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xi Introduction: Body American and Classical Jewish Perceptions of the Body THE TOPIC of this volume, the body, might seem as objective as any topic can be. After all, biologists can describe the features of the human species and the ways they distinguish humans from nonhumans quite precisely. Moreover, researchers can describe typical patterns of development from birth to death. There is a range of what are considered to be “normal” human traits. For instance, there are average weight and height ranges for men and for women, and people falling outside either of those ranges are considered to be atypical. Furthermore, there are always cases that test the borders of what we generally consider normal. Although most humans, for example, are either male or female, some have characteristics of both. Most humans have two legs, but some are born with only one or lose one or both of their legs during life. Most human beings are born with their own internal organs, but some share one or more organs with a conjoined twin. Still, even with all these variations , we might claim that the human body is as concrete as tables or chairs. But the human body is not nearly as matter-of-fact as that. Different cultures train us how to perceive our bodies as well as how to reach moral judgments about the way we treat them. To illustrate this, let’s compare prevailing American perspectives on the body with a classical Jewish view. Without delving into the complexities of either point of view, according to American thought and law, I own my body. I may not use it to harm someone else; and so, for example, if I have an infectious disease , the government may put me under quarantine and insist that I stay in my house for a period of time. As long as I do not harm anyone else, however, I may be as scrupulous or as careless in the care of my body as I choose. In fact, as the Nancy Cruzan decision of the U.S. Supreme Court held, any adult may refuse all medical treatment. Government or medical authorities may try to stop me from committing suicide; and, as a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions held, I do not have the constitutional right to procure aid in committing suicide or to help someone else do so. Short of that, however, I have complete authority to determine how much I eat, exercise, wash, and sleep. xii In American thought, the purpose of my body is the pragmatic one of supporting the various activities of my life. As a result, I have a duty to engage in proper diet, exercise, hygiene, and sleep for pragmatic purposes —so that I will feel good, look good, and avoid health problems; cost my employer, health insurer, or family less in health care; participate with friends in sports and other physical fitness activities; and enhance my ability to get jobs. The broad outlines of Judaism’s view of the body are substantially different . Along with my parents, God is a co-creator of my body. In the Rabbis’ understanding of the process, however, my parents contributed only the physical materials out of which I came to be; it was God who breathed life into that matter. So God is the creator of my life and, as its creator, God owns my body throughout my life and even in death. If this connection between creation and ownership may not seem obvious to moderns, it is partially because of the Industrial Revolution, which divided the tasks of creation of most things in our lives among many different people. Consider, however, those areas of our lives where only one individual or a small group of people create something for illustrations of how creation confers ownership—for example, the painter of a painting, the composer of a piece of music, or the author of a book. As owner of my body, God can and does make demands as to how I use it. I may not, for example, commit suicide because that would be destroying that which does not belong to me, as well as diminishing the image of God in the world, for each of us is created in the image of God. I may take reasonable risks in living my life, but not extraordinary risks, for “endangering [oneself] is prohibited more stringently than violating the [other] prohibitions [of the Torah]” (Babylonian Talmud, Hullin 10a). Exactly where that line...

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