Maimonides Vs. over medicating

17th day of Kislev, 5771


Maimonides (1135 -1206) wrote extensively on medicine, as a physician and as a Rabbi, knowing that we need a good health to better serve God.
Maimonides, for example, recommended avoiding medicines for minor temporary illnesses and depend more in the self regulatory action of our body’s nature.
The following examples on the subject are taken from the biographical book: ‘Maimonides’ by Joel L. Kraemer. (p. 453-454)
Sometimes it is better to let nature run its course.

Even if a person is scrupulous about his diet, there is no way to avoid minor illnesses. The digestive system may be irregular, or one may have a headache or pain somewhere or any other minor ailment. In these cases one should not be hasty to take medications. Rashness, according to ancient medicine, reveals incapacity and ignorance.

If you medicate minor ailments, you either go contrary to your nature or accustom your body to being passive and in need of external assistance. Sometimes, nature will find the way to cure by itself and nature does what is necessary because it is well trained and educated.

It is best to refrain from interfering with nature when life is not in danger, as medications lower the body’s resistance. One should rather follow a healthy regimen, Maimonides advised.


Obviously, a patient should not decide to take medications or stop taking medications by himself. In order to decide which illness should be considered ‘minor’ and left alone and what illness should be treated with appropriate medication, one needs to follow the instructions of his or her physician.

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024



Kosher work out

Last week I mentioned Maimonides 4th chapter on Hilkhot de’ot and his advices for keeping a strong and healthy body, preventing sickness , etc.
In his Mishne Tora Maimonides wrote:
“Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God (=habits which lead to God)- for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator, if he is ill.”
Maimonides also wrote on the advantages of working out.
Today I like to share with you some of Maimonides’ guidelines on exercises. I will quote from the book: ‘The life transforming diet’, by David Zulberg, which is based on Maimonides’ medical principles.
“Hippocrates taught that exercise is the cornerstone in the preservation of health and the repulsion of most illness. There is nothing that can substitute for exercise in any way” (pg. 99)

‘Hippocrates said that someone who is used to physical activity, even if he has a sick body or is old, is able to tolerate it better than a strong person who is not used to this activity” (102)


“Without exercise diet alone is not sufficient for the preservation of health and eventually medical treatment will be needed” (100)


“As to what you mentioned that you feel weak after exercises, the cause of this is the omission of regular exercises. If you resume exercising gradually, little by little, you will achieve…strength and vitality…” (102)


“A person who does not exercise will suffer from pain and depleted energy levels, even if the correct food s are eaten and all the rules of [preventive] medicine are followed” (De’ot 4:15)

List of Maimonides’ medical works https://rcpt.yousendit.com/991161011/548d0052e966765cf1910d714af34204


Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC | 130 Steamboat Rd. | Great Neck | NY | 11024



Don’t eat, unless you’re hungry!

Last week we talked about smoking cigarettes and we explained the Halakhic principle of avoiding anything harmful to our health (see link). Technically speaking, these are not ritual-related laws (Kashrut) but they are still part of Jewish Law, specifically under the category of vensihmartem m-eod lenafshotekhem (debarim 4,15) You should ‘strictly’ (me-od) watch your life’ (=your health).

Maimonides (1135-1206), who besides being a rabbi was also a famous physician, wrote a chapter on Health Guidelines in his Mishne Torah (hilkhot de’ot, chapter 4). He clarifies explicitly (H. 21) that the principles exposed in that chapter are pertinent for a healthy individual, not for a sick person, who obviously requires a customize diet and medical treatment.
In other words, Maimonides anticipated the modern concept of ‘preventive medicine’ by eight centuries. In this interesting chapter Maimonides deals with: diet, exercises, sleeping habits, sexual life , hygiene, and other practices common in his time.

A few selected illustrations of his advices on diet:
“…Maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God… one must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helpsthe body becomes stronger”.
“.. a person should not eat until his stomach is full. He should stop eating approximately at three quarters of full satisfaction”
“…overeating (akhila gasa) is like poison to anyone’s body and it is the main cause of all illness”.
“Don’t eat unless you’re hungry”.

Click here   to read what contemporary Rabbis say about Smoking



Is smoking Kosher?

In previous weeks we mentioned the rabbinical prohibition of eating fish and meat together. We explained that this wasn’t a ritual prohibition (isur) but a rabbinical proscription, based on health considerations (sakana).

The Jewish people are commanded in the Torah to take care of their physical well being. The Torah (Debarim 4:9,15) states explicitly that one must keep a close watch over his health. Maimonides (Hilchot Rotseach 11:5 – 6) writes that one who engages in unhealthy activities and declares that he has the right to do as he wishes to his own body deserves a punishment. The Talmud (Hullin 9a) states explicitly that one must treat dangerous activities with greater stringency than one would treat Halakhically prohibited activities.
In modern days, most (if not all) Orthodox rabbis consider smoking cigarettes as a Halakhically forbidden activity.
Why?
Cigarette smoking causes a variety of life-threatening diseases, including lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. An estimated 400,000 deaths each year in the U.S. are caused directly by cigarette smoking. Smoking is responsible for changes in all parts of the body, including the digestive system. This fact can have serious consequences because it is the digestive system that converts foods into the nutrients the body needs to live.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef points out that just as we rely on the wisdom of doctors to permit doing otherwise forbidden activities on Shabbat or eating on Yom Kippur, so too we are required to listen to them and distance ourselves from those activities they deem dangerous, like smoking.

For a full Halakhic discussion and a modern Rabbinic ruling on smoking, click here.