courtesy wallyg via flickrFor me, growing up, exercise was important. But not in the way that it seems to have been in secular, Christian, or non-Orthodox communities. Rather than working out, the emphasis for us was on the brain.
For evidence, I offer that, when it came to sports, my Jewish school competed in a so-called yeshiva league. That was the rule for basketball, soccer, and hockey. By contrast, we faced secular schools for such "brain"-oriented competitions as mock trial, model UN, and the like. You'd have an ice cube's chance in hell at seeing my yeshiva compete against Dalton in track.
You can see the evidence of this kind of hard living -- really, hard eating -- in the faces, skin, and bodies of many an Orthodox or charedi person. Making too much of the body in traditional cultures has been taboo, understandably so. Often, in the U.S. at least, vanity is antithetical to modesty.
But there seems to me nothing about not taking care of yourself that honors God.
Today -- some 15 years later -- it's different. Attitudes seem beginning to change. In Prospect Park, I see Orthodox and charedi women out walking, rollerblading, riding bikes for exercise. Sometimes, they're accompanied by another female friend. Other times, women are accompanied by their husbands.
The still-surprising and wonderful times are when charedi women are out on their own. Walking, skating, huffing it through the park. Grasping a water bottle in one hand. Striking out, on behalf of their bodies, alone.
