Maimonides Healthy (Eating) Habits

(2) And there are between each and every extreme tendency of an opposite vein mean tendencies one distinct from the other. Pertaining to tendencies in general, there are such tendencies which a man acquires at his birth, in keeping with the nature of his body; and there are particular tendencies to which a particular person is by nature prepared to acquire them more aptly than other tendencies; there are among them such which do not come naturally to a person at his birth, but which he learns from others, or by leaning towards them as a result of a thought invented by his heart, or by having heard that this particular tendency is good for him and proper to follow it, and he did follow it until it was set in his heart.

(7) And how may a man insure himself in these tendencies so that they be permanent with him? He should try once, repeat it, and do a third time the things he is called upon to do in harmony with the tendencies of the middle-course, and repeat the practice continuously until the doing it will be accomplished with slight effort, and they will not be burdensome upon him, then will the tendencies be a fixed part of his being.

(1) It is a natural tendency of man to be influenced in his ideas and conduct by his fellows and associates, and to follow the usage of the people of his state.

(4) The straight path is the mean disposition found in each and every tendency of all the human tendencies. Such tendency is removed from both extremes an equal distance, and is not nearer to one than to the other. Therefore have the wise men of yore commanded that man should ever review his tendencies,¹Sotah, 5b. C. estimate them, and direct them toward the middle-path so that he will be sound in body. How may one do it? He should not be an excitable person, easily angered; nor like the dead without feelings, but adopt a middle-course, not to become indignant, save only at something big which is worthy enough to be angry at, so that the like should not be done another time. Likewise shall he not crave for aught save the things which the body requires, and without which it is impossible to be, as the subject is spoken of: "The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul" (Pro. 13.25). Likewise shall he not continue to fatigue himself in his affairs, save to acquire what is necessary for him to live on for the time being as the subject is mentioned, saying: "A little that a righteous man hath is better" (Ps. 47.16). He should not be too close-fisted, nor yet squander his money, but give Z'dakah within the means of his hand, and lend accordingly to the needy. He should not be too optomistic and playful, nor too pessimistic and mournful, but spend all of his days in good cheer and with a pleasant countenance. So should he measure all the rest of his tendencies. And this path is the path of the wise men. Every man whose tendencies are mean tendencies of the middle-course, is called wise.

(3) And, yet, there are certain tendencies which man is forbidden to follow in the middle-way, but must distance himself from extreme to extreme. The good way is not merely that man be meek, but that he should be humble-spirited, then his spirit will be extremely lowly. This is the reason why it is said of Moses that he was very meek (Num. 12.3) ... So is anger an extremely evil tendency and it is proper for man to remove himself from it to the other extreme. One should teach himself not to get angry, even over a matter which befits anger. If one desires to engender awe in his children and his household, or in the public, if he be at the head of a community, even if he desire to get angry at them so as to bring them back to the good way, he should only act angry in their presence so as to reprove them, but his disposition must remain calm within himself, even as a man imitates, who is angry when the time calls forth anger but in reality he is not angry. The sages of yore said: "He who yields to anger is as if he worshiped idolatry".¹See Nedarim, 22b. G. T

(4) Ever let man multiply silence, and not speak aught else save in a matter of wisdom or of things which he needs for the sustenance of life in his body. Of Rab, the disciple of our Holy Master, it was said, that he never in his life uttered idle talk⁴ Verily, such is the talk of a majority of the people, whereas, even of the necessities of the body man should not multiply words. Concerning this the sages admonished, saying: "Whosoever propogates words generates sin" (Pir. Ab. 1.17). And they, moreover, said: "I found nothing better for the body than silence" (Ibid).

(1) Peradventure man will say: Seeing that envy, desire and vainglory and like tendencies are evil tendencies and remove man from life, I will separate myself from them exceedingly and reach their remotest extreme. Until he will eat no meat, drink no wine, marry no woman, dwell in no comfortable quarters, dress in no proper clothes but in a sack and coarse wool, and the like, as for instance the idolatrous priests do. Even such is an evil way, and it is forbidden to follow it. He who follows this way is called a sinner.

