Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
This week’s Torah reading contains the mitzvah (commandment) of not straying after our eyes (Bamidbar 15:39). The Biur Halachah (1:1) states that this prohibition includes the general pursuit of materialistic pleasures to fulfill one’s lusts and not for the sake of being healthy to serve God properly.
A Different Definition of Success
This concept may sound surprising – if not shocking. The world we live in today knows of nothing else but the pursuit of luxuries and comforts. So much so, that obtaining materialism is considered by many as a virtue.
This is not the way of the Torah. While God certainly wants us to enjoy the good He gives us in this world, running after materialistic pleasures as a goal on its own goes against Torah values. We were placed in this world for the sake of serving God in order to reach the real good in the Next World. Pursuing the materialistic pleasures this world has to offer inherently lures us away from what our true focus in life should be.
A Lesson in Self-Control
A student of Rabbi Meir Soloveichik once came to visit him in his home. Rabbi Soloveichik was eating lunch, and the student noticed that his rebbi (Torah teacher/mentor) had eaten the piece of meat he was served, albeit not the piece of kugel which was sitting on his plate. Instead of eating it, he seemed to be playing with it, pushing it back and forth. The student was intrigued by this bizarre behavior and asked his rebbi if he could explain to him the meaning of his strange conduct. The rebbi answered that he was debating whether he was truly still hungry, or whether he just wanted to eat the kugel for pleasure. If it was only for the sake of pleasure, he did not wish to indulge in unnecessary eating.
After a few minutes, he sprang up, rushed with the plate to the kitchen and returned. The student asked him, “So did you come to a conclusion?” “No,” he said. “But I felt that my lusts were getting the better of me, and I was afraid that my desire for pleasure would influence my decision. Therefore, I quickly took the kugel out of sight so it will not tempt me any longer.”
Drawing the Line
Eating strictly for the sake of our health is beyond what most of us can expect from ourselves. Even so, there is no doubt that we can set boundaries for ourselves in obtaining pleasures in life. Engaging in enjoyable activities which recharge us and give us emotional strength to accomplish is most definitely a legitimate endeavor. There are also times when indulgence, within reason, is necessary to put ourselves in a better frame of mind. We are even commanded to prepare special delights for Shabbat and Jewish holidays and indulge ourselves, in honor of these special days. Yet a fine line stands between such actions and the act of purely worshiping one’s desires.
It takes a lot of strength and honesty with one’s self to draw a line and say, “This I really don’t need and should not pursue.” We must realize, however, that this is not just an extra stringency reserved for ultra-pious individuals. This is a necessary goal for every one of us in order to keep ourselves properly focused on what life is really about. This obligation applies to everyone at all times, and each and every one of us needs to adopt this principle according to his/her own level. Once we acknowledge that we live for a higher purpose, we have set the groundwork to adopt this new attitude, and the concept of setting limits for materialistic pursuits will not seem so foreign.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber
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