וְלֹא תָסוּר מִכָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים לְעָבְדָם: (כח, יד)
And do not turn away from any of the words that I command you this day, right or left, to follow the gods of others, to worship them. (28:14)
In the viduy that Rabbeinu Nissim composed (which is said in the seder “Yom Kippur Katan”), it is mentioned among other things: “That which You permitted I prohibited.” Meaning, there is place to confess for having been stringent in matters that the Torah permitted.
At first, when reflecting on these words, astonishment is aroused, for even if we need not be stringent and abstain from what is permitted, we are not sinning when we are stringent, so why should we confess for this?
However, when looking deeply into the recesses of the soul, we can find an answer to this matter. For behold, when a person fulfills with integrity the words of the Shulchan Aruch without being stringent beyond its words, he demonstrates thereby that he is a kosher person, and all his ways are for the sake of Heaven, and therefore he acts according to the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch and fulfills what Hashem Yisbarach desires of him. But one who seeks to be stringent beyond its words – it may be that he too is among the kosher, and his stringencies come from an added fear that resides in his heart. Yet there is also room to say that his stringencies are not the result of fear, but nothing other than the counsel of the yetzer, which entices him to pride himself that he is a ‘machmir’ - “stringent”... And if this is the case, aside from the fact that his stringencies themselves are considered sins, the statement of Chazal (Avos 4:2) “One sin draws another sin” will be fulfilled in him, and these stringencies will bring in their wake further sins, for since his stringencies do not come from fear, he will act upon them also in circumstances where they will lead to stumbling. And it is well understood why he is obligated to repent for them...
Even a wise man and a true G-d-fearing person, who is separate and removed from any trace of arrogance and pride, and knows in himself that his stringencies come only from a strong desire to give pleasure to his Creator, still cannot be certain that this is indeed the will of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and he must examine well whether these stringencies could bring him to stumbling. For one of the stratagems of the yetzer is to entice a person that he must show piety with his Creator in a place where it is not appropriate, understanding that in the end a stumbling will come forth from his piety. And primarily he tries this with the righteous and the G-d-fearing, understanding that these he will not succeed in enticing to an outright sin.
And like that incident that was with the Chafetz Chaim zy”a who was strict with the students of his yeshiva in Radin that they should go to sleep at ten o’clock at night, in order that they should complete the hours of sleep required for them, and that their minds should be settled upon them and they should be able to serve their Creator properly on the morrow. And the Chafetz Chaim himself would urge the young men to go up to their beds, and he would extinguish the light burning in the hall of the yeshiva to ensure that no boys would remain trying to outsmart his will.
However, there were some boys who mistakenly thought that their judgment was better than the judgment of the Chafetz Chaim, and they imagined to themselves that they did not need so many hours of sleep and could still apply themselves to their learning another hour or two or more. And these also did so: after the Chafetz Chaim went his way, they arose from their beds and returned to the Bais Medrash of the yeshiva and again lit up the hall and returned to their learning.
They behaved thus for a long period, until one day the Chafetz Chaim noticed the matter, and he too returned to the Bais Medrash of the yeshiva to instruct those boys to obey his command, and with no choice they returned to their beds. However, there were some for whom the “yetzer of piety” had still not ceased, and again they returned as before to the Gemara, and they did not know that the Chafetz Chaim also recognized the nature of that “yetzer” and did not imagine that he would appear again to rebuke them. But so it was, the Chafetz Chaim appeared a third time to ensure that all were obeying his command, and when he again found those “wise ones” bent over their books, he opened and said: “My dear students, perhaps you think that my will is that you should not engage in Torah, chalilah?! Know that it is an error in your hands! On the contrary, only your good and your Torah do I seek! And I will explain to you my actions.
Behold, how could the yetzer gain any foothold among the boys of the yeshiva of Radin, who are immersed only in the world of Torah? Would he come and say to them not to learn? He knows that the students of the yeshiva would not obey him. But since he has a mission to divert human beings from uprightness, therefore the yetzer found an invention to entice the students toward “extremes,” to entice them to add more and more hours to their Torah learning. In this way he ensures his success, knowing that the strength of the boys will not sustain them, and they will thereby ultimately turn into the sick in body and soul, Rachmana litzlan, and the matter will mark them for all their lives, for they will need to struggle with their weaknesses, and they will no longer be able to persevere in their learning as is proper. And here the Chafetz Chaim ended his words, saying: Shall we assist him to destroy us?!”
Behold from this incident, that even one who wants to be stringent must be exceedingly wise in order to know whether his stringencies are kept by their owner for his harm, chalilah. And it is better therefore that he not pursue them, and he should do only according to the counsel of the Shulchan Aruch, for only one who takes as a rule not to deviate from what is ruled in the Shulchan Aruch merits superior protection, for he will always have an answer in his mouth against the claims of the yetzer hara, for thus he will say to him: I do not turn aside from what is stated in the Shulchan Aruch, neither to leniency nor to stringency...
This is the point to which Rabbeinu Nissim alluded in the words “That which You permitted I prohibited” in the wording of his confession, that “whoever adds, diminishes.” It is indeed true that now he is “stringent” and “beautifying,” but as the days pass his stringencies and his adornments will exact their cost, and who knows what price he will need to pay for them. And since this is so, certainly his stringencies are not desirable to the Creator, and he must confess and repent for them.
The Torah before us alluded to this matter, that after it said, “And you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day,” it added “right or left,” to teach that even if it seems to you that the yetzer is not in the category of “sin,” but is nothing other than a stringency – an aspect of “right” – nevertheless be careful of this. And why? The answer is: “or left”! That is to say, when it says “right and left,” its intention is certainly “right or left,” for one whose inclination is to the right, his inclination is not to the left, and one whose inclination is to the left, his inclination is not to the right. So it cannot be interpreted literally that the deviation is both to the right and to the left. And why then did it write “right and left” with a vav of addition? To teach that from the fact that you incline to the right, you will ultimately incline to the left – that it is a stringency that leads to leniency...