(2) It is necessary for man to set his heart and all his efforts solely to know the Name, blessed is He...How may he accomplish it? When he will buy, or sell, or do work for wages, he should not have in his heart the accumulation of money only but he should perform these duties as a means to acquire the necessities of the body, as food, drink, dwelling-place and marriage; likewise when he will eat, drink, or lead a family life, he should not set his heart upon these things for the sole enjoyment thereof, until, as a consequence he will not eat and drink save that which is sweet to the palate, and marry to gratify his sensuality only. But he shall set his heart to eat and drink solely in order to keep his body and limbs in good health. He, therefore, should not eat everything his palate craves for like a dog or an ass, but partake of the things which are wholesome to the body whether bitter or sweet; and he shall not eat food which is bad for the body even though it be sweet to the palate. For example...

(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. These are: never shall man partake food save when hungry, nor drink save when thirsty; he shall not defer elimination even one minute, but the moment he feels the need to evacuate urine or feces he must rise immediately.

(2) Man shall not eat his stomach-full, but should reduce about one fourth of the quantity which would sate him; nor shall he drink water during the meal, save a little mixed with wine; but when the food will commence to be digested in his bowels, he may drink whatever quantity he needs, nevertheless, he should not drink over-much water even after the food was digested. He shall not eat before a thorough examination of self whether there is a need for elimination. Man shall not eat without warming his body either by walking before mealtime, by some manual labor, or by some other form of exercise which will tire him. As a general rule, he shall exercise his body and tire it every day during the morning so that it will commence to perspire, when he shall rest a little until his spirit will be calm then eat...

(3) Ever after a man eats, he should remain for a time sitting in his place, or leaning on his left side; he shall not walk, ride horseback, tire himself, exercise his body, or ramble about ere the food in his stomach is digested; and he who does ramble about or tires himself after eating invites upon himself bad and serious ailments.

(4) The day and the night consist of twenty-four hours. It is enough that a man should sleep a third of it, which is eight hours. But it should terminate at the end of the night, so that from the time he commences his sleep till sun-dawn will be eight hours. As a consequence whereof he will arise from his bed before sun-up.

(5) Man shall not sleep with his face downward, nor with his face upward, but on his side; at the beginning of the night on his left side, and at the end of the night on his right side. He shall not sleep immediately after meals, but wait about three or four hours after eating. He shall not sleep in the day-time.

(13) Man should ever endeavor to have his bowels soft, near a bit to looseness. Here is a general rule in medicine: As long as there is either complete constipation or the voiding comes with great effort, it is a warning of impending serious ailments...

(14) And yet another rule was laid down with respect to the health of the body; As long as a man works, and tires himself out to the extreme, and does not eat to his full satiety, and his bowels are soft, no ailment will visit him, and his strength will increase, even though he partakes of foods which are considered bad.

(15) But whosoever sits idle and takes no exercise, or who witholds eliminations of his bowels, or whose bowels are constipated, even though he will eat only good food and keep himself up after the prescribed medical rules, he will suffer pain all his life, and his strength will fade away. Ravenous eating is as deadly to the body of every man as poison, and is the base of all sickness; for, most diseases which visit man are not possible save either because of bad food, or because he fills up his bowels with overmuch food, even though the food be of good quality. Concerning this Solomon in his wisdom said: "Whoso guardeth his mouth and his tongue guardeth his soul against distresses" (Prov. 21.23), meaning, that whoso guards his mouth against bad food and ravenous eating, and his tongue from speaking aught but of the things he needs, guards his soul against distresses.

(20) Whosoever trains himself in these ways which were pointed out, I assure him that he will encounter no sickness all of his days, until he will die of old age; he will need no doctor; his body will be sound and well preserved throughout his life, unless his body be bad from its very formation or if there be a visitation of a pestilence or famine upon the world.

(5) Man shall not sleep with his face downward, nor with his face upward, but on his side; at the beginning of the night on his left side, and at the end of the night on his right side. He shall not sleep immediately after meals, but wait about three or four hours after eating. He shall not sleep in the day-time.

