Shmirat ha-Guf

Value: Shmirat ha-Guf

Shmirat ha-guf means “guarding the body”. It is the mitzvah to treat your body as a holy place. In the Torah we are told: “ Take care of yourself, and guard your soul diligently” (Deuteronomy 4:9). Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav taught, “Every person must take great care of his or her physical body” (Likutei Moharan I, 22:5). Rabbi Elliot Dorff wrote, “American law would permit me to eat a half-gallon of ice cream every night of the week. I might be stupid to do so because I will look and feel terrible and endanger my life, but that is my choice. In Jewish law, though, I do not have that right because I have a legal duty to take care of my body, since it belongs to God.” Our bodies are holy, and how we use them is a sacred choice. Shmirat ha-guf is not just about working out. It is also about drugs, drinking, health care, and a lot of other big issues. Guarding our body has to do with many different things we have to do or not do.

Shmirat ha-Guf Text: In the Image of God

Once when Hillel had finished a lesson with his students, he started walking with them. “Master,” they asked, “where are you going?” “To perform a mitzvah,” he answered. “Which mitzvah?” they asked. “To take a bath,” he answered. “Is that a mitzvah?” “Yes! A person is appointed to scour and wash the statues of the king that stand in the theaters and stadiums. That person is paid for the work and is even connected with royalty. Since that is so, how much more should I, who am created in the image of God, wash and scrub myself? As it is written, ‘ In the image of God did God make humankind’ (Genesis 9:6) .

1. Why is bathing a mitzvah? 2. What biblical verse does Hillel use to prove that bathing is a mitzvah? 3. D o people look like God? (Isn’t God invisible?) 4. H ow can God’s image be a reason to take care of our bodies?

(Leviticus Rabbah 34:3)