King David Sculpture, Frank Meisler
King
David rejoiced in the possession of this trait and said, "I will wash my hands in Cleanliness, and I will go around your altar,
O G-d" (Tehillim, 26:6). In truth, it befits only him who is completely
clean of any stirring of sin to behold G-d, the King; for lacking such
Cleanliness one should be ashamed and disgraced before Him. As Ezra the Scribe
said, "My G-d, I am ashamed and disgraced
to lift, my G-d, my face to You" (Ezra, 9:6).
Unquestionably,
the attainment of perfection in this trait entails great labor, for the
recognized and well-known sins are easy to avoid since their evil is apparent,
but the analysis which Cleanliness requires is of a most difficult kind,
because the sin involved, as I have mentioned, is hidden by rationalization. As
our Sages of blessed memory have said, "The sins which a man treads underfoot
surround him at the time of judgment" (Avodah Zarah 18a). And it was in this
connection that they said, "The majority succumbs to the sin of theft, a
minority to that of illicit relations, and all of them to the dust of slander"
(Baba Batra 165a)....
This
trait is certainly difficult to acquire, for a man's nature is weak. His heart
is easily won over, and he permits certain things to himself by utilizing the
opportunities for self-deception that they present. One who has attained to the
trait of Cleanliness has unquestionably reached a very high level of
achievement, for he has stood up in the face of a raging battle and emerged
victorious....
We
shall now consider the sin of illicit relations. One who desires to be
completely clean of this sin requires no little effort, for its prohibition
takes in not only the act itself, but anything that approaches it, as Scripture
clearly states: "Do not come near to
uncover nakedness" (Vayikra, 18:6). And our Sages of blessed memory have
said, "The Holy One Blessed Be He said: Do not say, ‘Since I may not have
relations with this woman, I will hold her and be free of sin, I will hug her
and be free of sin, I will kiss her and be free of sin.' The Holy One Blessed Be He said, ‘Just as
when a Nazarite takes a vow not to drink wine, he is forbidden to eat grapes or
raisins, or to drink grape juice, or to partake of anything that comes from the
grapevine, so it is forbidden to touch any woman but your own wife; and anyone
who does touch a woman other than his wife brings death to himself'" (Shemot
Rabbah, 31:6).
See
how wonderful these words are! The prohibition in the case of illicit relations
is likened to the case of a Nazarite, where, even though the essence of the
prohibition involves only the drinking of wine, the Torah forbids him anything
which has any connection to wine.
By
applying this principle to the area of illicit relations, the Sages prohibited
anything partaking of the nature of fornication, or anything approaching it,
regardless of the particular avenue of approach, whether that of deed, sight,
speech, hearing, or even thought.
Deed: Namely touching or
embracing and the like. This has already been mentioned and there is no need to
expand upon it.
Sight: Our Sages of blessed
memory have said: "One who counts coins from his hand to hers in order to gaze
at her will not be cleansed from Gehinom"(Berachot 61a). And, "Why did the Jews
of that generation require atonement? Because they fed their eyes on impurity"
(Shabbat 64a). Also, they said, "It is written in the Torah, ‘And keep yourself from every evil thing,'
meaning a man should not gaze upon a beautiful woman, even if she is single,
nor upon a married woman, even if she is ugly" (Avodah Zarah 20a).
Speech: It is explicitly stated:
"One who converses at length with a woman draws evil upon himself" (Avot, 1:5).
Hearing: "Listening to a woman's
singing is considered like sexual licentiousness" (Berachot 24a).
Also
talking about and hearing licentious matters is considered "fornication of
the mouth and ear." On the verse, "Let
there not be seen with you a thing of nakedness," our Sages said this means
nakedness of speech and the uttering of obscenities (Yerushami Terumot 1:4).
Also, "Everyone knows why a bride goes to the wedding canopy, but anyone who
speaks obscenely concerning it, even a decree of seventy good years is
converted to evil (Shabbat 33a). And, "Even a casual conversation between a man
and his wife is held up to him at the time of Judgment (Chagigah 5b).
Thought: Our Sages of blessed
memory have already said that the verse, "Keep
yourself from every evil thing," means that a man should not think lewd
thoughts in the daytime and come to impurity at night (Avodah Zara 20b). Also,
"The thoughts behind the sin are worse than the sin itself" (Yoma 29a).
