Several specific factors distinguished the Pale’s Ashkenazi feldshers [from the German feldscherer meaning field shearer. A military paramedic specializing in haircuts, barbering, and medical knowledge] from their non-Jewish counterparts. While all of Eastern Europe’s feldshers would have undergone similar on-the-job training, Jewish feldshers observed customs that made their healing methods distinct from those of other feldshers.
One of these differences lay in the simple act of shaving. Throughout the Pale, even as late as the twentieth century, shaving was prohibited for Jews. And Ashkenazi feldsher (or cyrulik [from the Polish cyrulicy. Cyruliks are civilian barber-surgeons]), with a practice that mainly served his co-religionists, would not be expected to provide this service. Thus, unlike the Christian barber-surgeon, who might specialize in the former rather than the latter part of the hyphenated profession, his Jewish counterpart would have concentrated almost exclusively on the healing aspects of the profession rather than the tasks of grooming.
Another difference lay in the Jewish feldsher’s community standing. Because sanctioned medical care in Ashkenazi communities in the Pale by the nineteenth century was generally provided by feldshers rather than trained physicians (the restrictions that barred most Jews from attending Russian universities, along with the draft, played a large role in this), their social standing was rather high for a paraprofessional trade. Feldshers were considered “folk physicians” by their communities, and Ashkenazi Jews affectionately referred to their community feldshers as rofe, or royfe, Hebrew for “doctor.” As they were so often “of the people,” their down-to-earth reputation created a strong and trusting bond between feldshers and their communities. Assuming they were able to choose between a trained physician and a feldsher when seeking care, Jewish patients were far more likely to confide in the latter, particularly when discussing their reliance on traditional healing. Because of their close and intimate ties to their communities (both as enforced through the restrictions of the Pale and the rooted hereditary lineage that shaped their practices), feldshers regularly interacted with other additional folk healers, knew their remedies, and often made extensive use of that knowledge. As a result, the feldsher’s medical repertoire was enriched by the variety of herbal and other traditional remedies they encountered.
A third difference that distinguished the Ashkenazi feldshers from their non-Jewish counterparts was their use of the remedy books, the segulot ve-refu’ot described earlier. These handbooks with their secret plant-based remedies were as important to the Jewish feldsher or cyrulik as they were for the ba’alei shem.
Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel, Ashkenazi Herbalism; Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews
