Does the Torah give a Recipe for Longevity?
On my recent birthday, I got many
wishes, such as, “May you live until 120 years!” I, of course, enthusiastically
answered “Amen!” There are so many things I’d like to do in this world: many
books to write, classes to teach, and much to accomplish. Therefore, I hope and
pray for many healthy years in this world. But what is the origin of this
blessing? Is it a realistic goal? And does the Torah give a recipe for
longevity? The Torah is called a Tree of Life, so it would make sense that
living according to the directives of the Torah grants a good and long life.
Yet, we do see that not all the great, righteous, G-d fearing people merit
longevity. This doesn’t necessarily imply that the Torah lifestyle doesn’t enhance
and lengthen our days. G-d’s way of running the world is not simplistic. There
are too many factors that determine a person’s quality and quantity of life,
for us to fathom its intricacies. We are in the world to accomplish a tikkun –
the mission for which we are sent here. When we have completed fulfilling our
mission, we have no reason for remaining in this world. Tzaddikim (holy people)
atone for their generation through their suffering and sometimes even through
their death, so we can’t really even try to make any calculations. Before the
flood, people used to live several hundred years. Then Hashem decreed to
diminish the human lifespan to 120, as it states, “Then Hashem said, ‘My Spirit
shall not strive with man forever, since he is but flesh; nevertheless, his days shall be
one hundred and twenty years”, (Bereishit 6:3). Vegetarians will resonate
with Abarbanel’s commentary, who writes that before the Flood, when Adam and
his descendants were not permitted to eat meat (Bereishit 1:29), people
lived to an average of nine hundred years. After Noach emerged from the Ark,
and meat became permitted to humanity (Ibid. 9:3), life expectancy dropped
drastically (Abarbanel, Mayenei HaYeshuah 5:3). One of the main reasons
we bless people to live until 120 is that this is the lifespan that Moshe
reached. Moreover, the Torah attests that even at the end of his life, Moshe’s
energy and vitality did not diminish in the slightest.
ספר דברים פרק לד פסוק ז וּמשֶׁה בֶּן מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה
בְּמֹתוֹ לֹא כָהֲתָה עֵינוֹ וְלֹא נָס לֵחֹה:
“Moshe
was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye had not dimmed, nor
had he lost his [natural] freshness” (Devarim 34:7).
This explains why, today, we bless
people that they are granted the same long, productive life as our great teacher
Moshe. After the flood, the longest lifespan attainable in our world is that
which Moshe achieved in both quantity and quality.
The Key to a Long and Healthy Life is Living in Emunah
Although we cannot attempt to
understand the suffering and premature death of the righteous, the Torah still gives
guidelines for how to live a holy, healthy, long life. Torah commentaries such
as Rambam teach us directions for keeping ourselves healthy through lifestyle
and diet. (See Hilchot Deot Chapter 4). According
to all, Torah, medical, and alternative
healing research, a wholesome diet is important for health and longevity, as is
good sleeping patterns. In addition, I believe that living with emunah and
remaining calm and unstressed is the key to living a long and healthy life. It
is easy to observe that calm people generally look and feel younger and
healthier, even when reaching an advanced age. “A tzaddik lives by his emunah
(faith)” (Chabbakuk 2:4). This teaches us how being happy with our
portion enhances life, as it states, “a tzaddik eats to satisfy his soul” (Mishlei
13:25). Having emunah and trusting that Hashem will grant us our needs, is the
opposite of indulging in lusts. Being satisfied with our lot is a general
characteristic that engenders every other good quality (The Vilna Gaon, Aderet
Eliyahu, Chabbakuk 2:4). Living in emunah engenders longevity by enabling destressing
and keeping calm. I don’t have to prove to you how stress is one of the main
impediments to good health and longevity. Jeanne Louise Calment (1875 -1997)
was a supercentenarian, with the longest human lifespan on record, living until
age 122! Calment ascribed her longevity and health to a diet rich in olive oil
(which she also rubbed onto her skin), as well as a diet of port wine, and 2.2
lb of chocolate every week. She also credited her calmness, saying, “That's why
they call me Calment.”
