The earliest mention of anesthesia, the use of medication to relieve pain, is found in the Bible in the story of Creation. During the creation of man and woman in Genesis, the procedure for creating woman

35 The earliest mention of anesthesia, the use of medication to relieve pain, is found in the Bible in the story of Creation. During the creation of man and woman in Genesis, the procedure for creating woman was described as follows. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep (tardaymah) to fall upon man, and he slept, and He took one of his sides, and He closed the flesh in its place. And the Lord God built the side that He had taken from man into a woman, and He brought her to man” (Genesis 2:2122). Many Jewish scholars and commentators interpret this Biblical word, “deep sleep” (tardaymah) as anesthesia. Both Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a nineteenth century German Rabbi and scholar, and Rabbi Meir Leibush, a nineteenth century Russian Rabbi and scholar commonly known as the Malbim, commented that the word tardaymah refers to a form of anesthesia. Tardaymah and the concept of a “deep sleep in order not to feel pain” is found in various writings throughout Jewish literature.