Perishut

Perishut is a Hebrew term for separation from the world.

Quotes

• The principal safeguard is seclusion, that you should not, God forbid, leave the house, save for some exceedingly great need. ... And even in the synagogue you should be very short and leave quickly. It is better to pray at home, for in the synagogue it is impossible to be saved from envy, and from hearing vain talk and gossip, and one is punished for this.
  • Vilna Gaon, Alim li-Terufa as cited in "Separation from the Worldly (Perishut)".

• Just to confess the Lord with our mouth and say, "I have believed in the Lord today," is not enough for a testimony. We must come out from the world and be separated.
  • Watchman Nee, Separation from the World, p. 4.

• To determine whether a man is indeed a prophet, one must consider whether he has been following the way of "holiness" (qedushah) and "separation" (perishut). A prophet separates himself from the vanities and the intrigues of the times and "from the general ways of the people, who walk in the darkness of the time." The path of holiness, like the "way of the wise men," is a preparation for theoria. The prophet trains himself to keep his mind completely clear of vain and empty matters, so that he may apprehend the holy and pure spheres.
  • Raymond L. Weiss, Maimonides' Ethics: The Encounter of Philosophic and Religious Morality (University of Chicago Press: 1991), p. 153.

See also

• Seclusion
• Separation