We
see then that all of one's faculties must be clean of licentiousness and
anything relating to it.
Regarding
Separation
The
rationale of Separation is epitomized in the words of our Sages of blessed
memory, "Sanctify yourself through what is permitted to you" (Yevamot 20a).
This
is the meaning of the word separation - separating and withdrawing from
something that is permitted, as if it were forbidden. The intent is to keep
oneself from that which is forbidden. The understanding is that a person should
withdraw and separate himself from anything which might give rise to something
that could bring about evil, even though it does not bring it about at the
moment, and even though it is not evil in itself.
If
you look into the matter, you will perceive three different levels - 1) the
forbidden things themselves, 2) their fences (the edicts and safeguards that
our Sages of blessed memory made binding on all Israel), and 3) the withdrawals
that those committed to Separation must create for themselves by circumscribing
themselves and building fences for themselves; that is by abstaining from
things which were permitted, which were nor proscribed to all Israel, and
separating themselves from them so as to be far removed from evil.
Don't we have enough prohibitions?
One
might ask, "What basis is there for multiplying prohibitions? Have our Sages of
blessed memory not said, ‘Are the Torah's prohibitions not enough for you that
you come to create new prohibitions for yourself?' Have our Sages of blessed
memory in their great wisdom not seen what was necessary to forbid as a
safeguard; and they have not already forbidden it? And does it not follow then
that anything they did not prohibit, they felt should be permitted? Then why
should we now initiate edicts which they felt no need for?
What
is more, there is no limit to this. One would have to live in desolation and
affliction, deriving no enjoyment whatsoever from the world, whereas our Sages
of blessed memory have said that a man will have to give an accounting to the
Almighty for everything that his eyes beheld and he did not wish to eat, though
permitted and able to do so (Yerushalmi, Kiddushin, 4:12). They quoted
Scripture in their support, ‘Anything my eyes asked, I did not keep from them'"
(Kohelet, 2:10).
The answer to all of these
arguments is that Separation is certainly necessary and essential. Our Sages of blessed memory
exhorted us concerning it, explaining the Torah command "Be holy!" to mean,
"Separate yourselves!" (Sifre, Vayikra, 19:2)....
For
there is no worldly pleasure upon whose heels some sin does not follow. For
example, kosher food and drink are permitted, but over imbibing causes one to
put off the yoke of Heaven, and the drinking of wine brings in its wake
licentiousness and other evils....
There
is no question as to the permissibility of cohabitation with one's wife, but
still ablutions were instituted for those who had had seminal emissions, so
that scholars should not be constantly with their wives, like roosters. Even
though the act in itself is permissible, it plants in a person a lust for it
which might draw him on to what is forbidden; as our Sages of blessed memory
have said, "There is a small organ in a man which, when it is satiated,
hungers, and which, when it is made to hunger, is sated" (Sukkah 52b).
And
they said about Rabbi Eleazar that even in the proper hour and the correct
occasion, he would expose a hand-breath and conceal two hand-breaths, and
imagine that a demon were compelling him, in order to cancel out the feeling of
pleasure....
The
best way for a man to acquire Separation is to regard the inferior quality of
the pleasures of the world, both in point of their own insignificance and in
point of the great evils to which they are prone to give rise. For what
inclines one's nature to these pleasures to the extent that he requires so much
strength and scheming to separate himself from them is the gullibility of his
eyes, their tendency to be deceived by good and pleasing superficial
appearances.
It
was this deception that led to the commission of the first sin. As Scriptures
testifies: "And the woman saw that the
tree was good to eat from and that it was desirable to the eyes...and she took
of its fruit and ate" (Bereshit, 3:6). But when it becomes clear to a person
that this "good" is deceptive and illusive, that it has no healthy permanence,
and that it contains real evil, or is prone to give rise to it, he will
certainly come to despise and decline it. All that a man need teach his
intelligence then is to recognize the weakness and falseness of these pleasures
so that he will naturally come to despise them and find it not at all difficult
to spurn them....
What
one must be heedful of in the process of acquiring Separation is not to desire
to leap to its farthest reaches in one moment, for he will certainly not be
able to make such great strides. He should rather proceed in Separation, little
by little, acquiring a little today and adding a little more tomorrow, until he
is so habituated to it that it is second nature with him.
