חלא בר חמראVinegar, Son of Wine

ḥala bar ḥamraIn Gamatria ↗

The law sets the floor; the separate person raises his own.

Separation has three branches. In pleasures, take only what need compels, in food, intimacy, clothing and outings, except when delight is itself a mitzvah. In law, lean to stringency, and heed even a lone dissenting view if its reasoning holds. The Talmud reads Ezekiel's claim to purity as meaning he never ate from an animal a sage had to rule permitted. Mar Ukva called himself 'vinegar son of wine': his father waited a full day between meat and cheese, while he waited only until the next meal. The law did not follow his father; his father was simply more separate. In conduct, seek solitude to free the heart for service, but not to the extreme. Keep good company as study and livelihood require, then withdraw. Speak little.

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