The Rabbi’s Brain: Mystics, Moderns and the Science of Jewish Thinking

by Andrew B. Newberg, David Halpern

The topic of “Neurotheology” has garnered increasing attention in the academic, religious, scientific, and popular worlds. However, there have been no attempts at exploring more specifically how Jewish religious thought and experience may intersect with neurotheology. The Rabbi’s Brain engages this groundbreaking area. Topics included relate to a neurotheological approach to the foundational beliefs that arise from the Torah and associated scriptures, Jewish learning, an exploration of the different elements of Judaism (i.e. reform, conservative, and orthodox), an exploration of specifically Jewish practices (i.e. Davening, Sabbath, Kosher), and a review of Jewish mysticism. The Rabbi’s Brain engages these topics in an easy to read style and integrates the scientific, religious, philosophical, and theological aspects of the emerging field of neurotheology. By reviewing the concepts in a stepwise, simple, yet thorough discussion, readers regardless of their background, will be able to understand the complexities and breadth of neurotheology from the Jewish perspective. More broadly, issues will include a review of the neurosciences and neuroscientific techniques; religious and spiritual experiences; theological development and analysis; liturgy and ritual; epistemology, philosophy, and ethics; and social implications, all from the Jewish perspective.

Genres: Science, Philosophy, Judaism, Religion, Psychology

400 pages, Hardcover

Published October 23, 2018

About the author

Dr. Andrew Newberg is Director of Research at the Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Medical College. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine. He is considered a pioneer in the neuroscientific study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field frequently referred to as – neurotheology. His work attempts to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and experiences. This has been compiled into his latest book, Principles of Neurotheology, which reviews the important principles and foundations of neurotheology. Believing that it is important to keep science rigorous and religion religious, he has engaged the topic like few others. He has been fascinated by the implications of this research for the study of the mind, brain, consciousness, morality, theology, and philosophy. He has also been particularly interested in the relationship between the brain, religion, and health. His research has included brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and various trance states. He has also performed surveys of people's spiritual experiences and attitudes. Finally, he has evaluated the relationship between religious and spiritual phenomena and health. This includes a recent study on the effect of meditation on memory.

In his career, he has also actively pursued neuroimaging research projects on the study of aging and dementia, Parkinson's disease, depression, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. He has also researched the neurophysiological correlates of acupuncture, meditation, and alternative therapies, and how brain function is associated with mystical and religious experiences. Dr. Newberg helped develop stress-management programs for the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems and received a Science and Religion Course Award from the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences for his program entitled "The Biology of Spirituality" in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania. He is currently teaching a course in the Department of Religious Studies entitled, “Science and the Sacred: An Introduction to Neurotheology.”

Dr. Newberg has published over 150 research articles, essays and book chapters, and is the co-author of the best selling books, Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (Ballantine, 2001) and How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist (Ballantine, 2009). He has also published, Principles of Neurotheology (Ashgate, 2011) Why We Believe What We Believe (Ballantine, 2006), and The Mystical Mind (Fortress Press, 1999). He has presented his research throughout the world in both scientific and public forums. He appeared on Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC's World News Tonight, National Public Radio, London Talk Radio and over fifteen nationally syndicated radio programs. His work has been featured in Time, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other newspapers and magazines. An overview of his work can be viewed at on this site.

Reviews

[Sam Berner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much theology, too little science.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of neurotheology - that brain science can inform theological ideas and vice versa. And I agree with the authors that Judaism is a good place to start. But I was hoping for a lot more than I got from this book. It's all about what neurotheology might be not about what it is. There isn't much in the way of actual studies and analysis. The authors take MRIs of themselves while reciting the Sh'ma. They ask rabbis a lot of questions about themselves and their beliefs. But there are no real experiments, no double blind studies. These guys need to go and do some science if they want to convince the rest of us that this is a field of study that merits further investigation.

But my biggest issue with this book was that the scholarship seems to be mediocre. All of the neuroscience feels like it came from 25 years ago. There is a lot of emphasis on different regions of the brain that light up when we do different actions. We have come a long way beyond that. Their philosophy doesn't seem to have advanced beyond Cartesian mind/body dualism. They seem to think that homo sapiens is somehow the highest expression of evolution. Wrong. These and many other not quite quite right ideas are woven into the fabric of the book. It creates a sort of uncanny valley feeling so that the whole book is a bit off kilter.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.

This book tries to link areas of the brain to varieties of Jewish religious experience.
It does this speculatively, admitting the weakness of the linkage and the author seems to humble and relatively unbiased.

