Given that they were both experienced reference librarians, Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel began to explore their Ashkenazi roots and the folklore surrounding medicinal healing using plants. Twenty-six herbs were indexed in the Materia Medica. In their book “Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews,” the couple researched the accounts of community healing and native plants — including St. John’s wort, comfrey, and nettles — used as remedies to treat a range of ailments.
Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel penned a definitive guide to the medicinal plant knowledge of Ashkenazi herbal healers, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Photo courtesy of North Atlantic Books.