{"id":12136,"date":"2025-04-25T15:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T15:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/?p=12136"},"modified":"2025-04-25T16:01:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T16:01:53","slug":"shaping-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/shaping-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaping Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Post-Pesach Musings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\ufeffWho doesn\u2019t have a few post-Pesach pounds to shed? With all the food being served over Yom Tov, and with the types of food being so different from what we normally eat, it\u2019s natural that our bodies need some time to correct and get back to their norm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as an aside, as I consumed sweet, potato starch confetti cookies, savory, potato starch \u201ceverything\u201d crackers, plus potato starch egg noodles in my soup, I noted that potato starch seems to be the new \u201cmon,\u201d which can taste like anything you want. But with all that eating, it\u2019s quite normal to put on a little extra padding, which is why when I spoke to a neighbor, I heard that the family was all on diets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Real Workout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Certainly, a diet can help jumpstart your return to normal, or improvement to better, but if you really want to see results, you need to work out. That\u2019s right, you need to push yourself to build muscle and stamina if you plan to shape up. Let me tell you what I did recently to pump myself up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There I was, standing in shul. It wasn\u2019t my usual place to daven, but I needed to be done earlier to help my wife that day, so I attended a different minyan. It started at seven o\u2019clock in the morning. I was unfamiliar with the location so I ended up arriving several minutes late, but with enough time to put on my talis and tefillin and catch up to the tzibur before Barchu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes later, at about 7:19, something happened. The door to the shul, which was in my periphery, opened, and a figure entered. This was my chance. I was very curious to see who was coming in so late. I was about to turn his way, but then I told myself, \u201cShape up!\u201d I specifically kept my gaze downward until the person had enough time to get to a seat and I would be unable to tell who had come in even if my willpower gave way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me tell you, that was a workout!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to stretch my stamina and willpower to the max in order to make sure I wouldn\u2019t succumb to the temptation of my curiosity. It would only hurt the other person in my eyes were I to witness this late arrival, and besides, who\u2019s to say he didn\u2019t have a valid reason for coming so late? In fact, maybe he wasn\u2019t coming to daven at all, but to get something he\u2019d left there! However, in that moment, I was able to focus my energy and withstand the desire to peek. Right then and there, I bulked up my willpower muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Strength to Resist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In an amazing bout of Hashgacha Pratis (Divine Providence), that selfsame day I read a story about R\u2019 Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin<\/a>. He wrote that when he was in \u201ca place called prison,\u201d his cell was near the telephone booth. He was able to hear one of the inmates speaking loudly on the phone, using language that was far from appropriate for Jewish ears. He told someone that though he could have looked to see who was speaking, he chose not to, lest those words be burned further into his psyche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was amazing to consider that had I looked, I would have been seeking out something negative in someone else, and it would likely have remained with me for some time. I was grateful that Hashem gave me the strength to overcome that challenge, and hoped He would give me more. I\u2019m certain that all of you can relate to wanting to look at something you probably shouldn\u2019t, and how you feel when you manage to look away and deny yourself that desire. It\u2019s truly empowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jewish “Diet Plan”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The excesses of Yom Tov are real, and there\u2019s even a Jewish \u201cdiet plan\u201d to go with them. After Pesach and Sukkos, there\u2019s a custom for people to fast on Monday, Thursday, and Monday (colloquially known as BaHaB, for the 2nd<\/sup> (bais) 5th<\/sup> (hai) and 2nd<\/sup> (bais) days of the week.) It\u2019s done because we\u2019re afraid that perhaps we enjoyed a little TOO much over Yom Tov. Maybe we indulged in things we ought not to have, so we fast and repent as we try to get ourselves into our best shape not just physically, but spiritually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shape Up Spiritually<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yes, slimming down is a nice thing, but we must realize that sometimes the baggage we gain is more than just from extra calories. We can take in sights and sounds and messages that aren\u2019t healthy for us. That\u2019s when it\u2019s time to redouble our efforts to shed the unwanted bloat and expel the unwanted waste of fulfilling our desires. Sefirah<\/a> is a perfect time for the reflection and workouts that will last well beyond the next piece of rainbow cake, and I can tell you that shaping up doesn\u2019t just feel good, it\u2019s good for you, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Want to learn more about Passover and other Jewish holidays? Join TorahMates today to learn Torah from home, with your own study partner!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

By Rabbi Jonathan Gewirtz<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabbi Gewirtz (Operation Inspiration<\/a>) welcomes comments and feedback. Write to him at info@JewishSpeechWriter.com<\/a> to share your thoughts. You never know when you may be the lamp that enlightens someone else.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Post-Pesach Musings \ufeffWho doesn\u2019t have a few post-Pesach pounds to shed? With all the food being served over Yom Tov, and with the types of food being so different from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[702,8,546,39,2],"tags":[756],"class_list":["post-12136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jewish-philosophy","category-judaism-101","category-lag-baomer-holidays","category-pesach-passover","category-shabbat-and-holidays","tag-jewish-thought"],"yoast_head":"\nShaping Up - Jewish Resources<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sefirah is a perfect time for the reflection and workouts that will last well beyond the next piece of rainbow cake, and shaping up doesn\u2019t just feel good, it\u2019s good for you, too.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.torahmates.org\/jewish-resources\/shaping-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shaping Up - 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