Spiritually Unfit

Last night while reading A Book of Life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice by Michael Strassfeld, I came across something that really bothered me.

I had just read the part that said, "Unlike secular society, Judaism does not have an idealized model of beauty. We are all created in God's image. In all diversity, fat and thin, tall and short, we are all equally God's creations."

So I wasn't ready for this part: " . . . Judaism's focus on inner beauty [does not] release us from our obligation to care for our bodies. This is especially true with regard to matters of health, such as eating the right foods, losing excess weight, and regular exercise."

Ok. So it's fine to be tall or short, thin or . . . thin. Hm.

I'm all for caring for our bodies. I really am. I'm all for eating the right foods and getting exercise for the sake of health. But why is "losing excess weight" mentioned? If we care for our bodies by eating the right foods and getting enough exercise, won't our bodies naturally tend to weigh the weight God intended for them to weigh? Obviously the author knows that diet and exercise are not enough for everyone to maintain a slim body; otherwise, his mention of weight loss would have been redundant. So he's associating Judaism with the societal standards of beauty from which he had just distanced it.

So, what, God stopped production of fat people when He heard from the CDC that fat was bad?

I'm taking this book back to the library. Maybe the remaining 499 pages are great, but I cannot continue reading. I prefer to get my spiritual guidance from someone enlightened enough to understand that Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and Fen Phen are not moral obligations.

I won't read a book that contributes to the growing epidemic of eating disorders among the young women of our nation. Consider this my first small contribution to Tikkun Olam.