I recall being shocked when I read about famous author, Olivia Goldsmith, dying as a result of complications from cosmetic surgery about five years ago. She gave up her life for a face-lift -what a tragic waste, I thought.
Today, news about another senseless death is being reported.
A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina has died from complications after undergoing cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.
Read more:
http://news.uk.msn.com/world/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=151146905
The following is an excerpt from an article entitled Jewish Beauty and the Beauty of Jewishness by Rabbi Joshua Shmidman.
What, then, is distinct and singular about the Jewish concept of beauty? To answer this, one looks to the Torah to find the sources of the Jewish idea of beauty. Like all abstract theories in Judaism which ultimately find their expression in concrete mitzvot, the idea of beauty, as well, finds a tangible realization in the central mitzvot of the holiday of Sukkot. The Torah requires: "And you shall take unto yourselves on the first day (of Sukkot) a fruit of a beautiful tree -- pri etz hadar." The Talmud (Sukkot 35a) wishes to define what constitutes a beautiful tree by analyzing the Hebrew word for beautiful, hadar. The sages conclude that it is the etrog tree, because the word "hadar" is interpreted to be a fruit which "dwells continuously all year on the tree" (ha-dar, literally, "that which dwells"). Thus, they understand the word "dar" to mean the opposite of temporary or intermittent residence; rather, it implies permanence, a continuous process through time (similar to the French "duree" or the English "endure"). The etrog tree fulfils this requirement of constant dwelling, for most other fruits are seasonal, but the etrog grows, blossoms and produces fruit throughout all the seasons: in the heat and the cold, in the wind and in storm -- it stubbornly persists! It endures! And in the Jewish view, that is why it is beautiful.
Beauty, then, in classical Jewish sources, means the indomitable power of life, the determination to live on despite all difficulties, the affirmation of the victory of life over death, the drive for eternity.
Read full article:
http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5758/spring98/beauty.htm
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