Highlighting: “Land of Health: Israel’s War for Wellness,” by Shmuel Chaim Naiman. Menucha Publishers. 185 pages. ISBN-13: 979-8888394649.

Since the dreadful attacks of October 7, 2023, Israel and the Jewish people have been at war on three fronts. While the IDF fights the war of bodies, and government officials and journalists wage the war of minds, every Jew on earth is a soldier in our war for wellness.

We’re all combating fear, distraction and stress. We’re all looking for meaning inside the madness.

If we don’t invest in the war for wellness, we might lose the health, resilience and faith we need for fighting our other wars. We can get obsessed with what’s happening “over there,” forgetting that our lives are happening right here. As individuals and as a nation, we might fall into anxiety and depression, or lash out irresponsibly in anger.

Even after the guns go quiet—hopefully soon—the war for wellness will continue as our emotional and spiritual wounds slowly heal. Although our bodies will again be safe and secure, our disturbed souls will yearn for peace and balance. We’ll wonder why we must suffer to live in this little corner of the Middle East. We might even ask if it’s worth all the trouble.

“Land of Health: Israel’s War for Wellness,” a new book out now from Menucha Publishers, teaches how to win our war for wellness:

• Part One shows how the Land of Israel is the healthy body of the Nation of Israel, and appreciating it holds the solution to its people’s struggles.
• Part Two shares practical strategies for healthy Jewish living in challenging times. We touch all areas of life: eating, exercise, emotional health and, of course, spirituality and faith.

Throughout the book are dozens of full-color photos—many taken over the past year—that portray the beauty and spirit of the Land of Israel even during the most trying times.

What’s Inside “Land of Health”?

Here are the main ideas and suggestions that you’ll find in the book:

Part One: Discover the Land of Israel

• The dynamic (and often troubled) relationship between the Land of Israel and the Nation of Israel is the central theme of the Torah. Why does a spiritual religion need a land with borders of dirt and water? Because the Jewish people are one human form: The Nation is our soul, and the Land is our body.
• To understand this, we’ll learn from the Vilna Gaon how Israel contains the same three life-supporting cavities as every human body. But Israel isn’t just any human body: The Kuzari teaches that it’s the healthy body of the Jewish nation because it holds in balance all the world’s extremes—and health means balance.
• Israel’s state of health is determined by rainfall—the flow of life from Heaven—which presents a model for living that’s relevant even in our age of desalination.
• Israel is a physical land; everything that lives here dies. Therefore, it’s the perfect place for imperfect people, the land where Jews thrive in God’s world by wanting to become better people—and by wanting to live in God’s land. But because Moses’ spies didn’t want Israel, the Nation never fully united with the Land, which is the source of all our exiles and persecutions.
• Our complete redemption will come when we sincerely yearn for the Land—cherishing and caring for it because here we know God on earth. In the meantime, tiny lights shine back on us from the future—the lights of Chanukah that celebrate our victory over the Greeks inside Israel.
• The Land of Israel is divided into 12 portions for the Nation of Israel’s 12 tribes, because this number presents a specific area in which different ideas and personalities can work together. We aren’t all the same—but we’re on the same team.
• The details of Israel’s annual plants’ life cycle, together with the pottery sherds that rise from the ground in the winter rains, teach in spectacular detail how life sprouts from death—and salvation from sorrow.
• Whenever we’re in trouble—whether as individuals or a community—we can turn to the Elah Valley and listen to the eternally relevant solution that David taught there almost 3,000 years ago.

Part Two: Win the War for Wellness

• During these challenging times, Israel needs healthy Jews—people who invest time and effort in living well with strategies that bring the best returns when the market of wellness is crashing.
• Healthy Jewish living in troubled times begins with learning how to practice the cry-prayer—a special type of prayer that’s very different than the regular prayer services in its purpose, length and content.
• We digest fear, stress and anxiety—and food—by fasting from all food for 12 hours every night, balancing out our eating during 12 hours of the day. Our enemies want to kill us, so we respond by living well, on purpose.
• The secret of Jewish wellness is living the journey “from here to there,” that is, becoming a briskly walking person in every area of life. Particularly helpful is what we’ll call the “to”—vigorous exercise that fully immerses us in the process.
• Some fears are paralyzing, others are galvanizing. All fears must be faced and accepted, not covered over with faith, anger or fantasies of power. We’ll learn a practical method for working through fear.
• Fear often gives birth to stress. But not all stress is harmful—in fact, healthy stress is crucial for wellness. We’ll learn the different types of stress, and explore strategies for letting go of stress that hurts us.
• The news can connect us—or distract and desensitize us. We’ll learn a 4-step plan for working out how much news works for you. (The plan also works for anything in life!)
• Finally, even if we’re doing everything right, living well during crises includes the tenacity of trudging along the path toward wholeness and joy, even when we’re feeling tense, irritated and afraid. We give ourselves credit for trudging forward, one slow step at a time.

Appendix—Borders And Boundaries

Israel’s borders are like our personal boundaries—the places where we end and the rest of the world begins. Boundaries are critical for healthy living: We know who we are to whatever degree we know who we aren’t. After learning how to determine our own boundaries, we’ll take a close look at the Land of Israel’s southern border and its intriguing message for the Jewish people’s relationship with all of mankind.

The book concludes with special sections introducing—with both words and pictures—Jewish wellness and guided foraging walks in the Land of Israel.

“Land of Health” is now available online at Amazon here and in Jewish bookstores all over the world. 

Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman is a Torah student, certified health counselor, and foraging guide in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. He teaches at Yeshivat Lev HaTorah. Check out healthyjew.org to order his new book, “Land of Health”; subscribe to his weekly email newsletter, “The Healthy Jew”; and to book your foraging walk in Israel.