Is It Better Not to Enjoy This World?

Hello. If a person goes on a trip to see rivers or landscapes, does this reduce their merits? Since this is also spiritual enjoyment, does the Torah say that a person should greatly reduce their pleasures in this world and avoid going on trips, etc., because it would affect their merits? Or if someone listens to music, which is also a spiritual enjoyment, or plays music, does it actually significantly reduce their merits because they experience spiritual enjoyment? So, according to the Torah, should a person generally reduce their enjoyments, potentially becoming depressed? Thanks for any answers.

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Hello and blessings,

Hashem created beauty, smell, and taste in the world so we may enjoy them and be strengthened by them. Therefore, Judaism does not oppose enjoying this world. As our sages said:"In the future, a person will have to give an account before the Omnipresent for everything their eyes saw and they did not wish to partake of, even if it was permissible and they could have, as it is written in Ecclesiastes 2: 'And all my eyes desired I did not deny them'." (Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin 4).

The phrase "reduce their merits" refers only to instances where a person experiences a special rescue. Hence, our sages said it is forbidden to rely on a miracle.

It should be known that physical enjoyment can even serve as a stepping-stone to spiritual achievements. If the enjoyment is positive - it not only does not reduce merits, but it actually adds merits to a person!

For example, if you eat and drink to be healthy and have the strength to fulfill the will of the Creator, you are performing a mitzvah. Also, when you listen to music, if you know you do this also to calm your soul and bring joy to yourself - so that you can later study Torah and perform mitzvot with joy - then you have turned this enjoyment into a positive one. Similarly, if you enjoy wonderful tastes and scents and bless them with the intention to thank the Creator for His wonderful world - you are performing a mitzvah.

This is how the Rambam explained this sublime purpose (Laws of Character Traits, Chapter 3):

"A person must direct all his actions to knowing the Blessed Name alone; and his sitting, rising, and speech should all be aimed at this goal... Similarly, when one eats, drinks, and engages, he should not pay attention to perform these actions merely to enjoy; rather he should direct his heart to eat and drink to strengthen his body and members only... If one follows this path all his life, he serves Hashem continually, even while engaging in business, and even while engaged physically - because his thoughts in everything are towards meeting his needs so that his body will be whole to serve Hashem"

Even when you gaze upon beautiful fields and orchards to internally praise the Creator who created them in His great wisdom and love - it is praise and thanks, to increase your love for the Creator, and there is a great mitzvah and moral benefit in this. As the Rambam writes in the Laws of the Fundamentals of Torah (Chapter 2): "How does one come to love and awe of Him? When a person contemplates His works and His wondrous, great creations and sees in them His wisdom which is limitless, immediately he loves, praises, glorifies, and desires greatly to know the Great Name, as King David said 'My soul thirsts for Hashem, for the living G-d'"

However, a person who eats and drinks solely for personal enjoyment, chasing honor and desires, and everything is solely for a selfish purpose that does not acknowledge any good to the Creator of the world, there is a negative attribute in this, as well as a lack of spiritual benefit and ingratitude. But when a person recognizes their Creator, thanks Him for his pleasures, and acknowledges the most important things in life - the Torah and the commandments - then the enjoyments of this world can even advance them and count as merits.

Blessings,

Daniel Beles