Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

The need for special abstinence
It is necessary for adherents to the Torah to practice abstinence, since the Torah’s aim is to enable the intellect to rule and prevail over all selfish desires. It is known that the predominance of desire over intellect is the beginning of all sin and the source of all disgrace.
People incline toward [this] world only after they stray from the faith. Base instinct entices them to forsake the redemptive world [of reason and faith] and turns them aside from the way of their forefathers, which was the way of worldly contentment, meeting basic needs, and taking from the world only what is necessary.
The instinct attracts them to an indulgent lifestyle and a pursuit of wealth, enamoring them of this world’s luxury and prominence, until finally they sink in the depths of its sea, forced to face the crush of its waves. The [material] world rules them, stopping up their ears and closing their eyes. There is not one among them who occupies himself with anything but his own pleasure — whenever he can attain it and the opportunity presents itself. [Pleasure] becomes his law and religion, driving him away from God. As it says, “Your own wickedness will punish you, your own sins will rebuke you…” (Yirmeyahu 2:19).
Then there are those among them who are denied their pleasure, yet their mind is always on it and their soul pines for it, hankers after it, and constantly seeks it, day and night, as it says: “While on his bed he thinks evil thoughts; he sets himself on a way that is not good” (Tehillim 36:5).
All their years they are mired in matters of this world, precluded from attaining the good that is in it, too weary to attain it. They are losers in the transaction they have concluded and diminish their own souls. They choose evil, ignorant of the value of what they give up and of what they receive in its stead, as it says: “They exchanged their Glory for the image of a bull that eats grass” (ibid. 106:20).
The demands of a growing addiction and the pressures of a debilitating materialism preoccupy their minds incessantly with ever-new worldly distractions, entrenching this world’s strivings in their hearts. The closer they get, the more distant they become; the further they draw away from the light of truth from which they have withdrawn, the stronger their bond with base instinct, their intimate.
In this way, the darkness grows thicker about them. This world looms large in their hearts, its excellence enchanting them. They develop this world at the expense of their minds; the more the world is developed, the more their minds are wasted, until finally they consider the evil way of the world good, the crooked way straight. They even make it the rule and ideal.
Parents bequeath [these values] to their children, raising their offspring by them. The masses are charged [to live] by them; their princes vie over them. In the end, the [evil] instinct is firmly established among them. Their homes are filled with emptiness. What used to be considered strange in the world seems acceptable to them, and the right way appears foreign to them. To be content without luxuries is considered a failure of duty.
Each one does what he sees his neighbor doing. He who takes from this world only what is sufficient for his needs is called an idler; he who neglects to increase his holdings is considered derelict. One who is content with an adequate livelihood is thought weak; one who is wholly engrossed in worldly gain is thought industrious.
Drawing their pride and esteem from this world, for its sake they join together, or become hostile, or reconcile; for its rewards they make their bellies their god, their clothing their religion, improvement of their dwellings their ideal.
Astray in the depths of ignorance, moving monotonously in a lifeless routine, laden with burdens of selfish desires, they expect [to receive] the reward of the obedient for acts of disobedience, [to attain] the high degree of saints for wicked conduct. As our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “They act like Zimri and expect a reward like that of Pinchas” (Sotah 22b).
2. What defines special abstinence, and why is it necessary for the adherents to the Torah?
The Sages differ as to its definition. One says that abstinence [means] renunciation of anything that keeps one from God.
Another says: abstinence [means] abhorring the [physical] world and limiting desires.
Another says: abstinence [means] tranquillity of the soul and denial of its aspirations for comfort.
Another says: abstinence [means] reliance on God.
Another says: abstinence [means] limiting oneself to very basic clothing and to only enough food to relieve one’s hunger, and spurning anything beyond this.
Another says: abstinence [means] renouncing love of the creatures and loving solitude.
Another says: abstinence [means] thanksgiving for favor and bearing trials patiently.
Another says: abstinence [means] denying oneself all comforts and physical pleasures except the natural needs without which one could not [continue to] exist, and drawing the soul away from anything beyond this. This definition is more in accord with the abstinence taught in our Torah than are the other definitions that we mentioned.
counter it with the special abstinence defined at the beginning of this chapter. Employing it, they could stand up to the instinct, until [abstinence] restored them to the right path of the Torah, which is essential to the religion and to the world.
Hence, it became necessary that there be, among the adherents to the Torah, select individuals who would be the bearers of this special abstinence and assume its conditions. Their [example of] abstinence would then assist the adherents to the Torah when their hearts and traits inclined to low desires under the influence of the instinct. They would serve as physicians of religion and of the souls, healing them when they strayed from honorable traits to those that lead to shame, when their evil instincts overcame their minds, when worldly excesses distracted them from the things vital to their faith.
If an individual who is sick in his faith or an afflicted soul who is beset with doubts comes to them, they will hasten to cure him by the true wisdom that is in their possession. If it is one who runs away from God’s service, they will bring him back to it and encourage him. If it is one who is weighed down by his sins, they will reassure him that, when he repents of them, God will forgive him. If one who has forgotten God comes to them, they will remind him. If it is a righteous man, they will strengthen him; one who loves God, they will love him; one who lauds God’s power, they will laud him. If a person sins, they will implore him to repent immediately. If one is ill, they will visit him. If they have more than is needed of worldly possessions, they will give of them to [the needy]. If someone suffers misfortune, they will come to his assistance.
They [function] in the world like the sun, which spreads its light throughout the universe, above and below

Concluding Summary: Knowledge as the Foundation of Abstinence
An ignorant person—one who has not studied the ways of the Torah and has not grasped the path of God—cannot fully embrace the importance of abstinence. This is not a moral insult but a structural reality. Abstinence is not an instinctive trait; it is a disciplined response grounded in understanding. Just as physical strength cannot be developed without knowledge of exercise and consistent training, self-restraint cannot exist without clarity of purpose and direction.
Where understanding is absent, desire fills the vacuum. A person who does not know why restraint matters has no internal reason to resist temptation. When presented with many choices, such a person does not exercise freedom; he experiences confusion. He moves from impulse to impulse, not because he desires evil, but because he lacks a framework through which to judge what is worthy and what is harmful. Choice without wisdom does not lead to control—it leads to paralysis and excess.
The Torah therefore places abstinence after knowledge, not before it. One must first understand the purpose of life, the nature of the soul, and the danger of unchecked desire. Only then can restraint become a positive force rather than an arbitrary burden. Without this foundation, attempts at self-control collapse under pressure, and indulgence is rationalized as necessity.
This is why societies that glorify choice while neglecting wisdom produce individuals who are perpetually restless, dissatisfied, and morally uncertain. Abstinence requires vision. Where there is ignorance, there can be no enduring discipline—only momentary restraint followed by inevitable surrender.