One Torah For All

One Torah shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.
Exodus 12:49

Understanding Torah Society
Part 4 – Public Goods – Public Health

Vayyiqra (Leviticus) 13:2
“When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall go in to Aharon the priest, or to one of his sons the priests:”

To refresh our memory the six public goods as commonly seen by government today are 1) order; 2) defense; 3) public health; 4) infrastructure; 5) education; and 6) social welfare. So far we have examined order and defense. This study will examine public health. The idea of public health is that it is the concern of government to keep everyone healthy, but is that something that Torah actually calls for? We have already examined in Scripture the idea that a true Torah society operates and exists without any human government (at least none that anyone has ever seen). Then how does the idea of public health fit into a Torah society? Let us begin with a closer examination of the above passage.

Many English translations of the above passage render the last part of the verse as the man with the spot in his skin “shall be brought” unto the priest. However, literally the Hebrew reads that “he shall go in” to the priest rather than being brought. What the verse is actually teaching is that each person has a personal responsibility for his own health and well-being.

The rest of this chapter is devoted to describing what such a man is supposed to do to take charge of his own health care. The priest is simply overseeing the process to make sure that all is done in an orderly fashion and in particular to confirm the healing which shall come from YHWH when the man obeys YHWH. The responsibility for an individual’s health rests solely upon the individual.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

One characteristic of the fruit of the spirit is self-control. One of the aspects of self-control is taking responsibility for one’s actions, choices, and in general, his life. One of those areas of self-control is one’s diet. The Torah teaches what not to eat as well as what to eat.

Vayyiqra 11:2-8
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
3 Whatsoever parts the hoof, and is cloven-hooved, and chews the cud, among the beasts, that may you eat.
4 Nevertheless these shall you not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but does not part not the hoof, he is unclean to you.
5 And the hyrax, because he chews the cud but does not part the hoof, he is unclean to you.
6 And the hare, because she chews the cud but does not part the hoof, she is unclean to you.
7 And the swine, because he parts the hoof, and is cloven-hooved, but does not chew the cud, he is unclean to you.
8 Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

YHWH commands that His people are given animals that chew their cud and have cloven or split hooves as clean and may be used as food. All other animals which do not do both of these characteristics are not clean and may not be used for food. It is interesting to note that of those animals which have one or the other of these two characteristics, but not both, are listed to make sure that His people understand this commandment and are not confused. Of particular interest is the swine. In this case its uncleanness seems to be particularly odious as YHWH commands that it is not to be touched at all.

If a person chooses to ignore these commandments, then he will suffer in his own body with disease and sickness.

Romans 1:32
who, knowing the ordinance of Elohim, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them.

Of course the Torah goes on to list other animals which can be eaten as food as well as those which are not to be eaten, which include catfish (fish which do not have both scales and fins), and birds not to be eaten such as raptors or carrion eaters like vultures and crows. YHWH commanded not to eat certain animals for the protection of His people in the matter of one’s health and well-being. One cannot expect to have good health when he has a diet which includes those things which YHWH commanded not to be eaten.

In this way, the individual takes prophylactic action in having and maintaining good health for himself. It is much easier to stay healthy than to try to regain one’s health after he has contracted some sickness.

For generations, many people have completely ignored the commandments found in Scripture pertaining to what to eat and what not to eat. As a result, the overall health and well-being of man has declined and shall continue to decline until such time that man stops eating those animals which YHWH commanded not to be eaten.

One of the excuses that man uses to ignore these particular commandments is the modern invention of refrigeration. Some wrongly suppose that it is because of refrigeration that these commandments were given and now because we have refrigeration those animals which were once considered unclean are no longer unclean. However, this does not stand up to logic. Please consider the animals which YHWH said were clean and may be eaten. There was no refrigeration for them either, way back when. The flesh of a clean animal would have spoiled at the exact same rate as an unclean animal’s flesh. Truthfully, refrigeration or the lack thereof has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that only certain animals were declared as clean and may be eaten. All others are unclean and should not be eaten.

Devarim 28:58-61
58 “If you will not observe to do all the words of this Torah that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YHWH your Elohim;
59 then YHWH will make your plagues surpassing, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60 And he will bring upon thee again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cleave to you.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this Torah, them will YHWH bring upon you, until you be destroyed.”

It cannot be over emphasized what a person shall receive in the flesh of his body if he chooses not to obey all the commandments of YHWH. This is perhaps the single greatest element in one’s health, yet it is largely ignored. The bottom line is this: to sin brings plagues and sickness into one’s life, so says YHWH in the above passage. Even though this seems to be one of the most likely causes of sickness in an individual sin is not the only source of sickness for Scripture teaches that it rains on the just and the unjust alike.

Mattithyah (Matthew) 5:45
“That you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”

Even the talmidim of Yeshua understood the Scriptural principal that often sickness is a result of sin. Perhaps they did not understand that this was not always the case when they confronted Yeshua with this very question.

Yochanan (John 9:1-3)
1 And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from his birth.
2 And His disciples asked him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?”
3 Yeshua answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but that the works of Elohim should be made manifest in him.”

Sometimes, perhaps not too often however, YHWH has things happen that are supposed to bring His glory and grace near to us. However, because we are not nearly as watchful as we should be, often we seem to miss these moments. It is each person’s responsibility to earnestly seek out whether a sickness or disease is caused by sin in his own personal life. If sin is the cause of a sickness or disease, then it cannot truly be remedied until the sin is removed. Otherwise, if this is the root cause, then one is only treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the sickness. This is one of the areas in personal responsibility, which we spoke of above.