It is hard to get any actionable advice from this book. Although neurotransmitters are discussed the only take away I got was that meditation increases either dopamine or serotonin. I don't remember which as meditation has enough benefits that this wasn't going to get me motivated to meditate more.

I think this was an interesting start to an important conversation, but one that will need to be followed up when more useful research is done.

[Mark Oppenheimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was genuinely excited to dive into The Rabbi’s Brain—the intersection of neuroscience and spirituality is a topic that deeply fascinates me. The authors offer a compelling vision of how brain science might inform our understanding of religious experience, and they raise many important questions about belief, emotion, and meaning.

However, I found the book leaned too heavily on speculative reflection and rhetorical questions, with limited engagement in concrete scientific data or peer-reviewed studies. While the ideas are intriguing, they often lack the empirical grounding that would make them more persuasive or applicable. I had hoped for more rigorous exploration of the neuroscience involved, perhaps through case studies, imaging results, or cited research.

Overall, it's an accessible and engaging starting point for those curious about the dialogue between Judaism and brain science, but readers looking for a more evidence-based analysis may find it falls short.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The field of neurotheology is fascinating and I thought the authors did an excellent job reviewing the field in the first portion of the book; however, the book then becomes unnecessarily dense. I felt like the authors began to over-explain concepts (usually tangentially related) and I found myself getting sidetracked by points they brought up but didn't follow through on. The brain portion of this text is reductive, but that is an issue on any book on the brain since in the grand scheme of things, we don't know much. The central argument about the difference in a Rabbi's brain compared to others was interesting, but underdeveloped. Overall, an interesting work but dense and meandering at times.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: “The Rabbi’s Brain: Mystics, Moderns and the Science of Jewish Thinking” by Dr. Andrew Newberg and Dr. David Halprin (Turner Publishing Company) raises more questions than it answers. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re working in a new field of science, in this case, neurotheology, which looks for connections between neurobiology and theology. The authors focus on Jewish neurotheology and what research could teach scientists and spiritual seekers.
To see the rest of my review, visit http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...

[Dwayne Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the material is well documented and the approach seems genuine. Practical examples are well chosen and analogies with religious text are helpful. But there was more explanation of what science is than actual science. It was more of an analysis of why we think the way we do; regarding the god theory. Worth listening on casual premises.

[Maj · Rating 3 out of 5]

i mean it's a really interesting subject matter that's right up my alley, neurotheology is awesome. and this book speaks to some of my theories tbh. but ultimately it uses way too many pages for just clarifying basic terms before the author even gets to saying what he wants to say, because he's really worried about miscommunication ensuing. so that kind of made me give up on reading this.

[Priit Rohumaa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definetly interesting book! Although sounds like sci-fi, not like deep science book!

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: The book is written for a Jewish audience.

This book seems to be defining what neurotheology is and what it could become. The authors look into studies of how the brain functions while in prayer and meditation. They also do surveys of rabbis of various denominations asking about their spiritual experiences, if any. While this is a book for a Jewish audience, they cover Christian, Muslim and Buddhist prayer and meditation. They are careful not to make any outlandish claims, but in being careful they are also not very helpful, just interesting. I think this field should be further studied but with current technology I doubt it could go much further than it has without becoming a sub-field of philosophy.

Kabbalah is mentioned quite a bit. I suggest reading, "Practical Kabbalah: A Guide to Jewish Wisdom for Everyday Life" by Rabbi Laibl Wolf. That is a good read for a lay-person.

WARNING: The audiobook narrator pronounces God's Holy Name at least one time that I recall. If you are an observant Jew you know what I mean. I am not sure how they handle God's name in the hardcopy of the book.

Regarding the audiobook narration, the pronunciation of Hebrew words is off. He pronounces "k" when it should be "kh". That is, it sounds like he is pronouncing a kaf in place of a chaf. He also mispronounces Chief Rabbi Kook's (קוּק) name as if it were Rabbi Cook. When I type the rabbi's name into Google Translate it translates into Cook in English, but my Hebrew to English dictionaries do not have such an entry and in every other case of pronouncing a foreign name the narrator tried to pronounce it in the native language except this case. The obvious reason is that a kook is a crazy person in the English sense of the word and the narrator (and presumably the authors) did not want to quote Chief Rabbi Kook, of blessed memory, as a reasonable authority (which I think he was) while seeming to call him a kook.

Normally, I would rate a speculative book like this 3 stars, but the authors made their arguments so skillfully that I gave him an extra star.

I doubt I will read this book again.