Even a Lighter Prohibition Reaches Everywhere
Examining whether the ban on new grain applies outside Eretz Yisroel, he concluded that even if it is only rabbinic, it was decreed for every place.
In his treatise on chadash, the Shaagas Aryeh takes up an old question: does the prohibition of eating new grain before the Omer apply outside Eretz Yisroel? The Gemara in Kiddushin records Rav Eliezer's view that it does, and the Rif and the Rosh rule accordingly, resting on a mishnah in Orlah. He tests that proof and weighs the view of Rabbeinu Baruch, who would permit grain grown by a Jew far from Eretz Yisroel. Then he works through the sugya line by line, checking each reading against the other passages. His closing conclusion is plain. Even if the prohibition abroad is only rabbinic, the Sages made it binding in every place, including lands far from Eretz Yisroel. He did not decide by custom or by convenience. He followed the text where it led. Tradition adds that in his poverty he carried his own groats and a small pot, and asked his hosts to let him cook for himself.
Source: Shaagas Aryeh, Dinei Chadash 1:1-4
The Shaagas Aryeh did not follow a stringency for show. He studied the matter until he was convinced, and then he lived it, even in his poverty. Choose one commitment this week that you already believe in but keep only halfway, such as a set time for learning, a daily blessing said with attention, or a limit on your phone. Look at it honestly, decide what keeping it fully would look like, and begin today, quietly and without announcing it.