חשבון הנפש Cheshbon Ha'Nefesh #13: Pree'shut פרישות Self-Restraint

(1) SPEAK UNTO ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. (2) YE SHALL BE HOLY. ...But in the Torath Kohanim I have seen it mentioned without any qualification [i.e., without any particular reference to immorality, as Rashi expressed it], saying:. “Be self-restraining.” Similarly, the Rabbis taught there:9Ibid., Shemini 12:4. “And ye shall sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy, for I am Holy.10Above, 11:44. Just as I am Holy, so be you holy. Just as I am Pure, so be you pure.” And in my opinion, this abstinence does not refer only to restraint from acts of immorality, as the Rabbi [Rashi] wrote, but it is rather the self-control mentioned throughout the Talmud, which confers upon those who practice it the name of P’rushim (Pharisees), [literally: “those who are separated” from self-indulgence, as will be explained, or those who practice self-restraint]. The meaning thereof is as follows: The Torah has admonished us against immorality and forbidden foods...Therefore, after having listed the matters which He prohibited altogether, Scripture followed them up by a general command that we practice moderation even in matters which are permitted, [such as in the following]... He should also sanctify himself [to self-restraint] by using wine in small amounts, just as Scripture calls a Nazirite “holy” [for abstaining from wine and strong drink],13Numbers 6:8. and he should remember the evils which the Torah mentioned as following from [drinking wine] in the cases of Noah14Genesis 9:21. and Lot.15Ibid., 19:33. Similarly, he should keep himself away from impurity [in his ordinary daily activity], even though we have not been admonished against it in the Torah, similar to that which the Rabbis have said... Likewise one should guard their mouth and tongue from being defiled by excessive food and by lewd talk, similar to what Scripture states, and every mouth speaketh wantonness,18Isaiah 9:16. and he should purify himself in this respect until he reaches the degree known as [complete] “self-restraint,” as the Rabbis said concerning Rabbi Chiya. that never in his life did he engage in unnecessary talk. atters, that we should be [physically] clean and [ritually] pure, and separated from the common people who soil themselves with luxuries and unseemly things. And such is the way of the Torah, that after it lists certain specific prohibitions, it includes them all in a general precept...