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Observing the observatory on race and health: reviewing ‘health communications with (and for) Jewish communities’
Author(s): Kasstan-Dabush, Ben
Date: 2025
Topics: Ethnography, Evaluation, Health, Health Education, Policy, Inequality, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Main Topic: Other, Coronavirus/Covid
Abstract: National Health Service England established the Race and Health Observatory as an independent expert body in 2021 to advance meaningful changes for Black and minority ethnic communities, patients, and healthcare professionals. It serves as a ‘proactive investigator’ by commissioning and facilitating research to achieve long-term transformation in health outcomes. However, medical anthropologists have largely overlooked the Observatory (and the research it commissions) in critical assessments of race and health. This commentary discusses the 2024 review into “health communications with (and for) Jewish communities” vis-à-vis the ethnographic record. On the one hand, the intention behind the Observatory’s review is laudable because Jews have been excluded from critical discussions on race and health in the UK as well as the US and Europe. While the review has potential for rendering health inequality in Jewish communities visible, some of the overly general findings may lead to pitfalls and healthcare professionals may need additional guidance or support by establishing diverse steering groups. This comment argues that observing the Observatory on Race and Health is important to ensure accountability over its research and recommendations, and from a conceptual standpoint, to examine the evolving apparatus that shapes public and political reckonings with race, ethnicity and in/equality.
Mosiach is here now: just open your eyes and you can see him
Author(s): Dein, Simon
Date: 2002
Topics: Chabad-Lubavitch, Interviews, Religious Belief, Main Topic: Other
Abstract: Religious groups deal with failed prophecy in different ways. This paper examines messianic expectations among Lubavitch Hasidim in Stamford Hill and their response to the death of their leader whom they held to be the Messiah. It is based on eight years of participant observation in the community. In agreement with Melton's theory, when the Rebbe died, Lubavitchers held that the Rebbe was more powerful in the spiritual realm without the hinderance of a physical body. However some have now claimed that he never died. Several even state that the Rebbe is God. This is a significant finding. It is unknown in the history of Judaism to hold that the religious leader is God and to this extent the group is unique. There are certain Christian elements which apparently inform the messianic ideas of this group.