The middah (concept/attribute) of gevurah brings a unique idea of ‘chumrah’ ‘stringency.’ In Jewish Law, one is permitted to abide by a stricter opinion even though the Law doesn’t necessarily require it.
A typical case may be that there are three opinions in Jewish Law about the status of a certain object; let’s say, for argument’s sake, the three opinions are “permitted, permitted under extenuating circumstances, and forbidden”, and the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, says to go with the middle opinion. In this case, then, the most “normative” opinion is that the item is permitted under extenuating circumstances, and most Shulchan Aruch-keeping Jews will follow this ruling*. Chumrah allows Jewish Law to permit one to treat the item as forbidden*, and be subject to the consequences (i.e. his pot will be un-kosher, she will have to treat certain foods as off-limits).
When one keeps such a chumrah, the point is not to bog one’s self down with extra religion. The point is to be careful with ones soul (the self-preservation aspect of gevurah) by fulfilling as many opinions as possible. This is an attempt to make sure that one fulfills the Law in the best way possible, and it is good for his or her soul (chesed-giving to the self). What I’m telling you is really a passage in the Talmud.
“Rebbe Yehoshua says, ‘I see the [stricter] words of Beis Shammai [as being correct].’
His students said to him, ‘Rebbe! [See] how you have extensively laid out [the Torah laws] upon us!’
He said to them, ‘It’s good that I extend them upon you in this world so that your days in the World to Come will be extended!’” (Niddah 16b)
People should take on stringencies when their goal is to help themselves earn extended time in the World to Come. They should do so not just to be restrictive or to feel extra religious, but out of genuine concern for their soul. When they do, it’s an act in line with the constructive concept of gevurah. People with the middah or gevurah are naturally in tune with chumrahs and often take them on in order to self-preserve.
*If it were only so simple. As usual, as your rabbi. Sometimes being strict is really being lenient or the wrong thing to do.
