Asher Leeder is a man of many talents – with an incredibly diverse résumé to back them up.
Born in Massachusetts, Leeder has worn many hats in his time. His accomplishments range from being ordained as a rabbi at Yeshiva University, to becoming a black belt in Tora Dojo, to eventually becoming a chiropractor.
A licensed practitioner of chiropractic in Massachusetts and New Jersey, Leeder honed his skills through years of practice and study and has helped countless patients, as well as many appreciative family members. Now he spends half his time in Jerusalem, and over the past few years he’s been applying his skills to help out IDF lone soldiers – something that has become more important than ever amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
In Jerusalem sat down with Leeder to talk about his life, career, and important volunteer work in Israel.
How did you get into chiropractic?
I went to Yeshiva University, and for my undergraduate degree I majored in pre-med, so [there was] a lot of biology and chemistry. After that, I got smicha, my master’s degree in education, and my black belt the same year. After that, I had to decide whether I wanted to commit to spending a number of years in medical school.
In between all of this, I got married. One of my wife, Shira’s, teachers was a chiropractor, and he told me to look into chiropractic.
So you didn’t always want to be a chiropractor?
The truth is, I didn’t really know much about chiropractic at the time. My father was a rabbi and an MD, so becoming a chiropractor wasn’t really in the discussion. But my father was a very eclectic physician. In fact, I think he probably did one of the first-ever microsurgeries after my brother cut his hand on a rock and they thought they were going to lose the hand. This was in the 1950s, before they did real microsurgeries. The point is, he wasn’t a conventional doctor in that sense.
Anyhow, I went to some chiropractors’ offices and talked to them and their patients. Surprisingly, the first patients I met were nurses. I asked them why they were getting treatment here rather than at a hospital, and they said, “We’re nurses; we know what goes on in hospitals, and we want more natural care.”
How did learning martial arts figure into this?
I studied martial arts under Harvey Sober [the founder of Tora Dojo]. I was one of his first 10 black belts in 1976.
Learning martial arts helped me learn more about the human body, so I figured that this was something I could do.
Where did you study?
New York Chiropractic College. At the time, it was in Long Island; now it’s in Seneca Falls. When I went to school, we were on the New York Institute of Technology campus. Chiropractic school is four years, but most of our teachers would also teach at medical schools, but with a different emphasis. Instead of [learning about] drugs, we learned about body mechanics.
We had full days, though. At the clinic, we went from working in the morning until late at night. We had more hours with X-rays than anyone but radiologists. Think of chiropractic as another kind of specialization within the medical field. At medical school you have your general studies, and then you go into residency. In that sense, we already specified what we were going to be doing.
What brought you to Israel?
The first day Shira and I met, we talked about Israel. But it took us a little over 40 years to get here, longer than it took the Jews wandering in the desert.
Still, we talked about making aliyah from the day we met. We both grew up with parents who were Zionists. When the State of Israel was created, it was a whole Zionist movement, but not everyone could move here. Shira’s mother was born in pre-state Israel in the 1920s. Her grandfather was a rabbi, but he couldn’t make a career out of it in Israel, so he moved to the US.
Now I’m here six months out of the year.
Why didn’t you work as a chiropractor in Israel?
As soon as I got here, I wanted to do something. I looked into opening a practice here, but I’m not here enough; it’s very hard. Plus, I have to go through the bureaucracy. But I am part of the chiropractic society and go to all the seminars.
Tell me about your work with lone soldiers.
I met with someone at one of these conferences who mentioned to me about the lone soldiers who needed help, and I said I was willing to do that.
For the past three years, I’ve spent almost every Thursday with lone soldiers, most of them at the Michael Levin Center. But I’ve gone to a few bases around the country as well.
How have you been volunteering during the current war?
Since the war started, I’ve tried to go to more bases. There’s a group of people who go – massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists. They spend the day taking care of soldiers, especially when they come out of Gaza.
One time we went to the air force base by Mitzpe Ramon. On our way back, we got a call asking us to stop by Ofakim to help some soldiers who just came out of Gaza. So we did, and I didn’t get home until just before midnight. It was a long day, but I’m very glad to do it and to help out.■