Why Did Rabbi Shach Choose 'Yechezkel's Challot'?

On that Shabbat, two white aromatic challahs were presented to Rabbi Shach for 'Lechem Mishneh'. The rabbi surveyed the challahs, and dissatisfaction spread across his face. "Where are Yechezkel's challot?" he asked. 'Yechezkel's challot' was the code name for whole wheat challahs, which his aide, Rabbi Yechezkel Essachayek, made sure to purchase for him. Once Rabbi Shach learned from his aide that whole wheat is considered healthier by the medical field, he preferred whole wheat to properly fulfill the mitzvah of 'and you shall guard yourselves well'. 

Where did his aide's understanding of a healthy diet come from? Rabbi Yechezkel Essachayek, a pioneer in writing about nutrition and health in the Haredi community, credits his parents' home for his knowledge. "Long before the topic became popular," he says, "my father was interested in the relationship between nutrition and preventive medicine. My mother recounts that after their wedding, he shared with her the rules he collected on proper eating and nutrition. From an early age, they instilled in us the importance of eating healthy, chewing properly, and avoiding sweets. My mother also developed an interest, read a lot of literature on nutrition, and applied what she learned."

Over the years, Rabbi Essachayek, who served as Rabbi Shach's aide, became familiar with renowned doctors due to the need for medical consultation. "Once reaching old age, it was natural to have connections with physicians. This is how I met the late Professor Zvi Bank, who headed the internal medicine department at Tel HaShomer Hospital and was very dedicated to Rabbi Shach. I also met the late Professor Amram Abuhatzeira, a humble and noble man with immense knowledge who spoke a lot about preventive medicine and proper nutrition."

Alongside nutrition, Rabbi Essachayek took an interest in the damages of smoking. "Part of our education to maintain health involved staying away from smoking. My father used to clip newspaper articles against smoking and keep them, although I never thought of doing anything with them."

Rabbi Yechezkel Essachayek

One bright day in the year 2000, Rabbi Essachayek saw in "HaMevaser" that the then Minister of Health, Rabbi Benizri, established a public committee to prevent smoking, inviting testimonies from experts. "I called and asked if I could attend the committee meetings. They said: 'Please do.' I attended the first meeting and returned for all thirty sessions. Many people provided fascinating testimonies. After the second meeting, I asked lawyer Amos Hausner, a well-known anti-smoking activist, to accompany me to Rabbi Wosner of blessed memory. We entered and began discussing the smoking issue. Rabbi Wosner saw that I had a paper with summarized notes and asked for it. He looked at the paper and said: 'Okay, I will answer you.' After a week, I received his famous halachic ruling against smoking, with details on its severity. I took this ruling to Rabbi Elyashiv of blessed memory, who also wrote and signed a text, sending me to other rabbis to get their signatures. With these rulings, I went and printed the famous notice of 'Gedolim against smoking'. These notices were distributed in hundreds of thousands of copies in all Haredi communities in Israel. I also placed notices in the Haredi press, 'Yated Ne’eman' and 'HaMevaser', and gave numerous interviews."

The halachic rulings published at Rabbi Essachayek's initiative caused a significant stir in the Haredi community. Until then, despite vague knowledge about the harms of smoking, it was widely accepted among yeshiva students. For the first time, the community was presented not just with a warning but with a clear halachic decision: smoking is forbidden.

Following the notices, Rabbi Essachayek also published a book titled 'Life Without Smoking', which sold twenty thousand copies in its initial years. "The book has 13 chapters. Only one of them is about the health harms of smoking. The rest discusses the religious reasons against smoking, the halachic view, and the opinions of the gedolim. Questions and answers. The fact that smoking violates the enjoyment of Shabbat, harms the family, disrespects parents, and affects future generations." He states that observant Jews need to understand the full severity of the prohibitions associated with smoking. "For example, I heard from many women that the smell of smoking greatly bothers them, yet the husband continues as usual. In the book, I present the words of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on the severe punishment for someone who causes grief to his wife." The wide-reaching educational effort had its impact, he says. "I conducted several surveys, and the last one, after two and a half years of activity, showed a one-third drop in the number of smokers in the Haredi community." The ultimate goal, he says, is for smoking Haredim to become non-existent. "Just as women in the Haredi community do not smoke, so should it be with men."

A few years later, Rabbi Essachayek found himself writing not only about smoking but also about proper nutrition. "I had just returned from the United States. On the way to the airport, the driver asked me for health guidelines, so I instructed him to the best of my ability. When I boarded the plane and wanted to stay awake to avoid falling asleep before the Mincha prayer, I typed what I had discussed with him. That document was forgotten on the computer until the preparations for my daughter's wedding in the year 2003. I used to distribute a bencher as a memento at each child's wedding, and this time I said to myself that everyone already has enough benchers. I went to my friend Rabbi Shtov, a writer for 'HaMevaser', and told him I wanted to distribute a booklet on health preservation as a wedding souvenir. He re-edited the material I wrote, resulting in a 40-page small booklet. I went to the printing house and ordered 3000 booklets – 1500 as wedding souvenirs, and the rest for distribution."

The book 'Healthy Living According to Halacha' in English edition by Rabbi Yechezkel Essachayek

And from there, as they say, the rest is history. Since then, that modest initial edition was printed in various editions and in one hundred thousand copies, translated into six languages. "I essentially fulfilled a dream from the age of Bar Mitzvah when I already wanted to practice the health guidelines of Maimonides written in 'Hilchot De'ot' from Mishneh Torah, although the terms were not suitable for my time. Blessed be Hashem, after five decades I managed to understand the concepts, adapt them to contemporary language, integrating all the knowledge I had for preventive medicine and proper nutrition. I incorporated teachings from the Chafetz Chaim, Rabbi Shach, and others. To this day, I receive calls from people talking about healthier lives: losing dozens of kilograms, stabilized blood sugar levels, and more. The book caused a real revolution in the Haredi community."

In the latest editions of the book, one can see its major impact through reader letters printed at the end, sharing relief from chronic issues that plagued them for years—all thanks to dietary change.

One chapter in the book that received enthusiastic responses is the chapter on preparing for the Yom Kippur fast, says Rabbi Essachayek. "Many people do not know how much or what to eat. I clarified matters: when to start drinking a lot, how much to drink, what is important to eat in the satisfying meal. Many people reached out to say that their fast turned from a nightmare of stomach aches at Kol Nidrei and exhaustion at Ne'ila to a day they can handle relatively easily and focus on prayers."

Aside from publishing new editions of his books, Rabbi Essachayek frequently gives lectures on health topics. "I have delivered many lectures across the country to the general public and in seminars, made an audio CD of a particularly successful lecture, and it distributed over thirty thousand copies at cost price; I also had a nearly two-hour radio interview in New York." For him, this field holds a real mission. "I hope to continue to have the merit to help the public stay healthy and serve Hashem."