The Babylonian Talmud briefly describes the practice of brain surgery. In fact brain surgery dates back to the earliest men. From a biblical standpoint it would be the ten generations from Adam to Noah. The archeologists call this the new stone age or neolithic period. Papyrus scrolls found in Egypt which at least go back to the days of the pharaohs describe the procedure. Also ancient skulls on which brain surgery was performed as well as the surgical instruments have been found in Peru. The treatment was used for organic diseases, nervous disorders, bone inflammations, head injuries, headaches, epilepsy, mental illnesses as well as for spiritual and magical reasons. It was often successful. Hippocrates (ancient Greece \ Babylonian exile period), often considered the father of modern medicine, left many texts on brain surgery. The Edwin Smith surgical papyrus which describes the treatment of many injuries among them skull fractures is often attributed to Imhotep, who was viceroy of Pharaoh, and considered by many to be the biblical character Joseph.
In this Gemara brain surgery is a digression on the discussion of whether a man with skin disease (מכה שחין) is obligated to divorce his wife (see Mishna Ketubos 7:10). In this case it is talking about a disease where intercourse will weaken him and likely cause his death, therefore a divorce is required. The Gemara (Ketubot 77b) then discusses those that are struck with שְחִין which is often translated as boils. It states that there are 24 types of shuchin and in all of them intercourse is generally considered as dangerous. The worst type of sh’chin is called ra’atan (ראתן).
A simple reading of the Talmud would say that it is some sort of an insect which infests the brain that has four legs and is at least half an inch long. It does not correspond to maladies found today. Typically parasites that invade the brain are microscopic. The largest would be a tapeworm but that has no legs. These disorders are treated with medicine. Surgery is used to remove a tumor. One can speculate it was a disease found in ancient times that has long been forgotten.
The symptoms of ra’athan are tearing eyes with a runny nose that brings a puss to the mouth that attracts flies. A medicine is made by boiling together pila (פילא), ladanum (לודנא), shavings from the smoothing of a leather hide (גירדא דאשפא), melilot (כליל מלכא), the rind of a nut tree (גירדא דאגוזא) and the calyx (petals below the flower) of a red date tree (מתחלא דדיקלא סומקא). Some say that pila is common mint. Rashi seems to say it is Teucrium polium commonly called poley germander. It’s a traditional Persian medicine used as an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and a pain killer. Labdanum is a soft resin from the Cistus or rockrose which is used to cover up odors. Melilot is a sweet scented clover from the pea family.
The surgery is conducted in a room which does not allow outside breezes, preferably one with marble walls. Three hundred cups of the medicine are poured on the patient’s head in order to soften the skull. After that the skull is cut open to expose the brain. The four legs of the parasite are lifted up and placed on four myrtle leaves. It is then grasped with a pair of tweezers and burned, so as to prevent reinfection.
I watched a video of brain surgery. They did nothing to soften the skull. The incision was made with a sharp scalpel and the bone was cut with a device that was a combination of a drill and and a saw. Medical imaging was a major tool for diagnosis and identified the place of the tumor. The original patient complaint was frequent falling.
A friend of my mother in her seventies died of an undiagnosed brain tumor. She always had a sleepy expression on her face which made me uneasy. Another sign may have been congenital clubfeet. She was a pure soul living in a not so pure area which may have been a subtle source of aggravation. She also had an unusually pleasant personality. A speculation is that cheerful people may be prone to this disorder. All of these, though, are varying degrees of speculation.
The Torah does not come to teach us science. While there is something to be gained from studying the remedies found in the religious texts, this is not their fundamental purpose. Their fundamental purpose is to teach a person to know G-d and to go in His good ways. It would seem that one of the paths of Hashem is the path of good physical health and it really is a transgression to grossly neglect one’s health.
לע"נ הסבתאטויבע בת יואל לייב ז"ל נלב"ע כה שבט תשכגו
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