Cultural Zionism: Faith & Healing
Treating my Type II Diabetes
Prior to this huge election started a 10 day fast. Did a 10 day fast with my daughter last year to treat her cystic fibrosis. This year i test my theory that type II diabetes primarily concerns the glucose addiction of the brain. Type II eventually can become Type III diabetes, commonly known as Alzheimer’s disease. My great grand mother Dunno, grand father Judge Bill, and father all died from Alzheimer’s.
Not a big fan of Western pharmaceutical corporate medicine where the latter writes the medical books studied by Med students at the Universities. Obozo Care an utter abomination on the Order of Roe vs. Wade in my book. The notion that America won the Cold War against the USSR only to become a Socialist nation totally repugnant to my way of thinking. States Rights Washington Bites – my motto. But what can I do being a die-hard Confederate who rejects the disgraceful defeat of 1865!
My wife and I kibbitz with one another. Married a damned Yankee from Chicago! She mocks me and repeats “Save the Dixie cups the South shall rise again!” To which I respond: “I only agreed to marry you because your grandmother who came from the Ukraine to the Golden Medina entered through the mikva of Galveston”! (Mikva a key concept of k’ddushin – the mitzva of Jewish ritual marriage.)
Have developed and employing the 10 day fast this year to test my diabetes Type II theory. According to Western witchcraft diabetes occurs as a result of insulin resistance. This delves into the mitochondrion organelle sub-cells within the muscles. Western witchcraft reminds me of Church dogmatism! But post Shoah Pius XII, the dogma of the “Infallibility of the Poop” flushed down the toilet.
My counter theory of type II diabetes learns from my Grand-fathers addiction to alcoholism. Both alcohol and high blood glucose impact the liver. Into Eastern schools of meditation as medicine. Eastern medicine does not assign a meridian to the pancreas! Therefore my theory argues that Type II diabetes represents a sugar like alcoholism addiction between the brain & the liver.
Consistently, when measuring my waking blood sugar, its the highest of the entire day thereafter. This supports my theory that my liver produces glucose to feed my addicted brain. The brain cannot access glucose from the digestion of fats as can the rest of the body.
My blood suger in these first 5 days of the fast: 156, 148, 135, & 128, 124. Really feeling the burn of the thirst for water right now.
Previously the two shabbat to shabbat fasts where I drank no water – exceptionally difficult. Day four I had cotton mouth. The last 10 day fast, lived in denial that I was a sugaholic, did not test my glucose levels daily.
The objective of this 2nd 10 day or more fast, thinking about going shabbat to shabbat without water twice over, my intention to train and regulate my brain/liver to function below 90 when at each waking morning glucose blood sugar test. Once I can achieve this recalibration of my brain/liver glucose production I hope to maintain it thereafter by employing my kidneys by drinking copious amounts of water.
The liver/kidney Yin/Yan battery defines my meditation technique. Employ these to meridians in both Japanese Shiatsu and Jin Shin Jyutsu Is (know myself it is) healing wisdom techniques. Employed the latter on my daughter at age 5 and raised her lung efficiency up to 91%. The quacks at the hospital expressed utter amazement!
The body employs an intricate mechanism to regulate blood sugar levels. When you drink water, it stimulates the kidneys to produce more urine, which can help remove excess glucose from the bloodstream. This process connected to the kidneys’ ability to filter waste products, includes glucose.
Ongoing research suggests that fasting and dietary interventions may help manage or even reverse type II diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity, reducing liver fat, and breaking the cycle of sugar addiction. Alzheimer’s disease, nicknamed “type III diabetes”, due to its link to insulin resistance in the brain. Emerging research shows that excess glucose can affect brain cells over time, impairing memory and cognitive function, leading to neuro-degeneration Blood Sugar Spikes. This “dawn phenomenon”, explains elevated morning glucose levels. The liver releases glucose in the early morning to prepare the body for waking, but in people with type II diabetes, the liver overcompensates. This supports my idea of an addiction feedback loop between the brain’s addiction, and liver’s dawn phenomenon increased glucose production.
