Making sense of the sedra: Shemini

After weeks of unnecessary and unpleasant speculation, claims of photo manipulation and conspiracy theories, news was eventually released that no-one wanted or expected to hear.  The Princess of Wales had been diagnosed with cancer, was in the early stages of treatment and had taken time to tell her young children. This comes shortly after similar news about her father-in-law, King Charles, who revealed that he too is undergoing treatment for cancer.

As British Jews, we are proud of our longstanding tradition of making the Prayer for the Royal Family in our synagogues in which we ask God in His mercy “to preserve the King in life, guard and deliver him from all trouble and sorrow” as well as blessing and protecting all his family. At this time, this prayer gains added poignancy as we wish both the King and the Princess refuah sheleimah – a complete and speedy recovery and hope that they are given the privacy that they need.

It was Virgil who wrote that “the greatest wealth is health” and in Judaism great importance is attached to the sanctity of life and preserving it as well as the duty to maintain a healthy body. This seems to be underlined in this week’s parsha, Shemini, where the Torah prescribes the laws of kashrut – the dietary requirements with its list of permitted and prohibited animals, fish, birds and even insects along with the rules of ritual impurity associated with the non-kosher species.

However, there is a misconception that the reason for these laws is the health benefits of only eating “clean” animals and avoiding “unclean” ones. The fallacy of this suggestion is evidenced by the fact that there are many examples of kashrut adherents who are not particularly healthy and a large proportion of people whose food consumption is not regulated but who live long lives free of illness.

The Torah itself does not make such a claim and instead alludes to the intent in the final verses of the parsha where God says, “For I am God who is bringing you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, therefore you shall be holy, because I am holy.”

The Gemara notes that usually God refers to taking the Jewish people out of Egypt whereas here it uses the term “bringing up” which implies that we are somehow elevated to a level of holiness on account of our dietary laws. In other words, we are what we eat, not simply in a physical sense but also spiritually as well. The health of our soul is impacted by what our body consumes and so we should take equal care over our spiritual wellbeing as our physical health.

This consideration is highlighted by the prayer we make for someone who is unwell, in which we ask God to send them a complete recovery, a recovery of the body and of the soul. Clearly our holistic approach to health is to seek Divine assistance when necessary but also to accept upon ourselves the responsibility to nourish our spirituality by embracing a healthy lifestyle.