The outbreak of the Corona virus flu has caused me to focus on my ideas concerning health especially as it is discussed in the Jewish religious literature.
The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch section 32 discusses fire, body heat, the alimentary canal, food and digestion. It starts by saying that life is a flame that is fueled by food. If the flame is too hot then it consumes the body. This is a high fever. If it is too cold the fire goes out and the person expires.
In addition to fuel and heat a fire requires oxygen. In the body this is breathing and the respiratory system. If the breathing passages are blocked, the chemical fire will be smothered, and the person will die. This is what happens when pneumonia causes the tubes in the lungs to be filled with fluid. Also a person who is already weak may not have the strength to adequately breath through a very blocked nose, and this can be the situation with an infant, feebleness in old age, or with one who is generally sickly.
Respiration is related to the classical idea of the four humors. The word is a form of the Latin word for moisture and long ago a major use of it was to describe bodily fluids. Mucus or phlegm is for the respiratory system and helps it clean. This is why a person with germs, viruses, or bacteria will have a runny nose and will cough and spit up things. Bile helps digest food and also destroys and expels body invaders. It can cause vomiting and diarrhea. For this reason a sick person may have a stomach ache. Both types of cleansing can happen as a reflex without germs for example with a cold caused by a chill. Lymph kills germs in the blood. Blood keeps the body strong and healthy by bringing food from the digestive system to the various parts of the body.
Supervising all of this is the body's natural ability to heal. This is found in the brain. It helps the individual organs to behave properly and to cooperate with each other. Therefore a strong brain, which comes nutrients and intellectual stimulation, means better health.
Above everything is the force of life that is found in the soul. Some say its abode is the pineal gland and is kind of like a third eye. This adds a moral dimension to health. The food for the soul is Torah and mitzvahs. The vital force motivates a person to seek solutions to ailments and make the right decisions both consciously and subconsciously. Tragedy strikes both the righteous and the evil, but trouble and the scoundrel tends to be a proper match. On the other hand, a wise person who does good deeds is more likely to have a speedy and full recovery and often will not even get sick in the first place.
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