Truly the health of one’s body begins with one’s spiritual health and well-being. We have already quoted above several passages of Scripture which are clear indications of this reality. Westernized medicine has dichotomized the treatment of sickness and disease in one’s body from any spiritual connection. This is not only unfortunate but woefully erroneous in nature, and one cannot truly have good health without a good relationship with YHWH our Elohim. Having a good relationship with YHWH (that is, hearing and obeying His Voice) is the most pro-active way to good health available.

Galatians 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

For now, we are interested in one particular word from the above passage, the word—sorcery. The Greek word is φαρμακεια (pharmakeia) from which we get our English word—pharmacy. The Greek word φαρμακεια (pharmakeia) means sorcery or magic. Please take careful note of the following passage.

Revelation 18:23
and the light of a lamp shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery were all the nations deceived.

This passage is speaking about the Mystery Babylon of the latter days. Please note how it was that Mystery Babylon was able to deceive all the nations of the world; it was through the use of pharmakeia. Now you as an individual will have to make your own choice in this matter as to exactly what this means, but one should not lightly dismiss (if at all) the idea that this is speaking about the big pharmacy companies and the control which they exert over the peoples and nations of the world. Please note that it states that the merchants of Mystery Babylon were the princes, i.e., rulers of the earth. Because of their deceptive practices, it was not deemed a good thing from the perspective of heaven!

We would like to briefly address one aspect of this legalized drug culture, that of vaccines. Vaccines are touted as being the cure-all-end-all of disease. However, this is not the case at all. For the big pharmaceutical companies, this is simply just good business. If they can convince you to get a few shots early in life which shall make you their slave for the rest of your life, then that means you will always be coming back to them for the answers. The answers shall never be found in returning to pharmakeia, but rather in returning to YHWH our Elohim and obeying His Voice, that is, obeying each and every one of His Torah commandments.

Just one simple suggestion, before you take a vaccine or give your child a vaccine, please, do your research and educate yourself to the side effects of these drugs. No one has your best interests in mind like you do. And anyone who gains financially from giving you advice should be suspect.

As we showed above, one’s good health is based upon what one eats, and even upon what one does not eat. Please consider once again this passage from above.

Vayyiqra 11:2
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Here we are interested in the word eat; it is the Hebrew word אכל – akal, which means to devour or consume. To inject oneself with a vaccine would certainly come under the meaning of אכל – akal. Many vaccines are made from animals (and in some cases human cell tissue) which YHWH in His Torah has commanded as being unclean to eat (אכל). For example, we are not to eat horses, as horses have neither a split hoof nor do they chew the cud. The tetanus vaccine is made from horses. Therefore, when one is injected with a tetanus vaccine he is consuming (אכל) a part of a horse.

Many vaccines, if not most, are made from unclean animals. And even if it is not made from an unclean animal, it most likely has mercury in it as a preservative. Mercury causes all kinds of maladies in the human body. Please for the sake of your health and the health of your family, educate yourself in this matter.

Health starts and ends with the individual. There can be no “public health” if there is no health for the individual. If there is a major public outbreak of something, then the cause of that sickness needs to be sought. There is a high likelihood that it is not a physical cause at all.

Amos 3:6
Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall evil befall a city, and YHWH has not done it?

YHWH wants His people to return to Him. He has many means at His disposal to use to accomplish this including plagues and sicknesses. Furthermore, YHWH has stated that He will use these means to bring His people back to Him. I wonder if we are listening with ears that hear.

Is there such a thing as public health? There is if there is such a thing as public sin. If a group of people sin, then one should rightly expect at some point to see that same group succumb to some kind of plague or sickness in order to turn them back to YHWH.

B’midbar (Numbers) 11:33
While the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of YHWH was kindled against the people, and YHWH smote the people with a very great plague.

It is recorded in the Torah Moshe repeatedly, the people who came out of Egypt sinned and YHWH would then strike them with some type of plague or sickness in order to discipline them in an attempt to get them to return to Him. While the people would immediately turn, in the long run they just didn’t seem to get this truth.

In the west, the medical system is based upon sickness. That means that there is no money to be made if a person is well. The medical system seeks to sell its wares and drugs, not necessarily to heal the sick person, but to make money. For this reason, the western system of medicine does not care how a person lives, that is, one can do whatever he wants to do and then the doctors will fix him later.

The medical system found in Torah is not based upon the idea of doing whatever a person wants, but rather upon obedience to His Voice. If one obeys His Voice, then all will be well, including one’s physical health and well-being. However, if one does not hear and obey His Voice, then like ancient Israel, he is in for plagues and sickness as was seen in the verse above.

Malachi 3:6
“For I, YHWH, change not; therefore you, sons of Ya’aqov, are not consumed.”

Public health equals looking at the overall spiritual health and well-being of the nation. If the nation is not hearing and obeying His Voice, then the nation cannot be well. Only when Israel lives together in a true Torah society will each and every member of that nation enjoy health and well-being. Any medical system in a Torah society must rest upon the truth demonstrated in this study, namely, it is obedience to His Voice which has a direct bearing upon one’s health and well-being. Hence, when all members of the Torah society are hearing and obeying His Voice (shema), then public health is good and well.

Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com