Hello Everyone,
Welcome back to the shiurim on חובות הלבבות.
Today we began the study of the ninth section of חובות הלבבות which discusses פרישות which I translate as “asceticism.” Whether or not there is a place for asceticism in Jewish practice is an important question. Statements from Chazal for and against asceticism can easily be found. It does not seem far-fetched to me to say that much of the tension that exists between the various factions of Orthodox Jewry reflects attitudes towards ascetic behavior.
Rabbeinu Bachya opens his discussion of asceticism by explaining the need for asceticism in society[1]. We were placed by God in this world to earn a place in the world to come. We earn a place in the world to come by resisting the temptation to pursue the pleasures of this world and by focusing instead on the activities which lead to spiritual development. Humans, Rabbeinu Bachya explains, are hybrid creatures. Every human possesses a body which has needs particular to it and a soul with needs particular to it. The body has no interest in meeting the needs of the soul and likewise the soul has no interest in meeting the needs of the body. It is the task of the intellect[2] to manage the earthly affairs of the human in the wisest possible fashion. This means that the body receives what it needs to maintain its health while the soul is allowed to pursue spiritual development.
Ideally the intellect would rule over the hybrid organism which is the human being, but unfortunately, what usually happens is that the drive for pleasure[3] overrules the intellect and people sink into lives of over-indulgence.
This is why every society needs people who lead lives of asceticism. It is hoped that these people who have chosen not to pursue pleasures will inspire their neighbors to restore the balance to their lives which would allow their spiritual sides to develop. Rabbeinu Bachya points out that it would not be desirable or even possible for an entire society to practice asceticism/פרישות since such a society would not be sustainable. Ascetics refrain not only from over-indulgence but from all normal activities. They do not engage in trade nor do they marry and have children. Society needs people who engage in the labors necessary for its existence. We need not only saints, but farmers as well.
Rabbeinu Bachya seems to believe that ascetics are incapable of engaging in mundane activities. He does not explain how he came to this conclusion; perhaps he arrived at it by observing Christian monastic communities. Be that as it may, he was certainly aware of an interesting passage in masechet Yoma which touches upon this idea.[4]
The Gemara tells a story that shortly after the Jews returned to Israel from exile in Babylonia they prayed to God that he should do away with the desire to worship idols. They feared that if this unbeatable desire is not done away with, they would succumb to it and be exiled again. Hashem received their prayer and allowed this particular desire to be destroyed. After the success of this endeavor the Jews decided to ask Hashem to allow them to do away with the desire for sexual promiscuity. Hashem accepted this request as well and handed this particular desire over to the sages as well.
But this development worried the sages. They were worried that the destruction of this desire would lead to the end of life on Earth. They chose to perform a test. The sages locked away the desire for promiscuity for three days. At the end of the three days they did a survey and discovered that there were not even any freshly laid eggs to be found. They chose to blind this desire instead of killing it.
I mentioned in footnote number 3 that apparently Rabbeinu Bachya does not refer to desire as “evil” or what Chazal refer to as the יצר הרע. As humans we have needs which need to be met. We need to support our bodies and we need to develop our souls. There is nothing evil about eating, working or engaging in sexual activity. Apparently our souls are not interested in these activities, and that is why all sexual behavior stopped as soon as the desire for it was locked away. But that does not mean that sexual activity is evil. Non-Jewish ascetics do not understand this idea (and keep in mind that this chapter of Chovot Halevavot deals with asceticism for society as a whole as opposed to asceticism for the Jewish people) and this is why non-Jewish ascetics go to extreme lengths and abstain from all mundane activity. Judaism on the other hand teaches that desires need to be channeled and managed so that we can use them to serve Hashem. Rabbeinu Bachya ends this chapter with a quotations from Kohelet:
קהלת פרק ג פסוק יא
אֶת הַכֹּל עָשָׂה יָפֶה בְעִתּוֹ…
קהלת פרק ג פסוק א
לַכֹּל זְמָן וְעֵת לְכָל חֵפֶץ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם:
Thanks to everyone who attended the shiur yesterday. Stuart Fischman
[1] As opposed to the role of asceticism in Judaism
[2] This is the translation of the word שכל which appears in the Hebrew translations of Rabbeinu Bachya who wrote in Judeo-Arabic.
[3] I think that it worth noting that the translators of חבות הלבבות do not use the phrase יצר הרע (“Evil Inclination”) to name this desire for pleasure. They use more neutral words such יצר or כח תאוה. I will return to this point in the main text.
[4] Yoma 69b. Rabbeinu Bachya makes sparing use of Chazal in Chovot Halevavot. This may be due to a wish to demonstrate that the Jewish ethical/philosophical system is founded upon logic and not only on received dogma.