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.