Is It Immoral to Be Overweight?

This is such a strange question. You have a hard time listening to a rabbi who is overweight? Perhaps you shouldn't take nutritional advice from him but talmudic? Sounds like you need to work through your own biases about people. One legitimate concern I think would be that orthodox Jews value kashrut above health, and there are times when I think it's in conflict. Such as the dairy substitutes that are often full of trans fats. Reply

As the "Angel of Death" said to me when I asked him who is lying on that operating table. His response"That is only an empty shell. Come into the light" Again I said no whereupon I woke up on the table I had been looking down on. How do I know? I saw one of the Drs. had a paisley cap on. Later when I asked the surgeon about this and included the cap. he turned white as a sheet ,turned around and walked away never to come back although I spent 7 more days there. Oh btw I am Jewish but I believe in ghosts and spirits having had 6 or7 incidences many with deceased family members. These were not dreams although many happened when I sat up in bed and still saw the people involved. One at the hospice before my mom died Reply

The plantbased diet (preferably as a part of the more wholistic veganism), is a great way to look after one's health -- and the health of the planet, the health of our fellow created beings. . . . Reply

Yes, we need to do better in this area. Myself included. Reply

is it schmutz as in dirt or is it schmaltz as in grease? Reply

I understand many perspectives on weight, eating healthy and exercise. The reality for me...you are what you eat. Indeed we have choices in terms of moderate exercise too. There was a contradiction with this thinking when we grew up. Eat eat..my bubbie said. She made egg salad with Schmutz. Oy. Now that we know better, we do better. L'shalom Reply

Physical well being is important, and people are not just overweight because of overeating. People gain weight from an underactive thyroid and/or some medications. As a fitness trainer, you need to ask your clients about their specific situations. You also need to tell them: "no temporary changes, only permanent changes." Reply

More Americans are obese today than ever before.

It is at least partly because, in the 1980s, food producers began adding more and more sugar and salt to all the canned and packaged foods on the grocery shelves. The effect was to make the public addicted to sugar and salt, to the point that today, none of them dares to make anything with the old normal amounts of sugar and salt, because people will not buy them. They will buy another brand that contains the sugar and salt everyone has become used to.

I read the ingredients and avoid sugar, salt, and starches. I mostly buy raw foods and cook from scratch, because the "convenience" foods are oversweetened and oversalted. Read the labels. An item will contain sugar, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, corn syrup, and honey. That way, there seems to be only a small amount of each. But each one of them is sugar, and, if combined, would be the number one ingredient of many foods, especially breakfast cereals. Reply

overweight I see many people that are beyond overweight. they are obese. I do not understand why they ruin their bodies. it's not just Jewish people. every one should aim for health. Reply

Body and Soul work in pair! Yes both the body and the soul walk thru life together. Ignoring one, handicaps the other.
But I would not say that today Jewish people are health ignorant! They are much more aware of the consequences but don’t have the will power to resist geschmakt food. They are more informed than their ancestors and just want to keep the traditions as they always were, ignoring that it could hurt them physically. I know the way my own mother used to eat, although she was far from being obese, all the schmaltz and lots of carbs in her cooking, thinking it was healthy. I still follow her recipes but leave all the fat and carbs out—and I am Jewish! You can see lots of heavy people who are not Jewish, so no point labeling. Why are there so many Jewish doctors? do they also ignore their health? Reply

This response, in my view is slanted every so slightly as to not offend those who are not healthy and possibly rationalize our sad and woeful physical shape. Saying that the body is "Just" the vehicle is like saying the two front tires off my car are JUST the front. You need both the front and the back to go anywhere! The Talmud in the wonderful story about the blind and lame watchmen bring out this message beautifully. In this plane, the soul and body are one. Neglecting one is neglecting the other. The body is on loan and a borrower has the highest obligation of all shomrim\watchmen.
This oft quoted statement about our generation living longer requires qualification
as does the retort from those who eat unhealthfully towards those who do.
It is not a question of length of years rather it is a consideration of the quality of those years.

Put simply: Jews are generally ignorant about health and the impact of diet upon their health.
We need to do far better! Reply

For the past 30 years, our packaged groceries have been loaded with added white sugar or high fructose corn syrup, as well as with fats which enhance flavors, so that today it is almost impossible to find tomato sauce without loads of sugar. How much sugar? As much as in the syrup we pour over ice cream.

If we don't know this and don't read ingredients, we can, all unknowing, eat what we think are healthy veggies, when what we eat has more sugar than fiber or nutrients.

