DEUT61 The fifth category [of lashon hara is] -- obscene speech. Our Sages, z"l, said (Shabbos 33a), "One who speaks obscenities, even if a decree of seventy good years has been decreed upon him, it is transformed into evil." Yeshayahu also said (Yeshayahu 9:16), "Therefore, Hashem will unhappily [punish] their young men, and He will not pity [even] their orphans and widows, for they are all flatterers and wicked, and every mouth utters obscenities.. Yet, His anger has not subsided and His hand is still outstretched." [I.e., Yet, they still do not repent. Therefore, Hashem's anger remains and His hand is outstretched to punish even more (Radak)]. The reason one who speaks obscenities is heavy with sin [Yeshayahu 1:4] and loathsome and detested [Iyov 15:16] is because he has forsaken and deserted the [qualities of] shame and modesty, which are the recognized features of the holy seed [of Yisrael], and [instead] has gone along the pathway of insolence, which is the characteristic found in evil speakers of obscenity. The second [reason] [I.e., Why speaking obscenities is so sinful and odious] --For he has desecrated the holiness of Israel. [This is] because the pasuk states [this verse], "They will say, 'This great nation is purely a wise and intelligent people'"; yet he has conducted himself in the manner of detestable fools, removed from the path of intelligence [Mishlei 21:16] which is our beauty and pleasantness. Their foulness rises and their stench ascends [Yoel 2:20] and every wise, intelligent person will absolutely loathe them and utterly abhor them [Devarim 7:26]. He has desecrated the vessel of intelligence which is more precious than all [other] desirable vessels, as the pasuk says (Mishlei 20:15), "But the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel." [Thus, speaking obscenities entails two evils: (one) a lack of shame and modesty; (two) a desecration of the superior intelligence manifest in the Jewish people when they follow the way of Hashem.] One who listens to obscene speech is [also] very severely punished, for he has not sealed his ear or disassociated himself from those who speak obscenities. Regarding such a person the pasuk says (ibid., 22:14), "The estranged mouth is a deep pit; those despised by Hashem will fall there."

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DEUT62 Even though return and supplication are always good, they are particularly so and are immediately accepted during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement,") as the Bible says, "Seek the Lord when He may be found" (Isaiah 55:6). This only applies, however, to an individual. But as for the community, whenever its members return and offer supplications with sincere hearts, they are answered, as the Torah says, "For what great nation is there that has a God so close at hand as is Lord our God whenever we call upon Him?" (this verse). (M.T. Laws of Return 2:6).

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DEUT63 See [[DEUT54]] Deuteronomy 4:6 proof TELVOL2 288

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DEUT64 Being the partner of God in daily recreating the universe by acting justly and correcting the violation of justice by others has its dangers as well as its opportunities. The self-confident are in danger of becoming self-righteously arrogant and exercising power for their own aggrandizement. "Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (Isaiah 10:7). The humble, on the other hand, are constantly beset by doubts regarding their ability to judge what justice may require of them. As safeguard against both pitfalls, humility and arrogance, Judaism teaches that God has given us the Torah "whose statutes and commandments" are righteous [this verse].

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DEUT65 See [[DEUT66]] Deuteronomy 4:8 yourselves GREENBERG 268

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DEUT66 We previously noted the two instances in which Judaism places limits on the moral intention: 1. One is not obligated to lay down his life for one or more other individuals. 2. One should not be generous to the point of indulgence. These limitations to arrive from the fundamental premise that one's life is not his own to do with as he sees fit. Each man' life is a gift entrusted to him by God, and he is responsible for his well-being. (The opening phrases of [this verse and of v. 15] are interpreted by the Rabbis as commandments prohibiting one from inflicting any harm upon himself. The word nefesh is understood by the Rabbis to refer not merely to the soul, but to the body. Maimonides thus interprets them in Hilkhot Rozeach chap. 11:4; that these verses were thus popularly understood, see Berakhot 32b.) Just as one has no right to assume that his life is more precious than the life of his fellow man, so he has no right to assume that his life is less precious.

