Living The Best Life

For Dr. Shmuel Shields, living the best life does not begin with a diet plan, a gym membership, or the latest health trend. It begins with understanding why health matters in the first place.

A native of Kew Gardens Hills, Dr. Shields has spent much of his professional life helping people make healthier choices. A nutritionist who has counseled hundreds, and likely thousands, of people over the years, he has also taught in local colleges and continuing-education programs, presented nutrition seminars at New York City senior centers, and worked extensively in community education. He is the author of Chaiyam: 18 Chapters to Live By, a Torah-based guide to healthier living.

When Dr. Shields joined Chazaq’s Torah Talks, the discussion centered on a deceptively simple question: What does it mean to live the best life?

The Torah’s answer begins with responsibility. Dr. Shields pointed to the Torah’s command to guard oneself carefully and explained that our obligation is not limited to spiritual well-being. The body and neshamah were placed together in this world for a purpose. Torah and mitzvot nourish the neshamah; caring for the body gives that neshamah the strength and opportunity to fulfill its mission.

That does not mean becoming obsessive about health. It means reasonable histadlut: eating sensibly, remaining active, getting adequate rest, and recognizing that taking care of ourselves is part of enabling ourselves to serve Hashem.

Dr. Shields noted that Jewish sources have addressed health and longevity for centuries. Chazal discuss habits that promote well-being, while major halachic authorities devoted attention to physical health. The Rambam, in particular, wrote extensively about eating, exercise, sleep, and moderation.

One of the clearest lessons can be found in the foods associated with Eretz Yisrael itself: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates. These are basic, recognizable foods rather than heavily processed products. For Dr. Shields, the message is practical: whenever possible, build a diet around wholesome foods and reduce dependence on highly processed ones.

Moderation is equally important. Citing the Rambam’s warnings about overeating, Dr. Shields stressed that even nutritious food can become harmful when consumed excessively. The goal is not perfection or deprivation. It is learning to eat in a way that supports health rather than undermines it.

The Rambam’s guidance sounds strikingly familiar even centuries later: eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, get sufficient sleep, avoid excessive refinement of foods, do not overeat, and remain physically active. Modern nutritional science may use different terminology, but many of the underlying principles remain recognizable.

That raises a question familiar to every Jewish family: What about Shabbat?

Oneg Shabbat is part of Jewish life. A beautiful Shabbat table, enjoyable food, and special dishes are not problems to be eliminated. At the same time, enjoyment does not require excess.

Dr. Shields cited an observation from Rabbi Chaim LoPiansky about the structure of Friday night. A person does not rush through the door and immediately begin eating. There is Shalom Aleichem, the family gathers, blessings are given, Kiddush is recited, and only then does the meal begin. Built into the evening is a lesson in patience and self-control.

The same principle can guide the meal itself. A person does not need to deprive himself of foods he enjoys, but neither is there a requirement to overindulge. If dessert is something special, for example, it can be enjoyed at one Shabbat meal rather than automatically becoming part of every meal. Oneg and restraint are not opposites.

For many people, however, knowing what to do is easier than doing it. Processed foods, sweets, sugary drinks, and convenience foods are everywhere. Habits develop early, and once people become accustomed to certain tastes, changing them can feel overwhelming.

Dr. Shields offered a simple approach: do not try to run up the mountain.

The Torah was given on Har Sinai, not in a valley. A mountain is climbed one step at a time. The same is true of a ladder, and the same should be true of improving one’s health.

“The slow way is the fast way,” he said.

Instead of announcing a complete transformation overnight, choose one realistic improvement. Someone who rarely eats vegetables might begin by adding vegetables to one meal. Someone drinking several sugary beverages a day might gradually reduce them. Someone who is sedentary might begin with manageable physical activity. Small successes create the foundation for the next step.

That approach also avoids one of the most common reasons people abandon healthier habits: they make the first step so difficult that it cannot last. Sustainable change is built gradually.

Yet Dr. Shields’s central message went beyond food.

For a Jew, living the best life ultimately means developing a relationship with Hashem. Mitzvot are the bridge through which that relationship is expressed, and the body is the vehicle that allows the neshamah to carry out its work in this world. We need strength to learn Torah, perform mitzvot, help other people, raise families, daven, work, and fulfill our responsibilities. Safeguarding health therefore has a purpose far greater than appearance or longevity for its own sake.

Dr. Shields illustrated that point with a story about two men who sat beside one another in shul for 30 years. Both put on tefillin every day. Yet when their reward was revealed in the World to Come, one received a far greater portion than the other.

The difference was not the physical act. One had performed the mitzvah with joy, love, awe, and awareness of Hashem. The other had wrapped the same tefillin while his mind remained occupied with work, vacations, and everything else waiting for him that day.

The lesson was not limited to tefillin. Intention can change the meaning of an ordinary act.

If a person sleeps merely because he is tired, he has slept. But if he recognizes that proper rest will give him strength to serve Hashem, the same act takes on a higher purpose. Exercise can be approached as caring for the body Hashem entrusted to us. Choosing nourishing food can become part of preserving the strength needed for Torah and mitzvot. Even taking time to relax can have purpose when it allows a person to return refreshed to family, work, learning, and avodat Hashem.

“Shiviti Hashem l’negdi tamid” — placing Hashem before us — can transform the most ordinary parts of the day. Eating, sleeping, exercising, and resting no longer stand apart from religious life. They become part of it.

That may be the most important lesson behind “living the best life.” Health is not an end in itself, nor is Judaism asking people to pursue an impossible standard of physical perfection. The goal is to value the body without worshipping it, enjoy food without being controlled by it, and make sensible choices without allowing health to become an obsession.

The best life is not built through drastic resolutions. It is built one choice at a time, with gratitude for the health we have and reasonable histadlut to protect it. When the body is cared for and the neshamah remains focused on its purpose, even the ordinary acts of eating, sleeping, exercising, and resting can become part of serving Hashem.

That is not merely a healthier life. It is a life lived with purpose.

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Rabbi Yaniv Meirov is the mara d’atra of Kehilat Charm Circle in Kew Gardens Hills and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Chazaq. Now 222 episodes strong, Chazaq Torah Talks continues to inspire by showing that Jewish growth and survival are shaped through lived experience, commitment, and connection.