Judaism and Psychiatry: Two Approaches to the Personal Problems and Needs of Modern Man. Edited by Simon Noveck. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1956. 197 pp.

Written by a coöperating group of rabbis and psychiatrists, this book is the outcome of classes in adult education of the Park Avenue Synagogue of New York. Its purpose is 'to present some of the teachings of the Jewish tradition on the basic emotional problems which confront us as human beings, and to analyze the psychological values which can come from following the Jewish way of life'. It does not intend to be a scientific contribution to psychoanalysis. However, the educated layman who is interested in Jewish religion will find many interesting parallels between the teachings of the scriptures, including the rabbinical literature, and the findings of dynamic psychiatry.

Such topics as Conscience and Guilt, Fear and Anxiety, Depression, Self-Acceptance, etc., are presented in pairs of popularly written articles each by a psychiatrist and a rabbi. Another section on psychological values of Judaism, written by psychiatrists, attempts to show 'how the Jewish way of life if practiced in all of its facets can help meet some of the basic needs of men in our modern world'. Jewish cultural tradition and Jewish mentality have led in many ways to a deep interest in human nature. The book tries to show that Jewish religion as well as psychiatry can profit from interdisciplinary study, and that any antagonism between the two is unwarranted. They have their own approaches but, in the view of the authors, both serve the same end—with religion given the dominant role and psychiatry seen as its aid and ally.