Emuna Eating

A few months back, I read an article entitled: “Jump!” about taking a leap of faith and living life according to truth that is not compromised.  Let me tell you – that article resonated with me big time. Why? Because last summer I had finally done it, and taken my own massive leap of faith to quit my comfortable job and live my dream.

On the one hand, it was obvious that you don’t leave a well-paying, work-from-home, steady job at an amazing company with wonderful colleagues. You don’t leave your warm and cozy comfort zone, especially when you really need the comfort, i.e. the money. Why risk the safe and stable status quo just to grow and do what I love, my passion? Who does that anyway?

If that was all there was to it, I probably never would have quit. But Hashem knows what’s best for me and it seems that He had a time limit for how long I should be in the warm,  cozy comfort zone,  that nice as it was,  wasn’t exactly allowing my soul to grow and extend itself, in the way that it was meant to.

I took my first trip to Uman last Summer, and immediately after I got back, it became crystal clear that Hashem wanted me to jump NOW.  So I overrode my life-long fear of putting all the financial responsibility on my husband’s shoulders; I ignored my great fear of an unknown financial future, and I resigned from my very cushy job.

So where did I jump to? I jumped to doing what I love, namely spreading the message of health to the Jewish community and beyond. I jumped to living with integrity, to setting an example for myself, my family and others, that with emuna, trust in G-d, you can be true to yourself, to your soul. 

One of my most favorite things to do in my work as a natural health consultant is to help people see that physical health is very much connected to emotional and spiritual health. Health-consciousness isn’t ‘nonsense’, it is a Torah value and obligation that’s a conduit for emotional and spiritual well-being.

The Rambam in Hilchos Deos 4:1 states: “Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of G-d – for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator, if he is ill – therefore, he must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helps the body become stronger.”

Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvahs 73 and 147 writes: “If the body experiences any kind of problem it will affect the person’s mind accordingly. Therefore the Torah distanced us from anything that might cause harm… because since the body is a tool of the soul… a person must try to keep his body healthy and strong… therefore it is a kindness from Hashem to distance ourselves from any food that is harmful to the body and that creates harmful mucus in the body.”

Reishis Chochma, Sha’ar HaKedusha, section 18 explains: “It is superfluous to say that a person must guard himself from food that he knows is harmful. Because one who eats food that is harmful when he could have done without it is committing a crime against his body and against his soul, because he is following his desire and is not careful regarding harming his body. This is the evil inclination’s way and sly advice meant to divert a person from the path of life to the path of death…”

Artificial ingredients, refined sweeteners, refined grains, factory farmed meat and seafood, refined oils, prepackaged foods, imitation foods, bleached flour, flavored drinks, low fat and fat-free foods, fast food, GMOs… these foods have been proven to be harmful at best, dangerous and carcinogenic at worst. We have been warned by the Torah and our sages to stay away from things, including food, that are a danger to our physical survival.

But unfortunately, even in the religious world, very few people are heeding the advice of our sages.

As a natural health consultant and Detox Specialist with a lot of first-hand experience, I can tell you one thing for sure: Cleaning your act up physically will help you tremendously with your spiritual ascent and connection with Hashem.  I took my jump to live my dream, and to try and bring more people closer to Hashem and ‘holy healthiness’. This Elul, why don’t you join me, and make your own transition to being the physically fit, spiritually strong person that G-d wants every single one of us to be.

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Email Yardena at holyhealthiness@gmail.com.