Emanuel the Roman, the famous Jewish counselor (1336-1261) wrote the following message in one of his notebooks: "What is the way of the lazy? As a slave he will strive for shade / and what is on his body he will toil, it is an advantage for him to toil"
Due to the factors enumerated so far in the two previous chapters in the series, far-reaching changes have taken place in the world of Judaism regarding the importance of physical exertion.
A study of the definition of the sacrifice of Rabbi Natan ben Yehiel of Rome (year 1101) - "Pushtin and make their arms before them and behind them, as well as their feet on top of their thighs and get warm and sweat. And it is like a kind of medical act" (Aruch Hashem, Yarach Amal) - allows us to draw some interesting conclusions: first - the very need to define the value "labor" indicates a local/regional demand; Second - if in the Mishnah literature and the Talmud it is difficult to draw a clear line between exertion as a result of some physical activity and the sporting aspect, then here it is clear that this is a certain physical activity; Thirdly - the activity is closely related to the medical factor and here - a preventive factor; Fourth - some kind of toil technique is suggested here, such as handwork and footwork; Fifth - in the definition as a whole, the element of sweating appears, which is an important component in examining an internal measurer for physical activity.
Emanuel the Roman, the famous Jewish counselor (1336-1261) wrote the following message in one of his notebooks: "What is the way of the lazy? As a slave he will strive for shade / and what is on his body he will toil, it is an advantage for him to toil" (from the notebooks of Immanuel the Roman V. Keg). Ostensibly, the parallel is between an idler and a laboring person, but here the physical message appears - "on his body he will be strained" which is connected to the act of exercising and not necessarily to the strain that comes from the toil of work.
From the research of Dr. Uriel Zamri, the famous sports historian and world-renowned in the discussed field, it turns out that although the hygienic value of body exercises was emphasized by ancient doctors such as Hippocrates from the fourth century BC, and the medical-healing basis of physical exercise was recognized as a systematic basis by Ascapliades of Forsa (56-128 BC), was first defined in fact for the promoting value of physical exercise by the Arab medical school.
Maimonides, as if drinking from the drinking wells of the medical philosophers of Islam, such as Abu Sina (1037-980) and Ibn Rashed (1198-1126), and since he himself was a doctor and recognized the importance of protecting the human body, he also followed this path and made an important contribution.
In his composition "On the Leadership of Health" written after the year 1198 in Arabic as a guide and advice book for Sultan Al-Afdal, the eldest son of the famous ruler Salah al-Din, the Maimonides revealed himself in all his greatness as one of the pioneers of the idea of medicine driven by physical activity.
This essay is steeped in clusters of instructions, rules and practices concerning the world of gymnastics, its various consequences, including the medical and healing ones. The main point of his innovation was the desire to make the amil an integral part of the lifestyle and leisure time among the Jewish society. Based on this, Maimonides sought to define the exercise as follows: "Yet exercise will be called - the strong movement, or the weak, or including both, and it is the heavy movement, from which the breathing will change and the person will begin to increase (=deepen) his breathing" (The Health Guide 3:XNUMX) .
The very definition points to the relationship that Maimonides attaches to exercise, to the desire to establish uniform patterns in it, to the aspiration to internalize a physiological dimension in it, i.e. a definition with a clear aerobic context, and to the desire to lay it out so that it becomes the routine matter of the individual (and more on that immediately below).
In his definition, Rabbi Natan ben Yechiel of Rome also listed the basic exercises included in ayomal, and formulated their medical goal, while Rambam, as a follower of the scientific, methodical way, simply defined the principles of ayomal, before standing on its goals and methods of execution.
From the Rambam's ruling, that "the best of the types of gymnastics is for him (the individual, the person) to exercise until his body is exhausted, so that the soul is exercised and happy, like the hunt (the hunt) and the laughter (the game) with the ball... and aim at all kinds of gymnastics that will connect their owners with them, until joy and fun are revealed (Moshe Chapters in Medicine, XNUMX) We learn that not only a medical and mental purpose lies in labor, but also the very enjoyment of engaging in it, including a psychological spark, an examination of the mental order (that is, release and dissipation of both physical and mental tensions). These trends, it should be noted, had no equal in Jewish literature before Rambam.
