קדש עצמך במתר לךHoly Within the Permitted

kaddesh 'atzmekha ba-mutar lakhIn Gamatria ↗

Stay far while you are still far; build your own fence.

Separation, Luzzatto says, is where piety begins. What came before makes a person righteous; from here he aims to be pious. Its rule is the Talmud's 'sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you' (Yevamot 20a). There are three tiers: the prohibitions, the Sages' fences for all Israel, and the private fences a separate person builds by giving up things that are allowed. Is what the Torah forbade not enough? Luzzatto answers that nearly every worldly pleasure drags a sin behind it. A man used to a rich table works himself into cheating and false oaths to keep it set, and drops Torah and prayer. Fine clothes breed pride; idle talk breeds slander. So stay far while you are still far, since the impulse is hardest to beat once you are inside the act.

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