June 23, 2026

The body is the instrument of the soul, and its health is a religious duty." — Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Human Dispositions

Maimonides wrote this in twelfth-century Egypt, where he worked as a court physician to the sultan while leading the Jewish community in Cairo. He was treating patients daily and watching people neglect their bodies while claiming devotion to spiritual life. For Maimonides, this was a contradiction — you cannot think clearly, study, or serve God if you are physically run down. That practical connection between bodily care and moral responsibility is just as relevant now, when most people separate health habits from their sense of meaning or purpose.