24. Why should one distance oneself from spiritual approaches like becoming a Nazir and separating oneself from worldly/mundane matters?
Until the Torah was given, it was decreed that “The Heavens are heavens for the Lord.” This meant that ‘Heaven’ represented spirituality, and ‘Earth’ represented physicality. The two entities were separate and could not be connected.
Therefore, someone who wished to achieve a spiritual ascent and connect to the source of holiness, of necessity had to disconnect himself as much as possible from everything physical. The Patriarchs and the tribes were shepherds and therefore were able to spend their time in solitude and spiritual contemplation, far from worldly and material matters. Although the Patriarchs performed the Mitzvot, it was on a spiritual level, not in a way that changed the nature of the physical environment.
The giving of the Torah changed the world: “And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai.” The Holy One Blessed-be-He ‘came down’ and exuded Holiness—His Divine Presence—into the physical world, thus making it possible to connect and unite the upper and lower worlds. The Mitzvot that we were commanded at the Giving of the Torah have the unique ability to allow holiness to penetrate into physical objects. In this way, the skin of an animal can become a holy object like Tefillin (phylacteries) or a Mezuzah.
So, since the Giving of the Torah, the true connection to spirituality or holiness is not through spiritual approaches that involve removing oneself from the physical world, but through living a Jewish lifestyle within the limitations of the physical world, and imbuing it with holiness through keeping Torah and Mitzvot.,