על החוקים לפרטיהם, ספר ד ט״זOn the Special Laws, Book IV 16
א׳
1[95] All these it seems the most holy Moses observed and therefore discarded passion in general and detesting it, as most vile in itself and in its effects, denounced especially desire as a battery of destruction to the soul, which must be done away with or brought into obedience to the governance of reason, and then all things will be permeated through and through with peace and good order, those perfect forms of the good which bring the full perfection of happy living.
ב׳
2[96] And being a lover of conciseness and wont to abridge subjects of unlimited number by using an example as a lesson he takes one form of desire, that one whose field of activity is the belly, and admonishes and disciplines it as the first step, holding that the other forms will cease to run riot as before and will be restrained by having learnt that their senior and as it were the leader of their company is obedient to the laws of temperance.
ג׳
3[97] What then is the lesson which he takes as his first step? Two things stand out in importance, food and drink; to neither of these did he give full liberty but bridled them with ordinances most conducive to self-restraint and humanity and what is chief of all, piety.
ד׳
4[98] For he bids them to take samples of their corn, wine, oil and live-stock and the rest as first fruits, and apportion them for sacrifices and for gifts to the officiating priests: for sacrifices, to give thanks for the fertility of their flocks and fields; to the priests, in recognition of the ministry of the temple that they may receive a reward for their services in the holy rites.
ה׳
5[99] No one is permitted in any way to taste or take any part of his fruits until he has set apart the first fruits, a rule which also serves to give practice in the self-restraint which is most profitable to life. For he who has learnt not to rush to seize the abundant gifts which the seasons of the year have brought, but waits till the first fruits have been consecrated, clearly allays passion and thus curbs the restiveness of the appetites.