The Miraculous Arrival of Acupuncture in America
A fascinating story unfolds when God decides to open closed doors—He often chooses extraordinary ways, perhaps comparable to “vayaritzu Yosef min ha-bor” (Joseph was hastily brought up from the pit).

When America goes to war, it mobilizes fleets of ships, floating hospitals, and even supply vessels for Coca-Cola. By contrast, the Chinese have long carried their medicine in something far simpler: a few slender needles tucked into a pocket.

And so begins the miraculous tale of how acupuncture reached America. The question that echoed in the halls of the American Medical Association was: “Why did we not know?”

A Mini Historical Scene
In July 1971, President Richard Nixon stepped onto Chinese soil, beginning a diplomatic thaw that would reshape the Cold War. Among the press corps trailing him was James Reston, a celebrated New York Times columnist.

On the second day in Beijing, Reston was struck by sharp abdominal pain—appendicitis. He was rushed to the Anti-Imperialist Hospital, where surgeons performed a routine appendectomy. But what happened afterward was anything but routine.

Instead of morphine, Chinese doctors inserted fine needles into Reston’s body. Acupuncture, an ancient practice unfamiliar to most Americans, eased his post-surgical pain. Reston, skeptical at first, found himself astonished by the relief.

Days later, he wrote his famous article, “Now, About My Operation in Peking”, describing how acupuncture had soothed him. Published in the New York Times, it electrified American readers. Suddenly, acupuncture was no longer a distant curiosity—it was front-page news.

Within months, medical researchers, journalists, and the public were debating its merits. Nixon’s diplomacy had opened the door to China, but Reston’s appendix opened America’s imagination to acupuncture