17. Guard Yourselves Very Well: Protecting Our Health

(1) Seeing that the maintenance of the body in a healthy and sound condition is a God-chosen way, for, lo, it is impossible that one should understand or know aught of the divine knowledge concerning the Creator when he is sick, it is necessary for man to distance himself from things which destroy the body, and accustom himself in things which are healthful and life-imparting...

(4) ...So too, any obstruction that is a danger to life must be removed as a matter of positive duty and extremely necessary caution.

(2)...a person must guard himself from the accidents that are customary in the world. As God created His world and built it upon the foundations of the principles of nature and decreed that fire should burn and that water puts out the flame. And so too, nature requires that that if a large stone falls on the head of a man, that it will smash his brain; or that if a person falls from the top of a high roof to the ground, that he will die. And He, may He be blessed, graced the bodies of people and blew into them a living soul with a mind, to protect the body from all incidents, and [then] placed the two of them - the soul and the body - within the sphere of the [natural] elements, and [these elements] will move them and act upon them. And since God subjugated the human body to nature - as so did His wisdom require - from the angle of its being physical, He commanded him to guard [himself] from an accident. As nature, to which he is subjugated, will act upon him if he does not guard himself from it...

(5) And they, may their memory be blessed, forbade many things (see Mishneh Torah, Murderer and the Preservation of Life 11:5 and 7) in order to guard ourselves from injuries and bad accidents, as it is not fitting for a person who has intelligence to endanger himself. And therefore it is fitting that he should put into his mind all of the things that can possibly result in injury. And the one who transgresses [these prohibitions] is rabbinically obligated in [getting] lashes of rebellion...

(8) Likewise, one has a positive duty to remove and guard oneself of any life-threatening obstacle, as it is said "beware and guard your soul". If one did not removed said obstacles, one has cancelled a positive commandment and transgressed "do not bring bloodguilt" (Deut. 22:8).

(9) The sages prohibited many things because of danger to a person. And some of them are explained in the Tur. Additionally, there are other things and these are they: A person must never put his mouth to a pipe spouting water and drink; he must not drink from rivers or ponds at night, for fear that he might swallow a leech without seeing. Rama: I have already written these in Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 116:5

(1) 5. And every person must show great compassion for the flesh of the body, illuminating it with every insight and perception that the soul perceives. The body should also be informed of this perception, as in (Isaiah 58:7), “Hide not from your own flesh.” Specifically from “your own flesh.” Do not hide your eyes from showing compassion for your flesh—the flesh of your body.

(2) For it is necessary to show great compassion for the body, to see to purify it, so as to be able to inform it of all the insights and perceptions which the soul perceives. This is because the soul of every human being is continuously seeing and comprehending very exalted things. But the body knows nothing of them. Therefore, every person must show great compassion for the flesh of the body. He should see to purify the body so that the soul will be able to inform it of all that she is always seeing and comprehending.

(3) Now, when the body is in this category, it benefits the soul. For there are times when she falls from her level. However, if the body is clear and illuminated, the soul is capable of picking herself up and returning to her level because of the body. That is, through the pleasures of the body, she will be able to recall and ascend to her own pleasures. For now that the body is also good and right, it doesn’t get trapped in the pleasures...