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DEUT67 A Jew need not take part in a sports competition for the purpose of winning (See chapter, "Competition") in order to be active in sports. Sports can also be used as a means to exercise the body. Improving the health of the body is actually a religious act, one of the 613 Torah commandments, to protect one's body from harm [this verse, Deuteronomy 4:15]. One commentary quotes Maharsha, who asks why at the end of verse about protecting the safety of the body it also mentions that Jews should not have any idols or physical representations of God. What is the connection between these two diverse ideas in the same verse? He answers that just as converting a totally spiritual God into a physical being violates a religious Torah principle, so too, by ignoring and not protecting the physical representation that God gave them, Jews also violate a religious principle of the Torah (Orot HaChumash, Parshat Ve'etchanan 4:15). Thus, exercise of the body as a means to keep it healthy seems to be a religious act. Isaiah also taught that just as God guides souls to make them better and maximize them, so too God guides bodies to maximize them as well (Isaiah 58:11).

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DEUT69 Self-protection and survival are basic instincts and needs for every species. It is certainly part of human nature as well. But this idea is also one of the 613 commandments in the Torah. The Torah commands a Jew to protect himself or herself [this verse] and repeats this warning a few verses later [Deuteronomy 4:16]. Specifically, when it comes to saving oneself from danger, the Talmud is very sensitive to this requirement, as it states that the possibility of danger sometimes supersedes observing Jewish law (Chulin 10a).

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DEUT70 Unlike other sports, in wrestling and especially in boxing, the chances of inflicting damage and bodily harm on the opponent are very high, since essentially that is the goal of the activity in defeating an opponent. The same verse[s] used above to encourage exercise and keep the body healthy [are] also the same verse[s] that may prohibit boxing and wrestling, because these activities almost always result in some bodily damage, which may violate the commandment[s] of keeping the body healthy [this verse and Deuteronomy 4:15]. The Talmud clearly states that causing someone else bodily harm is forbidden (Bava Kama 91b). If harming another human being intentionally is forbidden, then all wrestling and certainly all boxing should be forbidden for a Jew. And yet we see that the sports are permitted in certain circumstances. How can this be? Maimonides helps to provide an answer to this question. Although he rules it is forbidden to harm one's own body and certainly someone else's body, the prohibition is only if it is done between two people so angry at each other that they come to blows (Maimonides, Hilchot Chovel U'Mazik 5:1). ... Rabbi Asher (Responsa Rosh 201:6) [states] that normally a person is liable even if the blow was not intentional. In this case, however, because both opponents entered the ring willingly and knowing that damage might occur in the course of the bout, and because the blow was not intended to inflict permanent damage, then both opponents accept the risk when they enter the ring, and a participant in the sport is not liable. ... This view of wrestling and boxing and the liability for damage it may cause was codified by the son of Rabbeinu Asher in his book, the Tur (Tur, Choshen Mishpat 421:5). Based on these rulings, Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, also rules that wrestling and boxing are indeed permitted and that any damage as a result of the match does not an individual liable for damages (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 421:5).

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DEUT68 In maximizing spiritual welfare, Jewish ethical teachings do not seek to minimize bodily health. On the contrary, to neglect an enfeebled body is sinful. Take the rest ordained on the Shabbat. It has been commanded not to serve as an imposition and an additional restriction to the liberty of man, but as an opportunity for physical rest and the re-creation of the soul after six days of work. The object of Judaism is to guide us in the enjoyment of the gifts with which God has endowed us. To reject such legitimate gifts is to be guilty of an ingratitude for which man will have to give account on Judgment Day (Yer. Kidd. iv. 66d). The Jew must not hate his body; he is in duty bound to preserve his health, not to jeopardize his life (Ber. 32b explaining [this verse]). Foods that are injurious to health are to be avoided even more than those ritually forbidden (Hull. 10a with its teaching that [danger is more severe[ly prohibited] than prohibition]; B. Kama 91b; Shabb. 82a). This may well be another reason for our Dietary Laws. The body must be kept pure and fresh, as the temple of the soul (See the story told in Leviticus R. xxxiv. 3 of Hillel who regarded the purification of his body as a sacred act). Our garments must be spotlessly clean (Shabb. 113b; Ned. 81a). He who castigates and tortures his flesh with fasting is a sinner (Taan. 22b; Ned. 19a). Judaism places itself in complete variance with Hindu asceticism which encourages the flagellation and emancipation of the body as the seed of sin. Hillel is the voice of Jewish ethics. When he explained the meticulous care he paid to his physical welfare, he quoted this simile: "See what care is bestowed upon the statues of the Emperor to keep them clean and bright. Ought we not, likewise, to keep His image, our body, containing the divine soul He breathed into us at birth, also pure, free from every blemish? Does not Scripture tell us that 'The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel, troubleth his own flesh'" (Prov. xi. 17)(Leviticus R. xxxiv.3)

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