Your health is the most important thing. We hear and say this statement quite often. But is it really true? Why is good health so important? It sounds like a ridiculous question. Without your health, you are limited in what you can do and in your quality of life. If we look at this week’s Parsha, we can find a deeper meaning behind this truism.
The Torah tells us in this week’s Parsha, Va’eschanan 4:15 – “and you shall guard your souls very much”. It is actually a Mitzvah to protect your health. The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, 1816 – 1893) and the Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan 1838 – 1933), both point out that this statement includes our bodies as well. We are commanded to take care of our bodies and protect our health. Yet the Torah used the term Nefesh – soul. This is to teach us that when we are dealing with issues relating to the welfare of our bodies, we also must be sure not to do anything that will be harmful to the Neshama – soul. We should realize that the purpose of protecting our health is so that we are healthy to be able to perform Mitzvos and serve Hashem. Imagine if we were able to go to sleep with the mindset that I am doing this so that I can have the strength to be able to learn Torah better tomorrow. I am eating and/or exercising so that I will be able to perform more Chesed, help more people, do more Mitzvos. We can transform everything we do into a Mitzvah by infusing it with a purpose. Taking care of our bodies is taking care of our souls.
Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk was known for being “lenient” in permitting people to eat on Yom Kippur if they were ill. When questioned about his rulings, he would say, I am not being lenient with Yom Kippur, I am being stringent with the commandment to guard one’s life.
Hashem wants us to protect our health and He wants us to understand why it is so important. May we all be granted good health and do our part in taking care of our bodies so that we can have healthy souls as well.
