DEUT1456 We must guard ourselves against our weaknesses. The Rabbis advise us to "make a fence around the Torah" (The Ethics of the Fathers 1:1). A fence protects a garden from being violated. This admonition is often applied to matters of Jewish ritual law. Thus, because the Torah forbids lighting a fire on the Sabbath, later Jewish law also forbids even holding a match on Shabbat, since doing so increases the chance that we will use it and violate the holy day of rest. Once we have identified our weaknesses, we should refrain not only from the forbidden activity itself, but also from any behavior that may cause us to engage in it. For example, a married man attracted to a woman other than his wife should not allow himself to be alone in a closed room with her. [According to traditional Jewish law, halacha, a man should not be alone in a closed room with a woman with whom he is forbidden to have relations (unless it is an immediate relative)]. Had this advice been followed some years ago by an American president who had a proclivity for inappropriate extramarital behavior, it would have saved him from behavior that humiliated him and his family, and almost cost him the presidency. Regarding the temptation to deceive, the Torah not only prohibits using false weights and measures, but outlaws having them in our possession. The assumption is that their presence will tempt us to use them (just as having a marked deck of cards can tempt a gambler). Therefore we must destroy them "so that they do not become a snare" (Sefer Charedim, number 97; this and previous verse]. What fences do you need to erect?