LEV930 The body is morally neutral and potentially good. The body is neither bad nor good. Rather, its energies, like those of our mind, will, and emotions, are morally neutral. All our faculties can and should be used for divine purposes as defined by Jewish law and tradition. Within these constraints, the body's pleasures are God-given and not to be shunned, for to do so would be an act of ingratitude toward our Creator. The body, in other words, can and should give us pleasure to the extent that such pleasure enables us to live a life of holiness.… In these matters Judaism differs markedly from both the American secular review of the body, on the one hand, and from Christianity, on the other. Because of its view of the body and its central story of Jesus dying on the cross, pain plays a positive role in most Christian thought. The closest Judaism comes to that attitude are the rules governing Yom Kippur and historical fast days like Tisha b'Av, on which we are to "afflict our souls" through fasting, sexual abstinence, and other forms of physical self-denial. But in each case, such abstinence is restricted to that day alone and is designed to call attention to the spiritual theme of the day; deprivation itself is not expected to effect atonement or historical memory. In fact, if a person's life is medically endangered on Yom Kippur, the law not only permits but actually requires him or her to refrain from fasting and to take appropriate measures to ensure life and health. (See this verse,; M. Yoma, chap.8, and later rabbinic commentaries and codes based on that).