Body, The Human

The sensual aspect of human existence is heavy with potential for impure doings. And yet this same potential holds the secret of the copper laver used by the Kohanim to wash their hands and feet in preparation for their holy services in the Mishkan.

Rabbi Steinsaltz discusses the status of the human body after death as a source of defilement rather than holiness. He suggests that any abuse of a dead body is contrary to the Jewish principle of "Honoring Creatures" (Kavod HaBriyot) because it is equiva...

Rabbi Steinsaltz argues that only G-d owns the bodies of human beings. If man only has a temporary "lease over his body," does he have the right to injure himself or allow someone else to cause injury to him? The Rabbi suggests that medical treatments tha...

It is an ancient idea that everything in the universe also exists within us on a small scale. Jewish tradition has plenty of sources mapping the body into the world’s processes, the Torah’s commandments, and the ethical trajectory of human life. The body ...

In this lesson we take a closer look at the standard wording of all blessings and also offer an additional reason for the ritual of morning hand-washing. Next, follows a fascinating discussion on the blessing of ‘Asher Yatzar”, which describes the wonders...

An analysis of the legal difference between ownership of property and the proprietary rights one has over one’s own body. We look particularly closely at laws in Maimonides’ Laws of The Sanhedrin. (Based on Likkutei Sichot, vol. 34, p. 106)

The Talmud relates that Torah scholars become weak from their rigorous study, but this is not inevitable; Maimonides rules that the body is the property of God, which one is required to take care of.

A Jew shares a relationship with G-d on two levels, that of the soul and that of the body. While the Tanya relates that the soul is “a veritable part of G-d above,” and its relationship to G-d is like that of a parent and child, the value of the body is o...

A sunny day gets even better with a cool set of shades. So does life.

The first time G-d speaks to man in the book of Genesis, it is to give him one commandment: A list of trees from which he can and cannot eat. From Adam and Eve to Isaac and Jacob, all the way through the Prophets and beyond, Judaism is rife with links bet...