection that, over the course of multiple centuries prior to the modern era, Jewish culture was shaped in various ways by the concept of “exile” and by the practical circumstances that corresponded to this concept. The conference aimed to explore ways in which inherited Jewish culture has also been reshaped and affected by the presence of nonexilic or anti-exilic dynamics in more recent and contemporary Jewish history

Physiotherapy scoliosis-specific exercises: a comprehensive review of seven major schools

In recent decades, there has been a call for change among all stakeholders involved in scoliosis management. Parents of children with scoliosis have complained about the so-called “wait and see” approach that far too many doctors use when evaluating children’s scoliosis curves between 10° and 25°. Observation, Physiotherapy Scoliosis Specific Exercises (PSSE) and bracing for idiopathic scoliosis during growth are all therapeutic interventions accepted by the 2011 International Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT). The standard features of these interventions are: 1) 3-dimension self-correction; 2) Training activities of daily living (ADL); and 3) Stabilization of the corrected posture. PSSE is part of a scoliosis care model that includes scoliosis specific education, scoliosis specific physical therapy exercises, observation or surveillance, psychological support and intervention, bracing and surgery. The model is oriented to the patient. Diagnosis and patient evaluation is essential in this model looking at a patient-oriented decision according to clinical experience, scientific evidence and patient’s preference. Thus, specific exercises are not considered as an alternative to bracing or surgery but as a therapeutic intervention, which can be used alone or in combination with bracing or surgery according to individual indication. In the PSSE model it is recommended that the physical therapist work as part of a multidisciplinary team including the orthopeadic doctor, the orthotist, and the mental health care provider - all are according to the SOSORT guidelines and Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) philosophy. From clinical experiences, PSSE can temporarily stabilize progressive scoliosis curves during the secondary period of progression, more than a year after passing the peak of growth. In non-progressive scoliosis, the regular practice of PSSE could produce a temporary and significant reduction of the Cobb angle. PSSE can also produce benefits in subjects with scoliosis other than reducing the Cobb angle, like improving back asymmetry, based on 3D self-correction and stabilization of a stable 3D corrected posture, as well as the secondary muscle imbalance and related pain. In more severe cases of thoracic scoliosis, it can also improve breathing function. This paper will discuss in detail seven major scoliosis schools and their approaches to PSSE, including their bracing techniques and scientific evidence. The aim of this paper is to understand and learn about the different international treatment methods so that physical therapists can incorporate the best from each into their own practices, and in that way attempt to improve the conservative management of patients with idiopathic scoliosis. These schools are presented in the historical order in which they were developed. They include the Lyon approach from France, the Katharina Schroth Asklepios approach from Germany, the Scientific Exercise Approach to Scoliosis (SEAS) from Italy, the Barcelona Scoliosis Physical Therapy School approach (BSPTS) from Spain, the Dobomed approach from Poland, the Side Shift approach from the United Kingdom, and the Functional Individual Therapy of Scoliosis approach (FITS) from Poland

Physical therapy intervention studies on idiopathic scoliosis-review with the focus on inclusion criteria1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies investigating the outcome of conservative scoliosis treatment differ widely with respect to the inclusion criteria used. This study has been performed to investigate the possibility to find useful inclusion criteria for future prospective studies on physiotherapy (PT).</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>A PubMed search for outcome papers on PT was performed in order to detect study designs and inclusion criteria used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Real outcome papers (start of treatment in immature samples/end results after the end of growth; controlled studies in adults with scoliosis with a follow-up of more than 5 years) have not been found. Some papers investigated mid-term effects of exercises, most were retrospective, few prospective and many included patient samples with questionable treatment indications.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is no outcome paper on PT in scoliosis with a patient sample at risk for being progressive in adults or in adolescents followed from premenarchial status until skeletal maturity. However, papers on bracing are more frequently found and bracing can be regarded as evidence-based in the conservative management and rehabilitation of idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents.</p

Improving Care of Patients At-Risk for Osteoporosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Despite accurate diagnostic tests and effective therapies, the management of osteoporosis has been observed to be suboptimal in many settings. We tested the effectiveness of an intervention to improve care in patients at-risk of osteoporosis. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care physicians and their patients at-risk of osteoporosis, including women 65 years and over, men and women 45 and over with a prior fracture, and men and women 45 and over who recently used ≥90 days of oral glucocorticoids. INTERVENTION: A multifaceted program of education and reminders delivered to primary care physicians as well as mailings and automated telephone calls to patients. Outcome: Either undergoing a bone mineral density (BMD) testing or filling a prescription for a bone-active medication during the 10 months of follow-up. RESULTS: After the intervention, 144 (14%) patients in the intervention group and 97 (10%) patients in the control group received either a BMD test or filled a prescription for an osteoporosis medication. This represents a 4% absolute increase and a 45% relative increase (95% confidence interval 9–93%, p = 0.01) in osteoporosis management between the intervention and control groups. No differences between groups were observed in the incidence of fracture. CONCLUSION: An intervention targeting primary care physicians and their at-risk patients increased the frequency of BMD testing and/or filling prescriptions for osteoporosis medications. However, the absolute percentage of at-risk patients receiving osteoporosis management remained low