Exercise Is Part of ‘V’nishmartem’
Excising Exercise Excuses
Taking care of our physical body is of primary importance. This is hinted to in the opening words of the Torah: Breishis bara (“In the beginning, Hashem created”), as the word bara is related to the word brius, health.[1]
Maintaining health follows the principle of sur mei’ra va’asei tov, turn from evil, and do good.[2]
1. Sur mei’ra: This entails avoiding the bad, such as alcohol, cigarettes and unhealthy food.
2. Asei tov: This involves exercising regularly, sleeping properly and eating nutritious foods.
The Rambam[3] writes that maintaining a healthy body is from the ways of Hashem. He continues that one needs to refrain from all items that harm one’s health, and to discipline oneself in all habits that strengthen and invigorate him.
We know that exercising[4] is vital to one’s health. Among its many benefits are the following: It increases performance of other things that we do, prevents illness, releases stress and even helps us sleep better. The endorphins that come about through exercising are 200 times more potent than morphine.
Physical activity has been proven by many researchers to prevent illness and to serve as a more effective cure than any medication. In addition to this, it is free!
It has been said that exercise is the best medicine on earth! Exercise strengthens the entire human machine: The heart, brain, blood vessels, bones, and muscles. More and more, exercise is being prescribed by doctors instead of drugs.
One reason for this is that drugs usually treat the symptom and often have unpleasant, or even harmful, side effects. But exercise treats the core issue, the cause without the worry of side effects.
It is said that exercise ensures that one will live longer and better.[5] It doesn’t just add years to your life; it also adds life to your years!
Some say that they have no time for exercise. In truth: We don’t have time NOT to exercise, as it saves us time in the long run.
[1] Regarding one who is supposed to eat on Yom Kippur due to his medical circumstances, the Shu”t Binyan Tzion Hachadashos (25) tells us that not only is he exempt for eating on Yom Kippur, but he even fulfills the positive commandment of v’nishmartem meod l’nafshoisaichem, you should guard your health exceedingly (Devarim 4:15).
When the Sanzer Rav would lift the marror on Pesach, instead of eating it (during the years that he wasn’t well), he would say asher kidshanu… v’nishmartem meod l’nafshoisaichem since eating marror wasn’t good for him then. This parallels the idea (Pesachim 22b) that just like one receives reward for expounding in a proper way (the derisha), he also receives reward for refraining to expound when appropriate (the perisha).
[2] Tehillim 34:15.
[3] Hilchos Deos 4:1.
[4] Exercise has been defined as a physical exertion that alters one’s respiration, consequently, forcing him to breathe more deeply and more rapidly—and, effectively, more successfully—than before.
[5] Goldie Michelson of Worchester, Massachusetts, who until her death in 2016 just shy of her 114th birthday, attributed her longevity to walking. In an interview when she was 110, she said that she walked four or five miles every morning. “I never used a car if I could walk,” she once said of herself. “One of the great joys of my life was when I sold my car.”
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