The medical-health element embedded in the essence of the practice is not hidden from Rambam's thought. The opposite is true: "As long as a person exercises and touches a lot, no sickness comes upon him and his strength is strengthened, and whoever sits down and does not exercise... all his days will be in pain and his strength will be exhausted" (Sefer al-Hamad', Halchot De'ot, XNUMXth Yad-Tou).
These rulings, considering the decrees and laws, may well testify to the great importance that Maimonides attached to the culture of the body, its development and its spread among the Jewish public.
Maimonides, who saw physical exercise as an inseparable part of preventive medicine, forbade its randomness and demanded that it be performed properly and regularly in order for it to adapt and become a habit, a kind of "second nature", such as the habit of eating, drinking and even bathing. This trend, which sat nicely with the way of the average that was so dear to him, led him to the verse that although there is great blessing in toiling because it will "kindle the natural heat" and consume the "luxuries" - the fatty excesses that have accumulated in the body, one must be careful with it, since not every movement is equivalent to toiling appropriate, such as the degree of "toughness", or "very strong exercise", which contains a danger for those who do not trust it. However, Maimonides, under the influence of Ibn Rashad, believes that for those interested in strengthening their "upper bodies", it is recommended to exercise by "lifting stones" (chapters of Moses in Medicine 14:XNUMX).
Based on this and as a follower of the scientific platform, Rambam laid out three-four degrees of difficulty and effort in laboring: weak, medium, strong and very strong, but he recommended, as is his custom, the medium laboring. This trend is also evident in the saying: "But the best way to maintain health is to exercise less" (On Health Management A. 3), an examination of reticence from physical exercise with a high fatigue factor. This ruling contradicted the teaching of Galen, the ancient physician, but it definitely agreed with Ibn Rashed's approach.
Imbued with his medical, healing, mental and pleasurable vision, Maimonides encouraged what can be called "sport for all", or "exercise for all". In his compositions, Maimonides appealed to every person in Israel to engage in charity work. He did not urge those who could not, for age reasons, exercise at the high degree of difficulty and effort, but on the other hand - he was not interested in loosening the hands of the subjects to exercise. From this Rambam claimed that each and every one will adapt the development of self-exercise according to his strength, spirit, ability, age, needs and health condition... provided he exercises.
In this spirit, Rambam ruled for the sake of a parable that "however, after eating it is proper for him to exercise a little along the length of his house (that is, to walk), a certain amount so that his food falls to the bottom of the istomac (belly, stomach) and heats up until it is cooked (digested)" (On the leadership of health, ibid. ). The idea of the trip as physical activity is definitely an interesting innovation, unprecedented in the instructions of ancient medicine, which we will deal with in one of the following chapters.
In any case, from this overall trend, Rambam carved out a series of caveats in view of the dangers and damages faced by a person as a result of poor exertion, and such that the timing is wrong, such as: "And it is not proper to exercise except when the istomac is empty, and after cleansing from the luxuries. I want to say the urine and the exit" (ibid.); "A person shall not eat until he has gone before eating" (Sefer al-Hamad'a, Halchot De'ot, XNUMX); "Until his body begins (gets used to) the heat (warms up), or does a job, or touches another thing. The rule of thumb is that his body will be satisfied and touched every morning, until his body begins to heat up, and he will rest a little (relax) until his soul settles down (returns to his normal breathing rate) and eats" (ibid.).
