Print version: Ibn Ezra Mishpatim

Divine Moisturizer (Mishpatim)

“You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology.” —Deepak Chopra

The clock of our doom starts ticking from the moment of our birth. Our genetic program determines our height, health, and longevity. There seems to be little one can do to extend one’s natural lifespan, while there is no shortage of factors that can shorten it.

Ibn Ezra (on Exodus 23:26) rejects such deterministic views. He claims—and even offers a physical explanation—that a person can extend the life they were born to have.

He explains that a body lives as long as it retains internal heat and moisture. Once that heat and moisture are depleted, the body dies. Artificial attempts to add these physical elements will not help. There is, however, one thing that can: cleaving to God. The metaphysical dynamics are as follows. Attaching oneself to God increases the “heat” and “moisture” of the spirit. The enhanced “heat” and “moisture” of the spirit are then converted into actual heat and moisture in the body, prolonging physical, biological life beyond its original program. A cold, dry spirit withers; a warm, fluid soul flourishes.

Ibn Ezra adds that clinging to God not only extends one’s natural lifespan but can also protect a person from accidents and epidemics that might otherwise cut life short.

I’m willing to work on it…

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the Israeli invention of an early warning system for undrinkable wine which glows in the dark: https://www.jpost.com/science/article-885871