<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> It reminds me of Rav Hirsch's visiting the Alps so<br>that he'd be able to answer Hashem in the affirmative when asked about
<br>seeing His wonders.<br><br>Mikha'el Makovi</blockquote><div><br>This touches on an idea I've been having some trouble with.<br>Mesillat Yesharim, Chapter on Perishut <br>Even though it says <br><font size="2">
' </font><font size="2">(Yerushalmi Kiddushin 4:12) </font><font size="2">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 </font><font size="2">(Ecclesiastes 2:10), </font><font size="2">`Anything my eyes asked, I did not keep from them.' " '<br><br>the Ramchal still says that it is proper to abstain as much as possible from all worldly pleasures:
<br></font><font size="2">' 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 </font><font size="2">(Ta'anith 226), </font><font size="2">"A person is forbidden to torture himself." '</font><br><br><br>This seems to suggest that the level of Perushut we should be striving for is basically abstain from anything not absolutely necessary.
<br><br>Does someone have a good explanation for how we understand this to fit in with the quote above?<br><br>On a separate note, the quote about being asked about "<font size="2">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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