The gradual decrease in my glucose levels (156 → 124) suggests that my liver is starting to produce less glucose as my body adapts to the fast. Many fasting practitioners report a reduction in fasting blood glucose after a few days. Meditation and Breathwork in Diabetes techniques like Jin Shin Jyutsu, which target meridians, could help reduce stress, which plays a role in insulin resistance and blood sugar dysregulation. Stress management – increasingly recognized as a key factor in diabetes care.
When I dav’en, my k’vanna differentiates between אדוני as opposed to יהוה. The former a word which the lips of Man can frame and pronounce. The latter a Spirit that only blown from the heart, rather than physically from the lungs. Tefillah a matter of the heart NOT the lungs. The precedent for this interpretation: Rabbi Yechuda’s challenges why the Torah misspelled heart as לבב? In the Mishna of ברכות Rabbi Yechuda projected that two Yatzirot live within the heart.
The construction of the Mishkan, the Torah states “that I may dwell within you”. Hence Rabbi Yechuda’s Yatzir Ha’Tov the Spirit breath of יהוה from within our hearts. While the Ego I, breaths as the spirit of our self-centered child-like Yatzir Ha’Rah. Tefillah therefore dedicates שם ומלכות. The latter understood as the pronouns of the Horev revelation of the 13 middot spirits.
This revelation defines the understanding as explained through the kabballah taught by Rabbi Akiva known as פרדס. The 13 middot spirit logic format, revealed at Horev, 40 days after the sin of the Golden Calf where Israel erred & translated יהוה to words like אלהים, Jesus or Allah, these middot pronouns which followed יהוה – likewise spirits from the Spirit Name – they compare to the meditation techniques developed through Eastern medicine which makes a focus upon concentrated breathing as the basis of meditation for healing.
This interpretation brings out profound themes of havdalah (separation or discernment) between the two modes of expression— words that the mouth and lips can articulate, versus what kavanah (intention) a Torah scholar expresses from within his heart’s breath.
The ability to pronounce Adonai introduces the element of discernment, known as תחיית המיתים—the Spirit that breaths life unto the Avot – this same life breathes within all bnai brit Israel. This compares to the precedent of Shabbat which fundamentally requires making a havdalah: distinguishing between two realms, such as sacred and profane, light and dark, holy time and mundane time, מלאכה VS. עבודה, at the beginning and termination of the mitzva of shabbat. The latter distinction defines the Mishkan precedent which separates holy from most holy. The verb עבודה: the mesechta of Baba Kama logically infers the definition as: אב עבודות: חמס גזל ערוה ושחד במשפט.
Man always viewed as מועד as opposed to תם. The classification of מועד: crimes committed with intent to do damage. This makes these tumah transgressions the opposite of tohor time oriented positive commandments. Hence the mitzva of Shabbat dedicates not to do act of מלאכה on the day of Shabbat, so as not to do act of עבודה on the week of shabbat. This הבדלה defines both shabbat as a mitzva and pronouncing the Name יהוה in tefillah. Both separate and distinguish Holy from Most Holy within the Mishkan.
The דאורייתא תפילה קריא שמע makes a הבדלה between the heart from the soul. The latter understood through the mitzva of קידושין as a man acquires Title to the ”soul” of his wife; meaning of Title – acquisition to the future born children, based upon the precedent of the Brit cut between the pieces wherein childless Avram cut his brit upon the future born seed which currently only lived in the future world to come, as established by the oath sworn by HaShem.
The phrase דרך ארץ (derech eretz) encompasses a profound principle in Jewish thought, reflecting a foundational value for both Torah and ethical living. It is often translated as “the way of the land,” meaning proper behavior, good manners, or worldly conduct. In essence, derech eretz precedes Torah—it forms the groundwork upon which Torah observance is built. This idea emphasizes the necessity of moral and ethical behavior as a prerequisite to religious practice.
The Talmudic adage “derech eretz kadmot laTorah” (Vayikra Rabbah 9:3) suggests that proper interpersonal conduct and ethical behavior must precede Torah study and moral obligatory behavior. This prioritizes spirituality above Torah commandments. The latter cannot exist in isolation from decency, respect, and the practice of kindness. It ties into the notion that the Torah was given to shape individuals already living within a framework of moral responsibility.
The revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai (Matan Torah) stands on the foundation of derech eretz in multiple ways:
Oath Brit Responsibility: The Torah’s commandments simply understood as a means of sanctifying human interaction and promoting justice—ensuring that obedience to the sworn oath brit, always paired with mishpat (justice)[judicial fair compensation of damages inflicted upon others] and chesed (loving-kindness), core aspects of derech eretz.
Preparation for Revelation: Before receiving the Torah, the Israelites Moshe instructed to purify themselves (Exodus 19:10-15), indicating that an internal and external refinement—consistent with derech eretz— necessary for divine encounter. Israel only received the first two commandments due to the failure of our people to not approach their wives 3 days prior to the Torah revelation.
Interpersonal Obligations: The prophetic mussar as expressed through the repetition of the Ten Commandments, in Sh’mot and D’varim, serves as precedents to remember how HaShem judged the Gods of Egypt and Paro; further clarified through the oath sworn at Gilgal, the basis of the Rashi tefillen.
This remembering the judgment against other Gods directly understood through the comparative precedent rulings of (honor parents, refrain from theft, murder, and falsehood etc). This Torah common law which learns through comparison of Case/Rule to similar Case/Rule defines T’NaCH and Talmudic Common law/משנה תורה. Common law underscores the essential priority that Torah observance NOT purely ritualistic like the halachot found in the Shulkan Aruch, but hinges on ethical prophetic mussar dedications of k’vanna, otherwise known as מלכות.
The sages elaborate that derech eretz applies to various aspects of life, from business ethics to social interaction. For example, Pirkei Avot (2:2) teaches that Torah study must accompany work, highlighting the balance between spiritual pursuits and practical living. This balance reflects the idea that religious observance detached from reality or from ethical behavior amounts to Av tumah culturally assimilated or intermarried avoda zarah.
Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch elaborates that derech eretz represents a lifestyle of responsibility, professionalism, and respect that gives meaning to Torah observance. Similarly, the Maharal of Prague emphasizes that derech eretz relates to personal discipline, showing how the individual becomes a vessel capable of receiving Torah.
In summary, derech eretz frames Torah as a way to elevate and refine human existence, but it starts with how individuals conduct themselves in the mundane world. Thus, the revelation at Sinai did not impose divine commandments on people divorced from ethical behavior; instead, it built upon a foundation already rooted in respect for the dignity of others, justice, and decency—hallmarks of derech eretz.
Fasting may also lead to ketone production, providing an alternative energy source for the brain. The ability to switch between glucose and ketones efficiently, called metabolic flexibility. When we fast, our body adapts to the absence of incoming nutrients. As glycogen levels drop, our body starts breaking down stored fats (triglycerides) into fatty acids. These fatty acids, then converted into ketone bodies (such as beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB) in the liver. Ketones serve as an alternative fuel source for our brain, heart, and other tissues.
Jin Shin Jyutsu/Shiatsu seeks to increase insulin acceptance and blood sugar dysregulation. Normal fasting blood sugar levels range below 100 mg/dL. My theory concerning glucose addiction of the brain, supported by outside research that suggest insulin levels affects the brain’s dopamine systems, likewise linked to drug addictions and many neuropsychiatric conditions. Fatty liver and lack of exercise two main contributing factors of insulin resistance.
Excess cortisol, known as Cushing’s syndrome, can counteract the effects of insulin and consequent insulin resistance. Hypothyroidism, underactive thyroid another consideration. The thyroid plays a large function in regulating metabolism. Have experienced a much slower metabolism when digesting food. The thyroid influences glucose metabolism. Have started a physical exercise program of running stairs and 100 sit-ups. Some argue that a moderate-intensity exercise can increase glucose uptake by at least 40%.
The transition from glucose to ketones typically takes around 24 to 36 hours, as mentioned above. However, individual variations exist—some people adapt faster, while others take a bit longer. Ketones may improve insulin sensitivity, perceived as beneficial for managing blood sugar levels. Some people report increased mental clarity and focus during ketosis. Fasting triggers autophagy—a cellular process that cleans up damaged components and promotes longevity. Longer fasts (24 hours or more) can lead to deeper ketosis and more pronounced metabolic adaptations.
Conflict Resolution 