Returning to Faith Through Nutrition
As part of my journey of return, I decided to 'choose life' by following Rabbi Yuval HaCohen Ashrov's nutritional guidance. Hadas Cohen shares her impressions from the nutrition workshop at Ilima College.
- הדס כהן
- פורסם י"א חשון התשע"ד
#VALUE!
I remember my early days of returning like it was yesterday. I recall the endless desire to be closer to Hashem, the infinite conversations with Him, the walks by the sea, and the ongoing reading of Tehillim.
This connected with my longstanding interest in the human body. At university, I studied biology, and I always loved sports, anatomy, and their connection. Despite this, as with many other things, I felt no responsibility or care for my body. I trusted it would always be there for me, and if not, heaven forbid, well, then what could be done?
But during my journey of return, I decided that I was 'choosing life.' Along with caring for my soul—meaning observing mitzvot, studying the holy Torah, and changing my lifestyle—I tried to pay more attention to correct behaviors related to my body. I became a regular student in the lectures of Rabbi Yuval HaCohen Ashrov, head of Ilima College—an institution for complementary medicine with a Jewish spirit.
Gradually, doubts arose concerning my faculty's lecturers, most of whom were doctors. Many contradictions were discovered between what I learned at the faculty about the human body and our daily behaviors, and the gap continued to grow. I realized that although medicine knows little more than Rambam taught us about how we should lead our bodies, our habits have completely changed due to the abundance and temptations that have increased infinitely.
Moreover, I discovered that Western medicine is not interested in solving problems at their roots, but only in suppressing the symptoms of the disease. In other words, it doesn't matter what is happening in the patient's body as long as he feels good.
At this point, I couldn't avoid asking—what do we do with all this? How do we proceed? When I heard about the 'Path of Nutrition' workshop at Ilima College—five days of proper eating and study of natural health combined with studies of Judaism and Hasidism—I didn't hesitate for a moment.
After a week without coffee, I arrived at the workshop held at Kibbutz Anbar. It was a very rainy day, and nothing was more appealing to me than prolonged relaxation in a cabin amidst the endless green and fertile nature surrounding the small kibbutz (only 12 families).
The workshop opened with a lecture by Rabbi Yuval about the importance of proper body maintenance and the need to distance ourselves from external harms. On the same day, lecturer Asaf Biler (head of the 'Our Yoga' track—Yoga in the path of Judaism) spoke about 'spiritual eating'—slow and measured eating when hungry, rather than as compensation for emotional deficiency or during anger.
Continued workshops included many lectures connecting spirit and body. Among them was a guided imagery hour with track coordinator Tal Rosenthal. In another session called 'Peace Within Myself,' Alon Wingazin talked about correct behaviors during times of anger or frustration.
Alongside the spiritual lessons, there are lessons about the principles of the method—what are the food groups, how to integrate them into meals most effectively, whether it's advisable to eat from all of them in every meal, and generally, how to plan meals throughout the week to get the most out of every eating session for our bodies.
During meals, team members explained about the meal's components, method of preparation, and how to properly plan it. It turns out that to maintain a healthy and correct lifestyle, it's advisable to think several steps ahead—what food is desirable in every meal throughout the day so that my body gets everything it needs without contradicting the recommended combinations, when to sprout legumes so they'll be ready for the holy Shabbat stew, and so forth... Additionally, several practical lessons are delivered, teaching what materials and tools can ease the maintenance of this lifestyle and even make it enjoyable.
More than three weeks have passed since the workshop ended. Despite the many tools I received in the workshop, I didn't believe I would be able to maintain the method at home. To my surprise, I found out it's much simpler than I thought, and, thank Hashem, a balanced and pleasant routine is being established. I feel rejuvenated and renewed in body and spirit, and even the heaviness (both physical and spiritual) that always accompanied the end of the holy Shabbat has disappeared thanks to a bit of attention, thank Hashem.Not long ago, I was present in a lecture where Rabbi Ashrov talked about the importance of proper maintenance of the body along with the spirit. He explained that as those returning to faith, sometimes tending to our bodies is perceived as physical and irrelevant, but this is just imagination and the evil inclination, for our bodies need us as much as we need them.
With Hashem's help, may we all be blessed with long life, health in body and spirit, and true joy, together with all of creation.
