ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
Manchester rabbis have backed two services that claim to offer Jewish spiritual healing.
In recent weeks two Jewish papers have carried an advert by Israeli Rabbi Avraham Lebel in which he says he can remove the ayin hara (evil eye). He charges £50 for the service.
In another, the Chabad House in Whitefield advertises free "spiritual healing" by two men, Eric Sayers and Carl Montlake, described as "Jewish healers for the Jewish community".
Mr Montlake, who was convicted of fraud and given a six-year prison sentence in 2007, said he had trained in reflexology, aromatherapy and massage, and said the spiritual healing had been "self-developed" from there.
Manchester Dayan Osher Westheim, who is named as a supporter in Rabbi Lebel's advertisement, said the practice of removing the evil eye was "a long-standing and widely known tradition".
Bury Hebrew Congregation's Rabbi Binyomin Singer said: "What is tragic is many Jewish people seek spirituality elsewhere. There is a wealth of it in our own religion so we don't need to go to Tibet to find things like this."
Chabad of Whitefield's Rabbi Shmuli Jaffe said he supported the men because they also had qualifications in other forms of alternative remedies.