Community Magazine June 2016

68 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE THE SCIENCE IS IN: Torah Laws Promote Healthy Living ARE THERE HIDDEN ADVANTAGES TO ABIDING BY A JEWISH LIFESTYLE? T he answer is yes! Following the ways of the Torah does not only provide spiritual benefits, there are physical side benefits too! Below are just a few of the ways Hashem’s instructions for living have just recently been recognized by science and medicine. In Sefer Beresheet , Hashem issues the commandment of brit milah : “You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between me and you. At the age of eight days, every male among you shall be circumcised, throughout your generations….” Hashem frames the brit milah as an act that binds us to him – and indeed it does; but it also reduces our chances of getting urinary tract infections, cancer and inflammations of the skin. These findings have been recently confirmed by institutions like The Mayo Clinic and the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are only now discovering what Hashem knew to be to our benefit all along. In Sefer Va’yikra , Hashem prohibits us from eating shellfish: “Everything that does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the streams…they are an abomination to you. You shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcass.” Hashem urges us here to be forever disgusted by shellfish – and for good reason; shellfish toxins are potentially fatal! By giving us this prohibition, Hashem protects us from shellfish poisoning – yet another reason we owe Him our lives. In Sefer Devarim , Hashem tells us, “You may slaughter from your cattle and your flocks that Hashem has given you, as I have commanded you.” There is sound logic to our only eating meat after it’s been slaughtered in the way that Hashem commanded. Kosher methods kill the animal instantly, protecting against the spread of infection transmitted in the blood. These methods are far more humane than those of the secular world. There, animals are shot up to five times in the head before they collapse, releasing a large amount DAVE GORDON