(1) KNOW that for the human mind there are certain objects of perception which are within the scope of its nature and capacity; on the other hand, there are, amongst things which actually exist, certain objects which the mind can in no way and by no means grasp: the gates of perception are dosed against it. Further, there are things of which the mind understands one part, but remains ignorant of the other; and when man is able to comprehend certain things, it does not follow that he must be able to comprehend everything. This also applies to the senses: they are able to perceive things, but not at every distance: and all other power; of the body are limited in a similar way. A man can, e.g., carry two kikkar, but he cannot carry ten kikkar. How individuals of the same species surpass each other in these sensations and in other bodily faculties is universally known, but there is a limit to them, and their power cannot extend to every distance or to every degree.

(9) Anyone who covets the male or female servant or the house or goods of his neighbor, or anything that he can buy from him, and he exerts friendly pressure and annoys him until he buys it from him, even for a high price, breaks the prohibition: "You shall not covet" (Exodus 20:17).— —

(1) The Hebrew word ḥ-m-d has two different meanings. One meaning is robbery, oppression, taking from others through force or compulsion ... The other meaning is jealousy, that does not express itself in overt action. .. Moshe, explaining the Torah, in this book has replaced one instance of “you shall not be jealous” with “you shall not desire”. Many people have said that there is no sin in thinking something, and that thoughts carry neither reward nor punishment. I shall not go into the many proofs to the contrary at great length. Suffice to point out “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to God ” [Proverbs 15: 26], “You did well, insofar as it was your intention” [I Kings 8: 18], and “to those who are upright in their hearts” [Psalms 125: 4]. Moshe himself summed it all up when he said “to do it with your mouth and with your heart” [30: 14]. The core of all the commandments is the improvement of character — and the majority of them are essentially reminders [see comment on Leviticus 19: 19]. Moreover, the existence of a distinction between an intentional sin and an accidental sin is definitive proof.

(1) You shall not covet: Many people have wondered about this commandment, how is is that a man not covet in his heart that which is beautiful [and] all that which appears pleasant in his eyes. I will give you a parable [to explain this]. You should know that a villager who thinks correctly and sees that the king's daughter is beautiful will not covet her in his heart, that he should sleep with her; as he knows that this is impossible. And this villager will not think like one of the lunatics that desires that he should have wings to fly in the sky, when it is not possible. [This is like] that which a man does not desire to sleep with his mother, even though she is beautiful, as they have accustomed him from his youth to know that it is forbidden to him. So must every enlightened person know that a beautiful woman or money is not attained by a person because of his wisdom or knowledge; rather it is from that which God apportioned to him. ..And because of this, the enlightened one will not desire and not covet. And once he knows that God forbade him the wife of his friend, it is more removed in his eyes than the daughter of the king is in the eyes of the villager. Therefore, he will 'rejoice in his portion' and he won't place in his heart to covet and desire something that is not his. Since he knows that God did not want to give it to him [and that] he is not able to take it with his power and thoughts and machinations. Hence, he will trust in his Creator, that He will provide for him and that He will do what is good in His eyes. And behold, the commentary on the Ten Commandments is completed....

(1) ולא תתאוה, “and you shall not covet.” The expression “to covet” is used only when it describes the desire of one’s heart, not when one plans to act upon that desire. (Ibn Ezra) As soon as someone becomes aware, that his neighbour, due to various kinds of pressure is known to consider selling it and instead of financially supporting his neighbour exploits his reduced circumstances, and decides in his mind to buy it from him, he has violated this commandment. When he expressed his intention by mouth, he has violated the commandment of לא תחמד, as written at the beginning of verse 18. .. In all the Ten Commandments, commencing with the word: אנכי, until the words: ולשומרי מצותו at the end of verse 10, there is no difference between the wording of the first set of the Ten Commandments and the wording of the second set, as G-d repeated the wording, and therefore their meaning is identical in both instances. Moses had not intended to introduce any changes either. However, in the second version in our chapter, the changes that Moses did introduce did not change the meaning of the commandment.

