There is no Gehinnom (hell) in the world to come, but the Holy One, blessed be He, will draw forth the sun from its sheath: the righteous shall be healed, and the wicked shall be judged and punished thereby. -Talmud, Nedarim 8b
This statement by the Talmudic sage Resh Lakish finds an eerie echo in the world today. For a knife, the sheath is that which keeps the knife blade from cutting our body. However, for the sun, it is the ozone layer which acts like a sheath to protect us from the harmful effects of the sun's UV rays. With the thinning of this layer, we have seen dramatic increases in skin cancer in recent years. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that we are children of the day and that we need a certain amount of sunlight to maintain good physical and mental health. In northern areas, the dark winter months are much more likely to inflict people with SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Hence, we still need to get a little bit of sunlight to be healthy, but nowadays we also need to be more careful regarding when we get it. A little early morning sunlight or late afternoon sunlight will help us obtain the benefits of sunlight without the negative effects of sunburn.
RECENT HEADLINES:
Winter blues hit children, too
Ozone decreasing, UV rays increasing