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© 2009 Created by Andrew Gluck on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
The BOO Social Network
© 2009 Created by Andrew Gluck on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
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this should answer your qustion:
Vitality in Our Bones
"May it be Your will...in this month...give us long life...and a life of vitality in our bones..." This prayer, based on the daily prayer of the Sage Rav (Berachot 16b), is familiar to us as the one we say on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh. In it, we ask for long life, material prosperity and spiritual success. How does chilutz atzamot -- vitality in our bones -- enter into this list of essentials?
The answer lies in the comment of Rabbi Elazar in our gemara that of all the blessings listed by the Prophet Yeshayahu as a reward for kindness to the poor, the most important one is: "He will give vitality to your bones." (Yeshayahu 58:11)
Maharsha explains that this is one of the eleven blessings which Hashem bestows upon one who comforts the poor person with kind words of encouragement (Bava Basra 9b). It is special because it deals with the care of a person's physical constitution. The Hebrew word "etzem" means both essence and bone, because the bones are the very essence of one's ability to function. All the other blessings contained in those passages (ibid. 10-13) deal with matters external to the body, and are therefore not as significant to the ability to function as is the vitality of the bones.
What the Sage Rav had in mind with his daily prayer, and we with our monthly one, is not necessarily the body-building and exercise features of a culture based on physical fitness as an end in itself, but rather a Heavenly blessing of good health and energy which will enable us to better serve our Creator.
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Yevamot 102b
http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/361