Asceticism — Baba Batra 60b — #20

It is taught that R. Yishmael b. Elisha said: Since the day of the destruction of the Temple, we should by rights bind ourselves to eat no meat and drink no wine. However, we may impose no hardship on the community unless the majority can endure it. And from the day that a foreign government has come into power that issues cruel decrees against us and forbids us to observe the Torah and its precepts, and does not allow us to enter into the brit milah [circumcision]—some say pidyon ha-ben [redemption of the firstborn son]—we ought by rights to bind ourselves not to marry nor to beget children. But the result would be that the seed of our father Abraham would of itself come to an end. Rather, let Israel go their way. It is better that they should err in ignorance than in presumptuousness.

INTRODUCTION
Religious people are sometimes drawn to asceticism. The word “asceticism” means “training” or “exercise.” In practice, it is most often abstinence from worldly pleasures in order to devote oneself entirely to religious/spiritual pursuits. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam have long featured strains of asceticism and expressed admiration for those who withdraw from the world of material acquisition and sensual pleasure, devoting themselves to prayer, meditation, and study. Judaism, however, has consistently rejected asceticism as a religious practice, considering it a sign of ingratitude to God for the gifts and pleasures of life that God makes available to us. The Jerusalem Talmud (Kiddushin 4:12) goes so far as to say that after we die, when we appear before the throne of God in heaven for judgment, we will be compelled to account for every licit earthly pleasure we denied ourselves.

When one is in mourning, however, it is customary to avoid vanity and physical pleasure. During Shiva, some do this by abstaining from bathing and sexual relations. They sit on low stools. For many months they eschew parties and entertainment. In the aftermath of the Destruction of the Second Temple, the customs of mourning and the pull of asceticism became intertwined. In tractate Baba Batra we are told: “When the Second Temple was destroyed, large numbers in Israel became ascetics, binding themselves neither to eat meat nor to drink wine.” Talmud records a famous conversation that purportedly took place between these people and R. Yehoshua b. Chanina. The ascetics tell R. Yehoshua that it would be inappropriate to consume meat and wine since they were formerly brought as offerings to the Temple. He replies that if that is the case, they should also abstain from bread, fruit, and even water, all of which were integral to various sacrifices and rites. R. Yehoshua concludes, “My children, come and let me advise you. Not too mourn at all is impossible, because the decree that the Temple be destroyed has been executed. But to mourn too much is also impossible, because we may not impose a hardship on the community unless the majority can endure it.”

Do we serve God best by abstaining from the pleasures of life, or by taking pleasure in life?

COMMENTARY
Our passage is found on the same page of Talmud, following R. Yehoshua’s conversation with those who were practicing asceticism. R. Yishmael b. Elisha was a High Priest, amplifying the weight and impact of his teaching: If one who was the High Priest expresses the opinion that extreme mourning, in the form of asceticism, is wrong, what authority figure would promote it as appropriate? R. Yehoshua speaks about excessive mourning, but R. Yishmael goes further. He points out that given the cruelties imposed by Rome and the strictures the government had placed on the Jewish community, extreme mourning actually plays right into their hand, supporting their effort to eradicate Judaism. If the thinking of the ascetics is taken to its logical conclusion, the Roman prohibition against brit milah (circumcision) and pidyon ha-ben (redemption of the firstborn son) would suggest: if we can’t circumcise and redeem our children properly, then we shouldn’t marry and have children. That path leads to annihilation. R. Yishmael’s point is that this would be self-annihilation.

R. Yishmael doesn’t stop there. Exhorting Jews to continue living their lives, he says it is better to err inadvertently (if, indeed, there is any justification for asceticism) than to err out of presumptuousness. He adds this idea: Asceticism does not affirm life; it is an exercise in holier-than-thou. With this comment, R. Yishmael sets the standard for Jewish thinking thereafter: Asceticism is not righteous behavior; it is self-righteous behavior. A practice supposedly about mourning and humility turns out to be about religious hubris.

R. Yishmael implicitly says even more. The logic of asceticism has no end. In renouncing the world and its pleasures, one gives the Romans power over one’s thinking and values to the extent that, in the end, one renounces God’s priorities: marriage, children, community, joy, pleasure.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AND DISCUSS

1. Have you ever been tempted by asceticism? If so, what value does it hold for you? If not, why not?
2. On the basis of R. Yehoshua’s teaching, the Sages ordained the following: “A man may plaster his house, but he should leave a small space uncovered [unfinished, in remembrance of the Destruction of the Temple]. A man who is preparing all that is needed for a feast should leave out some small ingredient. And if a woman is putting on all her jewelry, she must omit one piece.” Why do you think they promulgated this decree?  How does this satisfy the tendency toward visible mourning while keeping it in check?
3. The early Hasidim taught that our joy pleases God. R. Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (1920-1943), the Warsaw Ghetto rebbe, believed that the physical pleasures of an embodied existence can be marshaled to serve God; hence, he sought holiness in the pleasures of life. For example: alcohol can be a catalyst for avodat Adonai (worship of God) if one directs one’s experience “heavenward.” How might you incorporate this thinking into your own life?