A Time to Heal by Mandel Kalmenson Ezra Press, £12 Four years ago the scandal of the lethal abuse of thousands of patients of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was exposed largely thanks to the intervention of two courageous senior doctors. One of them was the neurologist, Patrick Pullicino, a Catholic, and the other was Mark Glaser, an Orthodox Jew. In the autumn of 2012, Glaser risked a distinguished career to denounce the LCP as “the most corrupt practice in British medicine”, calling for the inquiry that led to the abolition of the protocol some two years later. His words could not easily be brushed aside by the Government because he is one of the most esteemed oncologists in the country, once serving as chief of cancer services at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. Glaser was called upon to treat Mo Mowlam, the former Northern Ireland secretary, after she developed a brain tumour. The cancer had been initially expected to kill Mowlam within three years. She survived for almost nine. There may be several complex reasons for this but it would be fair to say, nevertheless, that under Glaser she received a high standard of expert care based on the understanding of her needs at every juncture. It is also fair to say that Prof Glaser is so good at his job precisely because he is a man of faith, a healer whose actions are informed by the Jewish tradition of tending to the sick. It is this same tradition that set the context for Our Lord to practise his ministry as a physician (by which he simultaneously spoke the language of the Jewish faith and announced himself to be the Messiah). It is apt therefore that this book, A Time to Heal, is dedicated by the author, a rabbi, to Glaser with the observation that the professor “embodies the teaching of our Sages: ‘He who saves a life is considered to have saved the entire world’.” As an admirer of Glaser, I attended the book launch at Belgravia Synagogue and listened with fascination as he told his audience, at one point, that a doctor “must never, never, never, ever give a prognosis”. This was on the grounds that a negative opinion could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy as the patient is divested of hope and the resolve to fight their disease with heart and soul. “Tracht gut vet zein gut,” said Glaser, quoting the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek. The phrase means “think good and it will be good”, a positive philosophy which has perhaps helped Glaser to add years to the lives of his patients. A Time to Heal is all about this philosophy. Subtitled “The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Response to Loss and Tragedy”, it expounds some of the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, the seventh rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, of which Glaser is a member. This rabbi, who died in 1994, is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century, because he was responsible for transforming a small Hasidic movement into the largest and most widespread Jewish movement in the world today. A book written by a rabbi about a rabbi for a Jewish audience sometimes comes across as peculiarly and predictably Jewish, and much of it relates to pastoral advice for individuals and communities who may find themselves bereaved. But Catholic readers may be surprised just how often the beliefs of this branch of Orthodox Judaism correspond with their own. There are beautiful passages, for instance, reflecting on the immortality of the soul, and one chapter encourages Jews to practise mitzvot, or good deeds, to help the souls of the dead “to ascend to even greater heights”. What is described in these pages is what Catholics call purgatory and what is being proposed rests easily with Catholic practices aimed at helping such souls to rest in peace. It is, on the whole, deeply inspiring, positive stuff. Furthermore, the common ground means that the “new theological framework” for exploring the Jewish roots of Christianity, mooted more than 50 years ago by the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, can be seen vividly in these pages. Anyone who has read any of Benedict XVI’s biographies of Jesus of Nazareth will be familiar with this theme, as the person and ministry of Our Lord, even down to the parables, are always explained in the context of the Jewishness of Jesus and of the promise of God to send a Messiah. A Time to Heal is first and foremost a Jewish book serving to help its readership to become better Jews. But it may also help Catholics to understand their faith a little bit better, and perhaps to become better Christians. I would also hope that it represents a small but welcome step in the renewal of our Judaeo-Christian civilisation upon which so much depends. We only need look to the examples of Mark Glaser and Patrick Pullicino to realise the importance of that.