7 Sephardic Jewish Home Remedies You Should Try

Maybe Grandma's old trick is crazy, maybe it actually makes sense. In any case, here are a few home remedies that occur often in Sephardic Jewish families.

1. Onion for Cuts and Burns

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Although many people associate onions with tears while cutting them up, Sephardic Jews use onions as a cure-all from stopping a cut from bleeding to taming burns.

2. Pomegranate for Stomachache

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We've all heard of the many health benefits of pomegranate, so it is not hard to imagine that it has been used other than as a tasty treat in Sephardi families as well. Just boil the pomegranate a little and it is used as a cure for stomachache.

3. Mint Tea for Indegestion

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Indigestion is no fun, but mint tea is great! Sephardic Jews have used the soothing beverage to ease indigestion.

4. Mashed Herb Compress for Eye Pain

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For infection or pain of the eyes, a conglomerate of herbs are used. Just mash marjoram, rue, chamomile, or rosemary and add to a bag to place over the eyes.

5. Oil for Small Pains

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For many small pains, oil is rubbed on the area of pain. For a crying child, oil is rubbed on the abdomen.

6. Cold Cloth for Fever

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For fever, some Sephardic families use a cloth wet with cold water and vinegar and place it on the forehead. At the same time, cold socks wet with water and vinegar are put on the feet.

7. Chicken Soup for a Cold

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Written about in the medical writings of Maimonides in the 12th century, boiled chicken soup is said to neutralize the body constitution and cure upper respiratory infections. It is something many people might go to when faced with a cold, but maybe we heard it from the Sephardim first .

Sources

1. Gillman, Maria. "Sephardic Jewish Traditional Remedies." E-mail interview. 16 Nov. 2014.

2. Lévy, Isaac Jack., and Rosemary Lévy Zumwalt. Ritual Medical Lore of Sephardic Women: Sweetening the Spirits, Healing the Sick. Urbana: U of Illinois, 2002. Print.

3. Alpern, Elizabeth. "Cures for the Common Cold from Maimonides to the Shtetl – Jew and the Carrot." The Jew And The Carrot. The Forward Association, 9 Nov. 2010. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.