By now, most people have grown up on foods loaded with added sugars and fats and have become addicted to these added sugars and fats. Straight fruits and veggies taste bad to people.

Even with great effort, it is difficult to impossible to avoid such additives. For five years I have eaten no sugars of any kind, and added sugars no longer taste good to me. Instead, I can now taste the sweetness in plain fruit.

But exercise is even more important to mental function. It gets nutrients to the brain. . Reply

When we say the laws of kashrus are for health, we also say that refrigeration and modern medicine renders those concerns obsolete. That cuases us not to bother to keep kosher.

But kashrus is an opportunity to serve Gd without any payback--just because Gd said to do it; just out of pure love.

For anyone who keeps kosher, the practice of kashrus is one of the main signposts of Jewishness as a routine in daily life--like saying brachos. Would you like to claim that brachos are good for health, and that we have other techniques, such as TM, to achieve this benefit, and therefore we would stop giving thanks via brachos?

We have the Torah, whose practice reminds us of Gd's love for us, and of our love for Gd. These practices keep us in touch with Jews all over the world, including our own remotest ancestors. These are functions which are unique and invaluable and unavailable via modern techniques.

When we neglect Torah practices, our Jewish treasure, our link to Gd, suffers. Keep it! Reply

Tattoos We aren't allowed to have tattoos - because it's G-d's body - so shouldn't we also be obligated to stay healthy and in shape? Reply

But wait! There's more.... If we only focus on our individual eating and exercise habits, aren't we forgetting about the health of others? And, I believe it is a Jew's purpose to help others fulfill their purposes so therefore we have to also help others be healthy. Having established that, it becomes imperative to become environmental activists and take a stand against those who promote poor health through the their policies and practices.

For example, How can I support Stephen Harper when I know that he is pushing the KeyStone pipeline? The method of "natural gas" extraction he endorses not only causes environmental destruction but has very very serious implications for human health. The same goes for GMO foods and foods grown with toxic pesticides. And other harmful chemicals that find their way into our food (artificial colours and flavours, shellac to make candy shiny - this is all certified Kosher, by the way). Given the Jewish obligations to look after our health and help others achieve their life's pu Reply

OA I think its important to note that there are those with eating disorders/addictions that are rooted in food addictions for which will power is not enough.
It is important to raise awareness of Overeater anonymous and their groups and programs that have helped many of those suffering tremendously from guilt and shame.
On Chabad.org there is a section about 12 step groups you can look there for more information.
With love,

Reply

Diet Health. I like this article....Many of the rules in Scripture, given to Moses, were of a health preserving nature. A people traveling in the desert had no refrigeration of course, which makes common sense regarding the eating of some things a highly risky business! Long before bacteria were discovered, they were nevertheless very prevalent and active, making it necessary for the Creator to make a few health rules such as covering up excrement with a suitable wooden stick, and keeping your hands off dead bodies, and so on. Jews were into washing themselves long before the benefits were understood. The conclusion is then clearly, that our physical care is important to the one who made us.. Even the animal world has a very sophisticated intrinsic sense of what to eat and what to abstain from!
Hooray for Aussies..... Reply

I wish everyone who is morbidly obese could find a way to get bariatric surgery. It saved my life. I lost 100 pounds within 6 months before the honeymoon phase kicked in. Now, I have a tool to HELP me lose the next 100. Thank Hashem! Reply

Loving Gd Everything we think, say, & do, must relate to loving Gd.
We're told to love Gd when we sit in our house, when we walk by the way, when we lie down & when we rise up. I.e., ALWAYS.
This means, among other things, to say a blessing to acknowledge all good Gd gives us. A blessing for hearing thunder or for seeing the moon. Blessings for various foods--the fruit of the ground, the fruit of the tree, the bread, the other items made from the five species of the Holy Land, the fruit of the vine (i.e., wine or grape juice), &, finally, for anything else.

Before we make the blessing, we focus on the reason for eating, with one or more instant meditations:

May the nourishment in this food strengthen me to serve GD.
May the soul of this animal be lifted up.
May the holy sparks in this food be lifted up.

When distracted by comfort from food, we must stop, repent, & focus on the reason to eat: for strength to serve Gd. Reply

Rambam wisdom I would say that the Rambam, who was a wise and rational man, was absolutely correct in distributing proportions for eating habits.
Anything else is all excuses for one's weakness and lack of will power
Eating is a survival necessity for men like for animals - but it should also be for pleasure to a certain degree, enjoy a little this, enjoy a little that, but know the limits Reply