BS”D
ARTICULATION
AND
AMAZEMENT: PARSHAT NASO
Shira
Smiles shiur 2021/5781
Adapted
by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat
Naso contains the enigmatic laws of a nazir, one who
has vowed to
abstain from wine, hair cutting, and several other normal and usual
life
practices. The Torah writes, “A man or a woman who yafli
neder/will
dissociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow… For the sake of
Hashem kodesh
yihiyeh/he shall be holy… And on the eighth day
[when the term of his Nazirite
has ended], he shall bring two turtledoves to the Kohen… The
Kohen shall take
one as a sin offering and he shall provide him atonement for having
sinned
regarding this person…”
The
word yafli, while being translated as
“disassociating himself” actually
has undertones of other meanings. It can mean to articulate [the vow
which
follows], as in pillel/tefillah/speaking to Hashem
in prayer. It can
also mean wondrous, as we recite in Asher Yotzar,
that Hashem mafli
la’asot/performs wonders by healing our bodies. How
are these alternate
translations relevant to the vow of a nazir?
Rav
Reiss presents us with the simplest understanding of our verse. He
quotes the
idea that the vow of the nazir must be clearly
articulated, leaving no
room for misunderstanding or half measures. Similarly, when any one of
us
decides to take on a stringency, we must clearly articulate exactly
what we are
requiring of ourselves so that we can both focus properly and leave no
room for
excuses.
Still
focusing on speech, Rabbi Weinberger in Shemen Hatov
turns our attention
to the wondrous power of speech that can invest an ordinary man with
such
sanctity. The medium of speech creates that reality. [As Hashem created
the
reality of the world through speech, so can we emulate Him and create
additional realities through our own speech. Be vigilant. It works both
for
good and bad. CKS] Halekach Vehalebuv explains that
the Priestly
Blessing immediately follows this section to emphasize how the power of
speech
transforms reality and brings down Heavenly blessings.
Letitcha
Elyon
cites Rabbi Hutner in clarifying the wondrous power of speech. As
Hashem has
incorporated within man both a physical and a spiritual aspect, the
body and
the soul, so can we, with the action and power of speech, connect the
body to
the soul. With this understanding, we realize how terrible are sins
that use
speech improperly.
In
With Hearts Full of Faith, Rabbi Salomon develops
this idea more fully.
Using contrasting verses from Song of Songs and from Jeremiah
– “Her voice is
beloved for it is sweet,” yet in contrast, “Hateful
when she raises it [her
voice] against me.” More well known is the verse from
Proverbs, “Death and life
are in the control of the tongue…” The wonder is
that a few simple words have
the ability to change a halacha or declare someone
a nazir. We
are urged to use speech to bring sanctity to the world.
Rabbi
Grosbard quotes the Iben Ezra who approaches our discussion from a
different
perspective. He suggests that the wonder is that a person can change
his whole
world order by separating himself from his normal or usual pleasures.,
that a
person can teach himself restraint. As the Ner Uziel
explains, by taking
this vow, the nazir’s purpose in
separating himself from following the
crowd is to achieve a higher level of sanctity.
When
one wants to reach a higher level, it is not enough just to leap
upward. If
there is no step or handle to grab at that level, he will immediately
fall back
down to his original position. Rabbi Pincus, the Tiferes
Shimshom,
suggests that the vow of nezirut provides the
support he needs so that
he can raise himself up to the next dimension.
Lest
one think that these laws are completely esoteric and have no relevance
for us
today, Rebbetzin Smiles reminds us that we are all tied down to various
personal pleasures that constrain us. For example, how many of us say
we can’t
get started without our first cup of coffee in the morning? How often
do we
feel compelled to check our electronic messages? [In this respect,
perhaps
Shabbat acts as a kind of nezirut without the vow,
separating us from
our norm for the purpose of elevating us. CKS] The nazir
is teaching
himself self control. Most of us understand the importance of
monitoring what
goes into our mouths (even if we don’t actually exercise
restraint). We should
be at least equally concerned with what comes out of our mouths, writes
Rabbi
Yechezkel Levenstein as cited in Yalkut Lekach Tov.
Before we open our
mouths, let us pause to consider whether the information we are about
to say is
necessary, helpful, or, God forbid, hurtful.
That’s
why the Torah proclaims the greatness of this person when he begins
this
journey through his declaration, rather than at its conclusion, writes
Rabbi
Mordechai Ezrachi. Through his speech he is entering this domain and
committing
to this change. We too can commit to small changes in our lives, each
leading
to a small but higher step in our climb to a sanctified life.
