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Food, clothing, and shelter are the commonly listed basic needs; food provides us energy, clothing additional insulation, shelter protection from the elements of nature that might interfere with well-being. All three work towards an unspoken basic need: warmth.
Warmth speaks to a state of comfort with the world around us - a place of comfort and safety. The universe teaches us (at least those of us that are from anywhere other than southern California) from an early age that warmth is not a given but rather something that needs to be worked for.
Rashi offers two possible reasons King David could not warm himself - regret over an action he had taken (the cutting of the corner of Saul's cloak, which God had told him not to do,) or fear of death. Both options speak to a near-spiritual component to the objective of getting/maintaining warmth.
When we describe a person as warm, we generally are describing some combination of compassion, empathy, and kindness in an unambiguously positive way. Judaism also sees the warmth offered by companionship, both in the practical sense and the emotional one.
It was by act of divine providence that Esther was taken to Ahasuerus in a cold winter month, in which the body takes pleasure in the warmth of another body, and therefore she found favor in his eyes.
גַּ֛ם אִם־יִשְׁכְּב֥וּ שְׁנַ֖יִם וְחַ֣ם לָהֶ֑ם וּלְאֶחָ֖ד אֵ֥יךְ יֵחָֽם׃
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Infinitesimally small atoms travel around and within us. Life seeks out forms of energy to power those atoms, and the speed of their movement warms us and the universe.
Humanity's ability to control the speed at which those atoms move has been a central concern of existence since the dawn of man. Consuming food powers the atoms within us; refrigeration slows atoms to delay the decay of what we eat. Shelter protects us from the super-charged energy of the sun; fire provides warmth in the sun's absence.
Central to all of this is the sun, which, in addition to providing heat and light, provides energy to plants, which serve as the beginning and end of the food chain. The life-sustaining power of the sun was not lost on King David, who used it as a metaphor for God's power in a psalm.
[God's] rising-place is at one end of heaven, and his circuit reaches the other; nothing escapes his heat.
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Ever a document of practical advice, the Talmud notes that the external forces of weather are worthy of consideration from the earliest moments of the day, and that having breakfast (granting energy from within, as opposed to relying on external forces) will help to guard against the harm of external elements. Humanity's agency in maintaining warmth is clear.
§ The Gemara cites a related baraita: The Sages taught that thirteen matters of praise were stated with regard to a meal of bread eaten in the morning: It protects the diner from the heat, and from the cold, and from the winds, and from the harmful spirits; and it makes the simple wise, and one who consumes it will be victorious in judgment, he will merit to learn Torah and to teach it, and his statements are heard, and his study will remain in his possession.
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On days of extreme heat or extreme cold, one might be inclined to ponder God's design; Is such weather not a stumbling block on the path of humanity towards righteousness and enlightenment? Is creation not difficult enough to navigate without an unpredictable set of weather patterns?
Rav Zevid said: With regard to [the] first day of Rosh HaShana, if it is warm, the entire year will be warm, but if it is cold, the entire year will be cold. The Gemara asks: What difference is there whether one knows this or not? The Gemara answers: The difference is with regard to the prayer of the High Priest, who would pray on Yom Kippur for beneficial weather, and this knowledge enabled him to formulate his prayers accordingly.
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Practical experience and environmental science teach us that each beat of the rhythm of the seasons is vital to continued life on this planet; snowfalls and regulates the temperature of the earth's crust, allowing certain plants and animals to rest and regrow. The thaw in spring feeds rivers and reservoirs. The desire for some ability to predict the weather above has echoed through the generations (see: groundhog's day), but the only constant in the precise rhythm of the seasons is that the specifics are known only to God.
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Since the weather in all of its various extremes is a necessary element of life's survival on the planet, the Talmud is clear: the onus of protecting humankind from the danger of weather extremes falls squarely on our own shoulders.
The Torah states: “And the Lord will take away from you all sickness” (Deuteronomy 7:15). Rabbi Ḥanina says: This phrase: “All sickness,” refers to the cold, as Rabbi Ḥanina says: All occurrences that befall man are at the hands of Heaven, except for excess cold and heat, as it is stated: “Cold and heat are on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul shall keep far from them” (Proverbs 22:5). This indicates that cold and heat are forms of harm caused by man, from which one can protect himself.
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The Talmud goes further still: it is our duty to protect every living thing that cannot protect themselves from the cold, even if that means violating Shabbat to do so.
Rav Pappa said: Where the Sages permitted placing a saddlecloth on a donkey on Shabbat, it is to warm the animal...Placing the saddlecloth to warm the animal is permitted because otherwise it experiences discomfort from the cold.
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That of course brings us to an age-old question: how to balance the keeping of the sabbath with the need to protect ourselves from cold?
(א) הַמַּבְעִיר כָּל שֶׁהוּא חַיָּב. וְהוּא שֶׁיְּהֵא צָרִיךְ לָאֵפֶר.
A person who lights a candle or wood, whether to generate warmth or light, is liable [of breaking shabbas].
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To get the easy part out of the way first: obviously, if someone is going to freeze to death, the Torah and Talmud are in agreement and are very clear: break whatever other laws are necessary to save them.
“You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), and not that he should die by them. In all circumstances, one must take care not to die as a result of fulfilling the mitzvot.
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The Shulchan Arukh, written by Joseph Karo one thousand years after the writing of the Talmud, offers further clarification to this rule that offers us some additional insight in dealing with matters of extreme cold: act first, ask questions later.
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This brings us back to the beginning; a warm person, a person of compassion and empathy and kindness, upon seeing someone suffering from the cold, might say: "While lighting a fire may go against my beliefs, I must prioritize the safety of my fellow human, and suffer whatever recompense my breaking of the sabbath may earn me." It is this type of loving-kindness that warms the world.
שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר,
עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד, עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים:
Shimon the Righteous was one of the last of the members of the Great Assembly. He used to say:
The world stands upon three things: the Torah, the Temple service [prayer], and acts of loving kindness.