Maintaining Emotional Tranquility
Takes Precedence over All Health Treatments
In his book, the Regimen
of Health, Rambam stresses the connection between mental and physical
health, especially in relation to stress and anxiety. While the
relationship between mind and body has only been acknowledged by the medical
world in the last hundred years, Rambam was already aware of this connection in
the 12th century, making him a pioneer in psychosomatics. Here
are a few short excerpts from the Regimen of Health which still apply today:
• If emotional stress is maintained for a long period, one will definitely become ill.
Constant anxiety damages the body.
• Emotional experiences produce distinct changes in the body… Emotions also have an effect on the circulation of the blood and the functioning of one’s organs…
• The physician should remove [from the patient] all emotional activities that lead to anxiety. This way the health of the patient is preserved. This principle takes precedence in the cure of any patient, especially if his illness is specific to this area, like depression…
• One must pay attention and constantly consider one’s emotional activities. Maintaining them in equilibrium, during health and illness, must take precedence over any other regimen.
The
Torah is Our Life Through Which We May Lengthen Our Days
In Parashat
Ha’azinu prior to his demise, Moshe imparts to his people the importance of
keeping the Torah:
ספר
דברים פרק לב פסוק
מו וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם שִׂימוּ
לְבַבְכֶם לְכָל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מֵעִיד בָּכֶם הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר
תְּצַוֻּם אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת: (מז) כִּי לֹא
דָבָר רֵק הוּא מִכֶּם כִּי הוּא חַיֵּיכֶם וּבַדָּבָר הַזֶּה תַּאֲרִיכוּ יָמִים
עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ:
“He said to them, ‘Put in your
hearts all of the words which I bear witness for you this day, so that you may
command your children to observe to do all the words of this Torah. For it is not an empty thing for you,
for it is your life; and through this thing, you will lengthen your days upon
the land to which you are crossing over the Jordan, to possess it” (Devarim 32:46-47).
Rashi explains, “For it is not an
empty thing for you…” You do not labor over it in vain, for a great reward is
contingent upon it, for “it is your life” [that is, the reward is life itself].
Ibn Ezra adds that “the Torah is our life” as it states, “Fear of Hashem will
add days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened” (Mishlei 10:27).
The nature/character of a person determines his lifespan. Our character, in
turn, is determined by correct actions, which lengthens our life. Today, any
kind of fear is not looked upon as a positive trait, rather the opposite. I
have long thought about the deeper meaning of what it means to fear G-d, which
is so important in the Torah. Attaining fear of G-d is the result of overcoming
all other fears – to reach the level of fearing nothing but G-d. Thus, a person
who truly fears G-d, remains calm through threats, pressures, and hardships.
This explains why “fear of G-d will add days…”
Do not Delve into Past Grief nor of
Future Worries
In his Regimen of Health, Rambam
suggests how to maintain emotional health throughout life’s challenges: “The
physician must not think that medical knowledge [alone] can set aside emotional
instabilities. Psychology and ethical philosophy are necessary…
Most thoughts that cause distress,
sorrow, sadness, or grief, occur from one of two things:
1. Either one thinks of the past about the loss
of money or a beloved one,
2. or one thinks of something that may occur in
the future, such as a possible loss or injury that one fears might happen. Yet,
it is known through rational observation that thinking about the past is of no
benefit at all… Similarly, any anxiety that results from thoughts about what
may happen in the future are pointless because every possible thing lies in the
realm of possibility: maybe it will happen and maybe it will not. Let a person
replace anxiety with hope [in G-d] and with this hope, it is possible that in
fact the opposite of what one fears will actually happen, because both what one
fears and its opposite are (equally) in the realm of possibility.
In the Messianic future, G-d will
restore Man’s longevity once again, as Yesha’yahu prophesies:
ספר ישעיה פרק סה פסוק כב לֹא יִבְנוּ
וְאַחֵר יֵשֵׁב לֹא יִטְּעוּ וְאַחֵר יֹאכֵל כִּי כִימֵי הָעֵץ יְמֵי עַמִּי וּמַעֲשֵׂה
יְדֵיהֶם יְבַלּוּ בְחִירָי:
“They shall not build, and another inhabit;
they shall not plant, and another eat, for like the days of the tree are the
days of My people, and My elect shall outlive their handiwork” (Yeshayahu
65:22).
When we will have completed the rectification
of eating from the Tree of Knowledge, then the life of humanity will be
restored to the former calm days in Paradise, where we lived in serene
tranquility. Then, there will be nothing to worry about. Our days will return
to be like that of the tree – like the Tree of Life (Rashi).
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