What could a Kabbalist possibly say about diet? The answer is a lot. In his new book, “Mishbatzot Zahav Livusha,” the Kabbalist elder, Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi of Bnei Brak, has included a detailed diet and program of daily health tips guaranteed to rejuvenate the blood, and get the fat and fatigue out of our clogged and rundown metabolisms.
The Kabbalist’s Diet sets forth a daily health program for today’s pressured living, including detailed recipes that are designed to revitalize the blood, clear the mind from fatigue, and energize and strengthen the body. Throw out your boxes of “Wheaties,” because the new breakfast of champions is a healthy and spicy salad, to be prepared in the following detailed fashion:
“One tomato, one cucumber, half an onion, four coriander (cilantro) leaves, four parsley leaves, four lettuce leaves, three minced garlic cloves. All ingredients should be chopped into small pieces and placed together into a large bowl. Add a teaspoon of Yemenite zechug (hot sauce), a teaspoon of approximately 30% tomato paste, two teaspoons of minced za'atar (based on oregano with sesame) seasoning, two teaspoons of olive oil, squeezed juice of half a lemon, one quarter teaspoon of ground cumin, a sprinkle of black pepper, a sprinkle of red pepper, and salt according to personal taste.”
Soups are the secret of lunch. Meat patties are also recommended several times a week. When it comes to preparing meat patties, Rabbi Levi recommends that, “The dish will be enhanced by adding a little finely cut parsley, coriander (cilantro), and onion, with six cloves of minced garlic. Add to this two teaspoons of za'atar, a teaspoon of cumin, a little black pepper, and some soup spices, and salt according to taste. Add two teaspoons of oil to the mixture and stir everything together with the ground meat. It is proper to do this with one’s hands and to make meatballs out of the mixture.”
The meat can be prepared in one of three ways:
- cooked in the soup that was made for lunch;
- cooked in the oven in a special sauce, the recipe of which is included in Rabbi Leon's full article entitled: Health Tips And Proper Nutrition - Important Advice For The Optimum Health Of The Holy Jewish People
- preferably barbecued over searing charcoals, so that all of the poisons in the meat will be burned away.
After a year of adhering to the above diet, this author was told by the family physician following a routine check up which included a series of blood tests, "You have the blood of an 18-year-old." Needless to say, the author's age is well over double that.
Rabbi Leon Levi is not the first Torah personality to address the issue of health. At least as far back as the Talmudic times, our Sages have stressed the importance of eating the proper foods and taking proper care of our bodies. While physical wellbeing is a basic rule of good living, the injunction to be healthy is a precept of the Torah, as the verse commands: “You shall very carefully guard your life" .
Eight hundred years ago, the Rambam (Maimonides), who in addition to his greatness in Torah, served as physician to the king of Egypt, wrote a concise guide to health and nutrition, as part of his Jewish legal opus, the “Mishna Torah.” The treatise, which covers a gamut of topics ranging from hygiene to what happens to a person who over-indulges in sex, reads like the hip, holistic bestsellers promoted by the health gurus of today.
For instance, the Rambam explains that maintaining physical health is not some extra-curricular activity, but rather a foundation of Torah observance. “Having a whole and healthy body is part and parcel in serving G-d, for it is impossible to have an understanding of the Creator if a man is ill. Therefore one must avoid all things which damage the body and habituate oneself with things promoting health” (Rambam, Laws of Daot - Knowledge, 4:1).
The Rambam writes: “A man should direct all of his thoughts and activities to the knowledge of G-d alone. This should be his aim in sitting, rising, and conversation. So too, when he eats, drinks, or cohabits, his purpose should not be to secure physical gratification, in which case he would only eat and drink that which is pleasing to the palate, and cohabit for the sake of sensual pleasure, but he should have in mind that he eats and drinks solely to maintain his body and its organs in health and vigor. He will then not partake of everything which the palate craves, like a dog or an ass, but will chose foods that are wholesome to the body, whether these be sweet or bitter; and will avoid eating things that are injurious to the body, even though they taste sweet (Rambam, Laws of Daot, 3:2).
Rabbi Leon notes that proper nutrition and health go hand in hand with the work of correcting faulty character traits, including a special emphasis on rectifying sexual transgressions, known as Tikun HaBrit. But, again, he is not the first kabbalist to write about the important connection between healthy nutrition, proper living habits, and the sanctity of marital relations. In his famous “Igeret HaKodesh,” [click for English translation] the Ramban (Nachamides), who was also a noted physician, explains in biological detail the influence which foods have on the marital union, and on the spiritual and physical health of the resulting offspring. The Ramban writes, "When the Sages said that a man must sanctify himself at the time of marital relations (Shavuot 18B), know that eating the proper food is a part of this sanctification."
In his probing study on the phenomenon of repentance, “Orot HaT’shuva,” Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, Israel's first chief Rabbi, writes that the first step of penitence is getting one’s body in shape. Rabbi Kook explains that in order to return to a state of natural inner harmony and Divine connection, a person must first have a healthy body. Rabbi Kook understood that powerful, healthy bodies were needed for the Jewish People to succeed in the holy endeavor of rebuilding the nation in the Land of Israel.
For those skeptics who say, “What do rabbis know about diet or health?” consider the guarantee of the Rambam, who concluded his treatise on health with the promise: “Whoever lives in accordance with the directions I have set forth, has my assurance that he will never be sick until he grows very old and dies; he will not be in need of a doctor, and will possess a strong constitution and enjoy good health as long as he lives” (Laws of Daot, 4:20).
With a guarantee like this from the Rambam, who can go wrong?
Tzvi Fishman hosts a blog on Arutz Sheva. He will be answering readers questions in the comments section below.