„The truth is that the middle path is the path of a happy life, fittin…”

At the beginning of his remarks on asceticism and its importance, Rav Kook opens with a sentence that is important to keep before our eyes: the path fitting for the multitude is the path of a happy life. Judaism commands us to cleave to life - to be people who enjoy the labor of their hands, their study, and their success. There is a place in Judaism for asceticism too. Last Shabbat we read about the Nazirite, and there are times when abstinence or asceticism is called for. But in everyday living, this is not the path of life. Even the Nazirite brings an offering for his abstention from life, and there is a lesson in this for the generations: choose life!