K’ish echad v’lev echad – like one man with one heart. This beautiful metaphor of the Jewish people at Har Sinai truly goes to the heart of the matter because it is the heart that unites and animates many disparate parts. It is essential not only to the life of an individual but also to that of our nation.
Every day, we wake
up, we walk, we work. Every night, we smile, we settle, we slumber. And the
whole time we are blissfully unaware that our self-contained life-support
system is working round the clock. Whether we are running or relaxing, laughing
or lounging, the heart is loyally doing its job of bringing our bodies
everything they need 24/7. Internal organs, muscles, and cells maintain your
body like a giant group project, each fulfilling its unique role in your
overall well-being.
Never Skip a Beat
Every one of our
30 trillion cells needs oxygen to survive, and it must be distributed
effectively and efficiently. Flowing through the 60,000 miles of blood vessels
(the equivalent of circling the globe twice), oxygen-rich red blood cells
deliver their precious cargo and pick up waste material for removal. This
life-sustaining process is only possible because the heart is constantly
pumping – around 100,000 times each day!
The heart is a
modest muscle, weighing only around 10 ounces, yet it is responsible for
pumping around 1.5 gallons of blood per minute. The right side sends “empty”
blood to the lungs to replenish its supply of oxygen. Then the left side pumps
it to the rest of the body. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart,
and veins bring the empty red blood cells back to the heart, where they can
pick up a fresh load of oxygen for delivery. The point at which they connect is
called a capillary, a blood vessel so small that the red blood cells often have
to pass through single file. It is in the capillaries that the exchange of
oxygen and carbon dioxide (a waste of life processes) takes place.
Oxygen is the key
to releasing energy from the food that you eat. The only reason you benefit
from the grilled chicken sandwich you had for lunch (besides making you feel
happy) is that the oxygen from the air you breathe, transported by your blood,
unlocks the energy held within the smallest components of your food. The piece
of chocolate from your secret “emergency” stash can only give you a boost
(again, in addition to the happiness factor) because your heart provides the
ingredient your cells need to release energy.
Blood looks red because of the large number of red blood cells it
carries,
mixed with some white blood cells (to fight pathogens) and platelets (to heal
wounds). Some people erroneously believe that blood is blue when it is inside
your body and only turns red when it comes out. Although your veins appear to
be blue when you look at your wrist, the hue is just caused by the way light
filters through your skin. The blood they carry is still undeniably red, a
result of the color of the chemical that it uses to carry oxygen: hemoglobin. On
the other hand, many deep-sea creatures, like octopuses and squids, actually do
have blue blood because their bodies contain a different chemical (haemocyanin)
that holds oxygen better under the high water pressure found in the ocean.
Change of Heart
Most fish have a
two-chambered heart, whereas birds have four chambers (like mammals and
people). It is interesting to note that octopuses actually have three hearts!
Elephants’ hearts only beat around 30 times per minute, while a mouse’s pulse
races at over 500 (in comparison with a human heartbeat, which is between 60
and 100 beats per minute). The sound of your heartbeat comes from the closing
of valves within the heart to prevent blood from flowing in the wrong
direction. These valves enable circulation to proceed smoothly, whether you are
standing up or lying down.
One truly
memorable highlight of visiting the Franklin Institute in Philly is the
experience of climbing through the 13-foot-tall giant model of a heart (which,
honestly, seems to have gotten a lot smaller since I was nine). In the animal
kingdom, the blue whale has a heart that is five feet tall and has an aorta,
the largest artery, that a person could easily crawl through! (For comparison,
the human aorta is as wide as a quarter.)
Giraffes must have
extremely high arterial pressure to pump blood all the way up their six-foot-long
necks. However, if its heart maintained this high pressure when the giraffe
bent over to drink, its ears would rupture and it would die. Hashem, therefore,
gave its heart the automatic ability to switch the amount of pressure depending
on the position of the giraffe’s head! This is just one of the myriad examples
of how we can see Hashem’s chochmah in the world around us.
Heart to Heart
“The key to having
a healthy heart,” explained Dr. Jerald Insel, an experienced Baltimore
cardiologist, “is starting early. Ideally, good habits should be established
when you are still a teenager.” Although we logically know that the younger you
are when you begin being mindful of what you eat and how you exercise the
better, we often make excuses. It’s time to prioritize our future health. Dr.
Insel continued to map out other essential, often overlooked components of our
well-being. “One of the biggest things,” he said, “is maintaining a positive
attitude and being thankful for the gifts Hashem gives you each day. Being a
happy person will create an atmosphere in your home that makes everything
better.”
With over two million people worldwide undergoing open-heart surgery
annually, the
importance of having a warm, positive home cannot be overstated, he said. Parents
are responsible for making their home positive, which will imbue their children
with the confidence to make good choices.
People are finally becoming more aware of the
need to maintain their health. This is especially true in the frum
community, where it is so easy to take a third helping of cholent, spend most
days sedentary, and stress about paying the bills. “Part of being a Jew is to
protect our bodies, which includes finding an exercise routine that works for
you,” said Dr. Insel.
You don’t have to
train for the next marathon, but you should be consistent. Setting aside a
little time every day to maintain your overall health will likely give you a
lot of time later as you age. Dr. Insel recommends that people in their 30s
should already see a physician, who will take a comprehensive look at their
lipids, blood pressure, heart muscle, and heart rhythms. He highlights that
Hashem gives us our bodies and minds together with the instructions to take
care of them, so we can be the best Jew we can be.
With a Heavy Heart
Unfortunately,
many people suffer from heart conditions like high blood pressure and high
cholesterol. Though these may be genetic, poor lifestyle choices also play a
large role in increasing the risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
Approximately 700,000 people die from heart attacks in America every year,
including children.
Over two million
people worldwide undergo open-heart surgery annually. The procedure of coronary
artery bypass surgery, in which blood vessels taken from other parts of the
body are used to restore blood flow to the heart when its own vessels are
blocked or damaged, has saved hundreds of thousands of lives. The first such surgery,
during which the heart was manually pumped, was performed in 1956. Today, this procedure
is common, and machines have taken over the function of the heart while surgery
progresses.
A Heart of Gold
Research has shown
that laughter relieves the stress on the blood vessels, allowing up to 20% more
blood to flow smoothly. In addition, when the veins and arteries are relaxed,
the heart doesn’t have to work as hard, helping maintain its overall health. So,
laughter might really be the best medicine, after all. (Of course, enjoying a
good joke – even a dad joke – is fantastic, but it obviously should not replace
the other essential components of staying healthy.)
When Klal Yisrael
stood at Har Sinai k’ish echad v’lev echad – like one man with one heart
– they were so thoroughly unified that they were like one being. And in that
moment, they merited to receive the Torah. Improving our connections with
others, whether we are related to them or not, is directly related to the
health of our heart and our connection with Hashem. Removing the stress and
strife of tense interpersonal relationships actually makes our hearts stronger
and more resilient. Focusing on the feelings of others so we can understand
them and be sensitive to them is another step toward Sinai and brings us closer
to our Creator.
Debbie Glazer
lives in Pikesville with her family and teaches language arts in Bnos Yisroel
High School. She can often be found either writing or reading and loves to
share her passion
for the written word with others.
