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6 Tishrei 5769; October 5, 2008
 
 

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Returning-Diet & Exercise
By HaRav Ariel Bar Tzadok. Copyright (c) 2008 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.
Time to be blunt again. Are you grossly overweight? Bluntly put, are you fat? If the answer is yes, then answer this next question. Are you considered by Halakha (Torah law) to be a Hoteh (sinner)? The answer is definitively, yes! Torah law on this matter is quite clear, excessive eating is considered to be sinful behavior. (Reference RaMBaM, M.T. Deot 5:1; Teshuva 7:3).

Torah law includes within it the obligations to eat healthily and moderately (M.T. Deot 4:1-2). It also requires of us daily strenuous exercise to maintain our strength and health (M.T. Deot 4:14-15). Being that all portions of Torah are equally important and kadosh (holy), in my opinion, one who dismisses the value of observing these laws should be considered equal to one who dismisses the observance of Shabat or the observance of Kashrut. In other words, one who dismisses or intentionally violates any portion of Torah law is considered an apostate of the highest order (M.T. Teshuva 3:8). I believe that those who do not safeguard their health in accordance to Torah law, thus intentionally violating these laws should be viewed with similar scorn.

Today, there is an epidemic of obesity in the religious communities, including everyone from Rabbis to children. I have witnessed numerous so-called spiritual leaders/Rabbis that are proverbially as big as the "Goodyear blimp." In spite of whatever wisdom they make or may not express, their ill health and obese appearance contradicts every aspect of Torah that they claim they represent. Their role model of ill health is causing numerous members of congregations world-wide to dismiss the need to fulfill the Torah laws of healthy, moderate eating and the need for daily strenuous exercise. Essentially, fat Rabbis are seen as a justification for fat laymen. What an awesome burden of responsibility this places on the members of the religious leadership!

I have heard all the excuses for being overweight. I have heard how it is a glandular problem, or that it is due to a medication one is taking. All these excuses are nothing more than that, excuses which can in no way justify the violation of Torah law!

When one is overweight, there is no mitzvah in taking that extra portion at a Shabat meal! If one were to stop noshing all the time, grazing like a cow in the field, one would naturally ingest fewer calories and thereby not gain so many more pounds. If one would only follow Halakha (Torah law) and only eat healthy foods in moderate, modest portions, one would not only ingest less calories that turn right into fat, one could also learn discipline and moderation, lessons that one could easily apply to other areas of life, making one an all-around better person.

Many people overeat because of stress and other emotional problems. Yet, today, we have lost touch with the meaning of real stress and real life-threatening problems. In real tough times, when real stress can literally strangle one to death, excess food is not available; binge eating is not an option. No one in the Holocaust swallowed their sorrows with tasty bites of cookies and ice cream. Those suffering souls faced real hardships. No one today can even come close to compare modern levels of stress to those suffered by people who knew the real meaning of suffering.

Today, we cry and complain about every little problem under the sun and we turn to the refrigerator for comfort, to chomp down on whatever unnecessary item we can pull out of it. We sit in our air-conditioned homes, our big cars and comfy furniture. We eat and eat, often messing up our designer label clothing, which now we'll just have to send to the dry cleaners. Oh! Even more stress now, good for a few more bites!

Can you not see the madness in this? Can you not see the poison in your minds that enable you to accept this behavior? Can you not see the poison in your bodies that you yourself ingest? Can you not see the harm you are doing to yourself? Are you so much out of control? Are you so much a slave to your desires and whims? Did not the Torah teach us that we were long ago taken out of slavery from Egypt? Why then have you allowed yourself to again become a slave to your desires for overeating? This is not the Torah way. Indeed this contradicts everything that Torah teaches. It is an outright violation of Torah law!

Control, control, you must learn control! This is not a quote from the popular culture. It is the very basis of what it takes to live a Torah life.

We are human beings, created in the Divine Image. We are greater than animals in the field. We do not have to binge eat to make ourselves feel emotionally secure. This path leads us down roads of unhealthiness and even greater darkness. We human beings are better than this! We are obligated to be!

Overeating stops when a person says it does. One simply says to oneself and family, from now on, no more junk food in the house. More than this one must say, no more junk food in my mouth, period, no matter where it is to be found or served. One must change one's diet and only allow oneself to eat those foods that are nutritious and even then only to eat portions that are moderate, balanced and healthy. One who follows this Torah course of discipline will in no time begin to see results in one's health. One will naturally begin to shed those excess pounds, especially if one fulfills Torah law and couples this with a daily strenuous exercise program.

The term "strenuous" specifically comes to mean that which makes you sweat. Therefore, moderate walks are very nice, but they will not assist much in the shedding of extra pounds. One must either run, or use weights or something else that will indeed raise one's metabolism, thus enabling one to burn fat. If one has any concerns about one's ability to exercise, one can always consult one's physician for guidance.

Torah law clearly states that one who is overweight is naturally unhealthy and that one who is unhealthy can never properly serve G-d (M.T. Deot 4:1). Taking care of diet and exercise is very much a Torah obligation and thus a natural part of every Torah life style. Those who deny this, in either word or deed, cannot be considered as being proper Torah role models. We have to take this seriously if we ever wish to heal our communities of the terrible epidemic of obesity that even many children are suffering from today.

It all starts with us and ends with us. We make the choices of what we let into our mouths just as we choose what words and speech we let out of our mouths. Lashon HaRa (slanderous speech) and overeating both share one terrible thing in common; they both can kill. Lashon HaRa can kill another; overeating can kill ourselves. We must take this seriously and make an immediate change of behavior.

We do not need to talk about this further. You do not need a program or a support group to control yourself. This, only you can do by yourself and for yourself. Heaven is your guide and Torah is your program. If you would only take these to heart with sincerity, you would find all the support and discipline you will ever need.

May G-d bless you all with a happy and healthy New Year and many more to come.

Please, due to the serious and important nature of this essay, please forward it to everyone you think would benefit from reading it...

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Shalom, Ariel Bar Tzadok

phone: 818-345-0888

Stop! Take a moment, and say a sincere "thank you" to HaShem for all the the good things you have right now.

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