Senior Religious Zionism rabbis have stated that some alternative medicine methods are "based on idolatry".

The religious leaders are calling on the public not to turn to holistic therapy or seek studies in that field without thoroughly examining the nature of the treatments through a person with knowledge in Halacha and medicine.

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According to the rabbis' manifesto, which was first published on the Kipa website, "In recent years there is a growing phenomenon of turning to alternative medicine and different holistic treatments.

"Without taking a stand on the efficiency of the various types of these treatments, we thought it right to warn that some of them involve elements studied in different idolatrous sects. Therefore, each method must be examined individually by a person proficient in the medical field and halachic field."

The letter was signed by six senior rabbis from the Religious Zionism movement: Haim Drukman, Dov Lior, Yaakov Ariel, Elyakim Levanon, Shmuel Eliyahu and Yehoshua Shapira.

The rabbis conclude their letter by calling on those studying alternative medicine to do so "only in an educational framework supervised by scholars examining the material studied."

They also warned that the training institute must be thoroughly examined, as there is fear of modesty violations in such studies and students must practice "the utmost caution".