February 24, 2014

Professor Nancy Epstein recently published a chapter in Judaism and Health: A Handbook of Practical, Professional and Scholarly Resources about using organizational thinking with the Torah to improve health and workplace wellness. According to Epstein, the chapter builds on the paper she wrote for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that summarized the major points of the intersection between and Judaism and health. Epstein co-authored the chapter with Adina Newberg, PhD.

"We spend so much time in our work settings, and our work and workplaces can often be big stressors in our lives," said Epstein. "Therefore, thinking about the health and well-being of our work lives is so important to our larger understanding of health and wellbeing."

According to the publisher, Epstein and Newberg combine some of the best contemporary organizational thinking with Torah and offer a systems approach to healthy organizations and workplaces. Their chapter, which is relevant for secular and religious workplaces, provides a simple and straightforward path for organizational health that offers the possibility of more energy, less anxiety and thus potentially more creativity and success.