It’s not often that I follow up a column with another on the same subject.

Today I am making an exception.

Of the many columns I have written perhaps my piece on grappling with weight (see Issue 627) is the one that touched the most people and has received the most feedback.

There were those who offered me the perfect straightforward solution.

Eat less.

A number of individuals who have seen success with Overeaters Anonymous contacted me and encouraged me to join the “program.”

Others confided that their silver bullet was bariatric surgery. Indeed more than one person admitted that they’d undergone not one but two procedures over the last ten years.

One person actually confessed that he lost weight by being injected with female hormones and another individual confirmed that he was ingesting fecal transplants of bacteria to help him manage his weight.

None of these truth-is-stranger-than-fiction solutions whetted my appetite. I’m sure all the above-mentioned fixes have their successes and failures; at the very least they give you a taste of what hefty people will do to become unhefty.

However that is beside the point.

To paraphrase John Lydgate “You can help some of the people lose weight some of the time; and help others lose weight other times; however you cannot guarantee all of the people losing weight all of the time!”

People are complex and their eating habits metabolisms and even side effects from prescription medications are all variables in assisting or repressing one’s ability to respond to a weight-loss problem.

Nevertheless I will never condone and certainly never advocate for obesity nor will I ever throw in the towel in my own personal struggle.

All that said several compassion tips are in order for those of you who do not battle the bulge.

Would anyone ever dare go over to a recently divorced man or woman and casually say — in front of others: “Looks like you’re alone now; I guess you couldn’t stop yourself from fighting with your spouse!”

Would you approach a father or mother whose child is no longer on the derech pat them on the shoulder and with a smile say “Hey I saw your son hanging out at 7-Eleven last Friday night; I guess you just can’t control your kid!”

Or would anyone have the audacity to offhandedly mention to an older single “I see you’re still single since I saw you last year. What’s the matter? You can’t find anyone to marry?”

The absurdity and outright cruelty of anyone asking these questions is obvious. Overweight people however are humiliated with these questions daily!

I painfully recall how once after I’d shed 20 pounds and was feeling good about myself a fellow came over to me patted my midsection and said loud and clear “I can see your wife’s cooking agrees with you!”

Granted now that I am a big (pun intended) rav people no longer pat my stomach. But what about other good Jews who have honestly tried many weight loss methods and remain in constant pain?

Why are they constantly subjected to cruel and mortifying comments about their weight from people who should know better? Why do so many G-d-fearing Jews feel unfettered when it comes to hurtful remarks to people of girth? Why do so many frum Yidden think their “chubby chaver” doesn’t mind the invectives thrown his way?

What happened to the Jewish trait of seeing the real person behind the exterior? Is he or she not entitled to at least the same sensitivity and consideration we would exhibit to any other Jew?

Or has being overweight also come to mean being overlooked and unworthy of compassion?