[Avodah] 15 different fruits on Tu B'shvat

[Liron Kopinsky]

>  It reminds me of Rav Hirsch's visiting the Alps so
> that he'd be able to answer Hashem in the affirmative when asked about
> seeing His wonders.
>
> Mikha'el Makovi


This touches on an idea I've been having some trouble with.
Mesillat Yesharim, Chapter on Perishut
Even though it says
' (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 4:12) a man will have to give an accounting to the
Presence for everything that his eyes beheld and he did not wish to eat,
though permitted and able to do so. They adduced Scripture in their
support (Ecclesiastes
2:10), `Anything my eyes asked, I did not keep from them.' " '

the Ramchal still says that it is proper to abstain as much as possible from
all worldly pleasures:
' The undesirable type of separation is that of the foolish gentiles who
abstain not only from that which is not essential to them, but also from
that which is, punishing their bodies with strange forms of affliction that
God has no desire for. What is more, our Sages have said (Ta'anith 226), "A
person is forbidden to torture himself." '


This seems to suggest that the level of Perushut we should be striving for
is basically abstain from anything not absolutely necessary.

Does someone have a good explanation for how we understand this to fit in
with the quote above?

On a separate note, the quote about being asked about "everything that his
eyes beheld and he did not wish to eat" still doesn't seem to require
someone to go to the Alps. Since the Alps are not in front of me now and I
can't see them, I should not be required to use them. However, if someone
were to place a juicy steak in front of me, even if my general practice
might be to abstain from meat during the week, it would seem that I should
eat the steak as it is something I am currently beholding and would
otherwise be refusing to partake in Hashem's good.
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