From the following passage we learn that Rambam held his firm position despite the complaints that the morning exercise causes a lot of tirade and trouble: "He who is used to exercising before eating, will not need much and strong vigilance. and if
It will bother him to exercise, that is, he who cannot, or does not want to exercise because of the hassle, or the good leadership will not be enough for him, that is, the good diet will not be enough by itself, until he needs to take the healing medicines for this (chapters of Moshe in Medicine 1 XNUMX
This passage presents as a miracle "the one who is used to exercise", who adapted to himself the exertion as a habit, and only this, may well overcome the crises that may befall him, since the exertion is not carried out casually, but as a habit, as an orderly and organized method.
This did not end the series of caveats that Rambam put before the Jewish gymnasts and he ruled as follows: one should not exercise in extreme heat and extreme cold; The labor after the meal is dangerous; On the day of bloodletting, you should not exercise or walk; Those who wish to exercise would do well to first check their fitness by a doctor; There are certain diseases that require labor; The exercise must be gradual, and this is in order for the exerciser to reach the highest stage in advancing his goal, which is the "purpose of exercise", in his words: "It is proper that the body should be first and overlapped and lubricated before the exercise, and then exercise slowly and gradually until he arrives refreshed and not tired and touches excessively and quickly to the movement, and he will find his heat equal and his sweat flowing, but as soon as any of these matters change, he will refrain from exercising" (Moshe Chapters in Medicine 14:XNUMX
Imbued with the influence of Greek philosophy, including Greek gymnastics, and the Muslim medical-healing school, Maimonides attached great importance to the issue of hygiene, and his words: "After the exercises, the body will be dipped in oil and overlapped evenly, and it will move and turn in an even movement, and this is the repetition. And then he will come to the bath and tell himself that he will wash his body and not prolong it, and here after the bath he will take the food" (ibid. 15).
As a sign of the importance of "kindness to all", Rambam did not neglect the elderly in the group, and he addressed the following regulation to them: "The elderly will have to move their bodies, because their body's temperament needs heat, and there is not a single old man who will have to be quiet and calm until he does not move at all" (ibid., 11 ).
To sum up the Rambam's contribution, it should be said that He established three purposes for ayom: health of the mind, health of the body, and the very act of amusement and pleasure, and explained in a systematic way the tools of ayom and its various restrictions under the sign "Ayom for all".
Maimonides was praised by foreigners even in his lifetime and among all the medical-healing and philosophical guidance books and treatises, his most quoted and translated writings were the most widely used. "On Maimonides' health leadership, not only did it blaze a trail for various Jewish communities across Europe, even far beyond its time, but it also blazed an important path in the philosophical-medical-sports thoughts of the Renaissance, and may have served as a candle to the feet of the famous Mercurialis (1606- 1530) who became known in his book "On the Art of Gymnastics" in 1569.
In a period marked by the flourishing of the Jewish community in Humanist-Renaissance Italy, an interesting testimony emerges from the words of Rabbi David Ibn-Yahia - a Jewish sage from Spain who arrived in Italy at the beginning of the 16th century. Hele would teach boys and this is how he wrote: "And apart from all that, I would be the repetiteur to the little students, and would exercise with them until dinner time." This wise man, therefore, would carry out exercises with his students, morning after morning, and even serve as a personal example for them by exercising with them together. According to his way, that teacher was a faithful disciple of Rambam's sporting methods, and this several hundreds of years after Rambam's passing. Also the use of the Latin expression - "repititor" meaning "the one who returns to the beneficiary". It also teaches about the connection between Ibn Yahya and the Rambam's trends, that is, the mental added value of gymnastics, and perhaps even in the context of expending energy in order to achieve inner calmness and perhaps also in the context of gymnastics that teaches self-discipline and respect for rules.
It should be noted that in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century, the great educator Vittorino da Platre became famous, who founded a school in the Principality of Mantua (Mantua according to Jewish sources) called the "House of Joy". In this institution, according to a fixed curriculum, they studied theoretical subjects combined with physical branches (like the heritage of the ancient Greek world). Vittorino and his colleagues believed that in order to relax the physical and mental tensions and refresh the body and the spirit, it is recommended to take breaks during the lessons devoted to gymnastics. The context between the last two paragraphs is interesting.
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Esti