Weighing in on Oprah

January 9, 10:17 AMSpiritual Life ExaminerRabbi Ben Kamin

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Oprah Winfrey’s first name is actually a spelling mistake made by a birthing nurse in deep Mississippi in 1954.  The child, born into abject poverty and a dysfunctional family situation, was  named for the biblical character, Orpah—sister-in-law of Ruth, the consummate convert to Judaism, and a maternal ancestor, according to Christianity, of Jesus.  But our Oprah, the ultimate American media icon and true philanthropist, the racial precursor of Barack Obama, is perfectly suited to be herself—even if her name, her credo, her soul don’t line up in letters.

This past week, in yet another stirring and admirable personal drama, Ms. Winfrey went very public with her latest weight gain.  She even authorized a cover photo for her magazine, O, showing the currently 200+ pound Oprah gazing painfully at her earlier svelte and flat-stomached self from several years ago.  She has made several printed, Internet, and televised statements decrying her failure and vowing to return to her slimmer self.

There is no more pervasive and spiritually-challenging struggle in American life, our vanities and narcissism notwithstanding, than the struggle that so many of us—particularly women—are constantly afflicted with than our weight and physical appearance.  This is not to say that there aren’t an extraordinary number of fat men in the US.  It is to say that men are not held to the excruciating, even callous standards that the media, the fashion world, food industry, the gossip culture, and, yes, men impose on women.  Men can indulge and look like roly-poly caricatures, and—their metabolic and cardiovascular systems aside—still not be humiliated at work, in a store, or even on television.

In making her confessional so public and bold (a continuing tradition that speaks to Oprah Winfrey’s disarming honesty and self-revelation), this remarkable woman has again proven that she is one of the most spiritually-centered and mentally healthy women or men in this country.

Oprah Winfrey, the child of unmarried and reckless parents, rose from destitution and a tormented youth to become the most powerful and influential woman in television and, according to Forbes Magazine, the world's most highly paid entertainer. Though primarily recognized as a talk show hostess, Winfrey also produces and occasionally acts in television movies and feature films that are invariably value-redemptive.  But her greatest wealth is the moral currency she brings to the American social scene—with her candor, convictions, and unrelenting commitment to self-improvement.  Even as she glitters, we still see the vulnerable and abused child from Mississippi who overcame exploitation, racism, stereotyping in terms of skin color and body shape, and is now our de facto cultural prime minister.

In an America brimming dangerously with anorexia, teenage suicide, blatant chauvinism, a saturation of antidepressants, a sea of vanity, and viral greed, Oprah Winfrey has never been afraid to name symptoms and advocate cures.  This standard she has now again applied objectively to herself and I say, God bless her.