Shefa’s Jewish Medicine Code of Ethics

Our work stands in a lineage that reaches back to the earliest generations of Jewish healers. Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, sages compiled the Sefer Asaph (Book of Medicines), which included what has come to be known as the Oath of Asaph the Physician. Much like the Hippocratic Oath in the Greek world, the Oath of Asaph bound its students to a covenant of healing. Yet its spirit was distinctively Jewish. It insisted that all healing comes from the Living God, the One who ends and renews life, wounds and heals. It demanded that physicians care for the poor and the vulnerable, never turning away from those in need. It prohibited harm, secrecy, sexual exploitation, and the use of medicine for destructive purposes. It rejected the powers of idolatry and sorcery, affirming instead that plants and wisdom are divine gifts. It was recited in community, with students responding together, echoing the covenant at Sinai: “We will do and we will hear.”

This Shefa Code of Ethics draws from that ancient oath while bringing it forward into our own time. We inherit its commitments to non-harm, compassion, truth, and humility, and we deepen them with the wisdom of Jewish mysticism and the NaranChai model of holistic integration. Just as the Oath of Asaph bound healers to a life of sacred service, so too we bind ourselves in this generation — to guard body and spirit, to walk in truth and compassion, and to recognize the Eternal as the true Source of all healing.

I. Commitment to Life and Non-Harm

  • Never intentionally cause harm, illness, or death through the use of plants, fungi, or other medicines.

  • Never provide substances or practices intended to end life, provoke miscarriage, or cause irreversible harm.

  • Take all possible steps to reduce risk, ensure safety, and respond to emergencies with competence and compassion.

II. Purity of Intention

  • Offer care free from exploitation, manipulation, or sexual misconduct.

  • Never use the vulnerability of those in altered states to pursue personal gratification or advantage.

  • Accept gifts, payments, or exchanges only when they align with integrity and do not compromise judgment.

III. Safeguarding Trust

  • Protect the confidences and private stories entrusted to you.

  • Speak truthfully in all matters; avoid deception, exaggeration, or the distortion of another’s experience.

  • Do not use sacred knowledge, ritual, or plant medicine skills for purposes of domination, separation, or coercion.

IV. Service to those in Need

  • Ensure access to care regardless of wealth, status, or background.

  • Keep your heart open toward those who suffer; never withhold care out of prejudice, resentment, or fatigue.

  • Make decisions guided by chesed (loving-kindness) and rachamim (compassion), balancing justice with mercy.

V. Right Relationship with Power and Spirit

  • Avoid practices that invoke powers, entities, or forms of worship outside the Holy Blessed One, while honoring the wisdom of all peoples without appropriation or idolatry.

  • Engage with other traditions respectfully, seeking permission, proper transmission, and right relationship.
    Remember always that healing comes from the Eternal One — we are shlichim (emissaries) and not the Source.

VI. Stewardship of Medicine and Knowledge

  • Use sacred plants and psychedelic medicines only in service of life, healing, insight, and the elevation of spirit. Never practice outside of your sphere of knowledge. 

  • Do not prepare or share harmful mixtures; do not teach dangerous practices to those unprepared to hold them responsibly.

  • Treat all plant and fungal medicines as living beings worthy of respect, reciprocity, and gratitude.

VII. The NaranChai Covenant

As facilitators in this lineage, we honor and protect all five levels of the soul:

  • Nefesh — the life-force that animates the body. We safeguard it through physical safety, nourishment, and grounding.

  • Ruach — the breath and emotional spirit. We guard it by tending to emotional integrity, clear communication, and attunement.

  • Neshamah — the divine breath of awareness. We protect it through spiritual humility, right intention, and prayer.
    Chayah — the expansive living soul. We honor it by cultivating awe, beauty, and connection to all life.

  • Yechidah — the soul’s oneness with the Divine. We guard it by aligning our work with the Oneness that holds all worlds.

To harm any level of the soul is to harm the whole person and to diminish the world.

VIII. Ethical Practice and Competence

  • Examine situations fully and with counsel before giving direction or administering care; never act out of haste or arrogance.

  • Continue learning in Torah, science, and the arts of healing, recognizing that wisdom is a divine gift and a communal trust.

  • Be open to correction and accountability from peers and elders.

IX. Humility and Integrity

  • Do not act from pride, greed, or the desire for fame.

  • Keep speech and action aligned; do not promise what you cannot fulfill.

  • Let your work be a testimony to the Source of Life, so that all may say: Ashrei ha-am she-kakha lo, ashrei ha-am she-Adonai Elohav — “Happy is the people whose lot is thus; happy is the people whose God is the Lord.”

X. Enduring Covenant

In taking on this work, we affirm:

  • To walk in truth, compassion, and justice.

  • To place the wellbeing of those we serve above personal gain.

  • To recognize every healing act as an act of service to God and the community.

  • To uphold these principles with all our heart, soul, and might.