JEWISH HEALING ARTICLE

Eating for Kedusha (The Holiness of Eating)

It is well established that what a person eats has a major impact on his health. Yet, many people find it difficult to change unhealthy eating habits to healthy ones. The purpose of this essay is to explain, from a spiritual perspective, why it is so important that this be done. The discussion here is not about fine points of various theories about healthy diets. Rather, the focus is on being able to eliminate "junk" foods that are clearly unhealthy.

There is a mitzvah in the Torah to guard one's health. A person who eats "junk" food is not guarding his health. A lot of people think that when they eat junk food they really do not see any negative consequences for their health. However, a lot of these consequences are over the long term. Esav was the one who was prepared to sacrifice the long term for instant gratification; this is not the Jewish way. Also, Jews look beyond what is immediately physically visible; we know that our entire religion is built on realities that are beyond our physical or even mental grasp.

Moreover, we can understand the impact of improper diet even in the short term. We know that the body has to eliminate toxins and problematic foods. This causes the systems of the body to work harder than they would otherwise need to, and it puts unnecessary strain on the body. How do we relate to our bodies? Do we not care that it be easy for them to do what they have to do and to be well maintained? Eating in a healthy way is really an act that reflects one's love for himself as a creation of HaShem.

There are, in addition, important spiritual dimensions of a healthy diet that go beyond the mitzvah itself, to eat in a healthy way. When the Torah presents the commandment to guard one's health, it speaks of guarding the "nefesh", the soul. Maimonides says that when a person is not physically healthy, he is unable to serve HaShem in the best way or at all (chas v'shalom). Thus, optimum maintenance of physical health is a prerequisite for being able to optimally serve HaSh-m. Whenever the body has to work unnecessarily hard to digest food or eliminate toxins, this takes away energy that would be otherwise available for service of HaShem.

Ramban writes, in the beginning of Parshas Kedoshim, that the fundamental commandment of "kedoshim tihiyu" is to be understood as referring to the exercise of holiness in connection with eating. When a person indulges in his physical appetites at the expense of his physical and spiritual well-being, he is not acting in a holy way. A Jew eats to live; he does not live to eat. In order for a Jew to maintain a strong connection to HaShem and to the light of his own soul, he has to eat in a way that is aligned with keeping that connection open. When a person eats in an unholy way, chas v'shalom, then he is so absorbed in his body that the light of his soul is blocked to him and he cannot feel the spiritual pleasures that he would otherwise feel.

Sometimes, a person may find that despite his best efforts, he seems to be unable to rise above his craving for "junk" food and an unhealthy diet. In such cases, there is probably some deeper cause, physical or emotional, that is keeping the person tied to the "junk" food. Sometimes, it involves a physical addiction. Much more often it is an emotional issue and there is the need to probe deeper to see what the issue is and to see how it could be solved in a healthier way. In such cases, the unholy eating is really blocking the emotional healing. Indeed, this is true not only of unhealthy eating but also of other unhealthy physical appetites and unhealthy materialistic desires.

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