The
root of nazir comes from nezer/crown,
tells us the Ohr
Gedalyahu, Rabbi Schorr. The nazir is
reaching deep into himself to access
his spiritual component and this gives him the crown of holiness.
The
concept on nezirut is not the asceticism of
removing oneself from all
pleasure, and certainly not from necessities, as promoted by other
religions.
The pleasures of this world are not evil. What we must do, however, is
learn to
control our desires so that our desires do not control us, explains
Rabbi Segal
in Yirah Vada’as. Will the adult or the
child in you control what you
say and do? Even something as simple as turning to see who came in
while you
were are in the middle of your prayers, or checking your cell
phone’s beep
during your Torah learning session is a response to human curiosity
rather than
to the spirituality of your current spiritual activity. If we are not
working on
our self control during normal circumstances, how will we be in control
during
times of stress or of heightened emotions? One may try a simple
exercise and
stop eating his meal for a few minutes, even if he continues a short
while
later to train himself to wait before indulging immediately, suggests
Rabbi
Lopian.
The
Torah has a better understanding of the human mind than humans
themselves,
writes Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz. The Torah recognizes that abstaining
from one’s
physical desires is indeed wondrous and holy, whereas a human being is
more
likely to say that stopping is “no big deal; I can stop
anytime I want.”
Acknowledge that restraint is difficult and train yourself to hit pause
before
rushing into your next purchase or your next indulgence. Break the
gravitational pull of the yetzer horo by making one
small
commitment.
The passage of nezirut immediately follows the laws
of a woman suspected
of being unfaithful. Our Rabbis comment that the two passages are
placed near
each other because one who sees a woman in this state of disgrace may
take this
drastic step of vowing to become a nazir to prevent
himself/herself from
beginning to fall into this trap through consuming wine. If
this is a
precautionary step to keep him holy, why is he obligated to bring a sin
offering at the end of the term of his nezirut? The
Ramban notes
that when he is leaving this rarefied state, he is sinning to his soul
by
returning to his fully mundane existence. He has tasted being detached
from his
passions, and now he is returning to his former self, adds Rabbi
Grosbard.
In
Netivot Shalom, the Slonimer Rebbe finds the
connection between our
ideas. The purpose of nezirut is not to permanently
separate the
physical world from the spiritual world, but rather to find a way to
unite the
two. That’s why this passage is followed by the priestly
blessings. The
blessing is a blessing for this world, but we ask that these gifts not
pose a
hazard to our spiritual well-being. Rather, as the Torah narrative then
continues, we should use our wealth in spiritual pursuits, as the nesi’im,
the princes of the tribes did in bringing gifts to inaugurate the
Tabernacle.
[Today those blessings of wealth can be used spiritually to support
Torah
institutions or to help our brethren. CKS] Everything in this world was
created
to be able to serve a higher purpose. The wine the nazir
abstains from
can be elevated by using it for Kiddush. Hashem calls us a Goy
Kadosh/Holy
Nation because we are meant to elevate the mundane and earthly, not
separate
from it. The nazir himself is called kadosh.
Everything
in the physical world can be elevated. Jews do not believe physicality
is
defined as depravity, writes Rabbi Zev Leff in Outlook and
Insight. We
elevate our food every time we recite a blessing over it. A nazir,
by
abstaining and not elevating the physical has
sinned.
One
of the conditions a nazir imposes on himself is the
prohibition of
cutting his hair. One of the rituals at the end of his nezirut
is
cutting the hair. What is the connection between one’s hair
and the vow of nezirut,
asks Rabbi Leff? Orderly hair represents an orderly connection between
the
physical world here below and the spiritual world above. The Torah
itself
mandates that both a king and a Kohen cut their hair regularly as a
symbol of
this connection. The nazir must let his
hair grow wild, as he has
not maintained this harmony between the two worlds. When he leaves his
state of
nezirut and returns to the
“normal” world, his hair is cut, for he has
hopefully learned how to balance the two and thereby elevate the
earthly.
The
Mikdash Halevi identifies the point of this whole
discussion. Becoming a
nazir is not the goal, but the medium to reach the
end goal of becoming
a holy person. It is the pause button that helps one reboot so that he
can
interact properly with wine and with the physical world. If his time as
a nazir
helped him achieve that goal, he is holy. If he hasn’t
changed, he is indeed a
sinner.
When
we use the gifts of the world toward spiritual growth, when we use our
power of
speech in positive ways, when we can practice self-control, we grow and
become
the Goy Kadosh/Holy nation Hashem has charged us
with
being.