Welcome to The Healthy Jew


Lots of great people

  • are often tired, stressed, or out sick.

  • suffer from common chronic conditions.

  • were warned that their lab work will earn them a heart attack.

  • want to eat healthy and exercise regularly, but can’t manage to stick with it.

Why? Because living life can stop us from living well.

  • “I’m too busy to go for a run, certainly to sit there cutting salad.”

  • “My family needs me: how can I stop to relax while the kids wait to be fed, bathed, and clothed?”

  • “The little free time I have must go to Torah study, prayer, and helping others.”

But when we’re worn out, we have much less to offer God and others.


There is a solution:

Become a Healthy Jew.

Choose wellness - not only to make a good life possible, but because caring for yourself is where good choices begin.

Whatever your current state of health, you can become a Healthy Jew by putting yourself first. God thinks you’re worth it.


Want to become a Healthy Jew?

There are three ways I can help you.

1. The Healthy Jew Newsletters

I send two weekly email newsletters to almost a thousand subscribers all over the world.

  • Healthy Jewish shows you how and why to:

    • Eat Well: what, when, and how much to eat and drink. Life coming in.

    • Move Well: walking, hiking, running, and stretching. Life going out.

    • Be Well: embrace life’s stresses and challenges. Let go, with purpose.

    • live Healthy Jewish, because life’s spiritual quests begin with wellness.

  • Natural Israel invites you to:

    • Forage Israel: eat the plants whose ancestors were eaten by your ancestors - right here in this field or ancient site.

    • Walk Israel: stories, insights, pictures, and videos that you won’t find anywhere else.

    • Appreciate Healthy Israel, the body of the Jewish nation. Care for your nation’s body as you do for your own.

Both newsletters enter your inbox at 7:00 AM (Israel time): Natural Israel on Sunday, Healthy Jewish on Wednesday. (Interested only in one newsletter? Manage your subscription here.)

Also check out the archive! The website has over 80 easily navigatible posts.

2. Healthy Jew Community

Newsletters are great, but it’s hard to become a Healthy Jew from words and pictures alone.

Join our community to

  • participate in monthly Healthy Jew Workshops (held on Tuesday nights on Zoom), with the video recording and PDF presentation delivered in the next morning’s Healthy Jew newsletter.

    Here are some of the topics you’ll learn about:

    • Israel Needs Healthy Jews: Finding Wellness During Wartime (January 16, 2024)

    • What is Real Food and Where You Can Find It

    • The Key to Wellness: Moving From Here to There

    • Is Meditation Jewish?

    • How Natural Israel Can Help You Find Health

  • ask me anything about Healthy Jewish living in monthly Healthy Jew Q&A posts. [Q&A beginning in February 2024]

  • support my work helping you and others to live healthy and Jewish. Proactively advocate for wellness: don't wait for illness!

How much does it cost? $50 a year (or $7 a month). But no Healthy Jew will be left behind: if you need a discount, contact me at scnaiman@healthyjew.org and we’ll work it out.

3. Healthy Jew Personal

Every Healthy Jew has their own story, personality, challenges, health conditions, and bloodwork. I’m a certified health coach, which means I can:

  • guide you how to best invest in eating well, moving well, and being well.

  • answer many of your questions about health, wellness, and Judaism.

  • advise you how healthy choices can help live with - and sometimes even heal - many chronic conditions.

  • suggest herbs and supplements (when appropriate, not just for fun!).

How much does it cost? $250 a year. After we meet, you’ll receive a full personalized healthy lifestyle plan, including appropriate herbs and supplements. Learn here more about health coaching.


Subscribers are saying:

Shmuel offers a unique perspective to health-conscious people looking for more than the latest wellness influencers' fads, with plenty of nutrition and no politics. — Karen Armstrong, The Rotten Apple

Because our body is the kli kadosh [holy container] for the awesome task of living to serve Hashem [God], it’s easy to recognize that caring for our health is an important part of serving Hashem, as the Rambam writes. I’m grateful to Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman for teaching both the wisdom and practice of healthy living. — Rabbi Binyamin Jacobson, Rosh Kollel Ohr Lagolah, Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel

Shmuel Chaim's posts on physical/mental wellness come from the Jewish point of view, and the naturalist's, and the forager's, and the certified wellness coach's... very rich content. —Miriam Kresh, Fantastical Fiction

Great publication! The palpable love for Eretz Yisrael [Israel] is inspiring, and the discussion of health in the context of Torah is superb. We need more of this! — Rabbi Shnayor Burton, Senior Editor at Artscroll Mesorah Publications (and author of Unapologetics)


Who am I?

I’m Shmuel Chaim Naiman, a Torah student and teacher, certified health coach, foraging guide, and the grateful husband of Tamar and father of Avital and Eitan.

I grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, came to Israel at age 19 to study for a year or so, and stayed. We currently live in Ramat Bet Shemesh, which is a useful tidbit to know, as much of what I share happens in the area, often together with my nightly Healthy Jew class at the local Lev Hatorah yeshiva.

My primary occupation has always been studying, writing, and teaching Torah. I’ve invested many years researching the areas of Jewish law and thought relevant to health and wellness, focusing particularly on the writings and intellectual traditions of the Rambam (Maimonides), Ramban (Nachmanides), and Ramchal (Luzzato). I’ve also learned these subjects from some of the world’s greatest scholars, and developed close relationships with them.

On the professional side, I completed a three-year program at Reidman College to become a Healthy Lifestyle Counselor / Natural Nutritionist, which I like to shorten to Certified Health Coach.

Over many years, I’ve accumulated knowledge and experience that inform a broad perspective on health and wellness, particularly relating to living in Israel. My interests include history, geography, hiking, archeology, and foraging for edible and medicinal plants.

I’ve always loved reading and writing: my first career involved researching and editing a wide range of topics. Although eventually I got bored and left the field, The Healthy Jew draws from experience in research, writing, and critical thinking.

But I’m not a doctor or therapist, just your local health teacher and foraging guide. To learn more about what I am not, check out here.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or complaints, please reach out to me at scnaiman@healthyjew.org. I’d love to hear from you.

Be in touch, and be well,

Shmuel Chaim

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Medical Disclaimer: All content on The Healthy Jew is for informational and educational purposes only. Talk to a qualified professional before taking any action or substance that you read about here.

1

Pirush HaMishnah, Hakdamah L’Avos (Shemonah Perakim) 5.

2

Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Deos 4.

3

Moreh Nevuchim 3:11. See also Hilchos Deos 2:1 and Hakdamah L’Avos 4

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Health Teacher and Foraging Guide