Additional information
by Jonathan Weinkle (Author)
Being sick, especially being chronically ill, can feel like being trapped in a narrow place, with no way out. Even professional healers can feel trapped, not knowing how to lift that person up. One of the oldest stories in the world, the exodus, is a tale of escaping that kind of trap. This book uses the story of the exodus to help understand illness and healing--the narrow space, and the way out. From Illness to Exodus asks hard questions about illness, loss, and suffering--questions that literally keep people up all night--using the traditional Passover seder and its text, the Haggadah, as a template. It invites the ill person and healer alike to address these questions with compassion, curiosity, and a mature faith that can handle the uncertainty of being human.
Author Biography
Jonathan Weinkle is a primary care physician and chief medical officer of a community health center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His patients speak dozens of languages, hail from over a hundred countries, and tell myriad stories of human trials and triumphs. From those patients, he has slowly been learning how to transform the stereotype of "nice Jewish doctor" into a concrete way of practicing medicine that respects the Divine in all humanity.