(3) The two extremes in each and every tendency is not a good way, and it is not proper for a man to follow them, nor to have himself instructed in them. If one finds his nature leaning toward one of them, or susceptible to one of them, or if he already acquired one of them and followed it, he should turn himself toward goodness by following the path of the good which is the straight path.

(1) Every man was endowed with a free will; if he desires to bend himself toward the good path and to be just it is within the power of his hand to reach out for it, and if he desires to bend himself to a bad path and to be wicked it is within the power of his hand to reach out for it. This is known from what it is written in the Torah, saying: "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil" (Gen. 3.22), that is as if saying: "Behold, this species, man, stands alone in the world, and there is no other kind like him, as regards this subject of being able of his own accord, by his reason and thought, to know the good and the evil, and to do whatever his inclination dictates him with none to stay his hand from either doing good or evil; and, being that he is so, 'Lest he put forth his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'" (Ibid.)¹Abodah Zarah, 16b; Megillah, 25a. G.

(2) Permit not your thought to dwell upon that which ridiculous fools of other peoples and a majority of asinine individuals among the children of Israel say, that the Holy One, blessed is He! decrees at the very embryonic state of every man whether he should be just or wicked. The matter is not so. Every man is capable of being as just as Moses our Master or as wicked as Jeroboam, wise or incony, merciful or human, miser or philanthropist, and so in all other tendencies. There is none to either force things upon him or to decree things against him; either to pull him one way or draw him another way, but he alone, of his own free will, with the consent of his mind, bends to any path he may desire to follow. It is concerning this that Jeremiah said: "Out of the mouth of the Most High proceedeth not the evil and the good" (Lam. 3. 38),²I am amazed that the English version of the American Jewish Publication Society, too, makes this sentence interrogatory. G. which is as if saying, the Creator decrees not that man should be either good or bad. Now, this being so, the consequence hereof is that the sinner alone brought harm upon himself. It is, therefore, meet that he should lament and shed tears because he sinned, and because of what he did to his soul and rewarded it with evil. Even this is the meaning of the succeeding Verse: "Wherefore doth a living man complain, or a strong man? Because of his sins" (Ibid.)³The English version in all existing translations is entirely opposed to what was an accepted doctorine by all medieval and modern Hebrew scholars. I corrected it to harmonize the texts. G. Again, he continues, in the succeeding Verse seeing that it all is in our power, and we did all the evil of our own free will and accord, it is, indeed meet for us to turn in repentance and abandon our wickedness, for our free will is in our hands now as well as at the time we committed the sins saying: "Let us search and try our ways, and return to the Lord" (Ibid.–40).⁴See Niddah, 16b; but the Maimoni doctorine does not contradict that text; you can not teach a brainless idiot wisdom, but a man with brains is often a charlatan; the choice is his. C. G.

(3) And, this matter is a great and component part, the very pillar of the Torah and its precepts, even as it is said: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30.15), and it is, moreover, written: "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and curse" (Ibid. 11.26). This is as if saying, the power is in your hand, and whatever human activity man may be inclined to carry on he has a free will to elect either good or evil. And, because of this very subject it is said: "Oh, who would grant that they had such a heart as this, to fear Me, and to keep all my commandments at all times" (Ibid. 5.26). This is as if saying, that the Creator forces not the sons of man, and makes no decrees against them that they should do good or evil, but that it all is in their own keeping.⁵Since Maimoni no authority in Israel disputed this. G.

(2) I will begin the subject of this chapter with a simile. A king is in his palace, and all his subjects are partly in the country, and partly abroad. Of the former, some have their backs turned towards the king's palace, and their faces in another direction; and some are desirous and zealous to go to the palace, seeking "to inquire in his temple," and to minister before him, but have not yet seen even the face of the wall of the house. Of those that desire to go to the palace, some reach it, and go round about in search of the entrance gate; others have passed through the gate, and walk about in the ante-chamber; and others have succeeded in entering into the inner part of the palace, and being in the same room with the king in the royal palace. But even the latter do not immediately on entering the palace see the king, or speak to him; for, after having entered the inner part of the palace, another effort is required before they can stand before the king--at a distance, or close by--hear his words, or speak to him.