TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת נשא
PARASHAT NASO
June 4, 2011 – 2 Sivan 5771- ב’ סיון תשע"א
Annual: Numbers 4:21 – 7:89 (Etz Hayim, p. 791; Hertz p. 586)
Triennial: Numbers 4:21 – 5:10 (Etz Hayim, p. 791; Hertz p. 586)
Haftarah: Judges 13:2 – 25 (Etz Hayim, p. 813; Hertz p. 602)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Parashat Naso is the longest Torah portion in the Torah: 176 verses. (Could it be just a coincidence that the longest chapter in the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 119, is also exactly 176 verses long? Or that the longest tractate in the Babylonian Talmud [Baba Batra] is 176 pages long?) The census and accounting for the tribe of Levi continues, with specific treatment of the Gershonite, Kohathite, and Merarite clans. The sacred tasks of each family grouping are assigned. God instructs Moses that the ritual purity of the camp is to be maintained by removing people who contract impurity, as by a bodily discharge or contact with a corpse. The moral purity of the Israelite camp is also addressed and a process for redressing personal offenses is prescribed, including confession, restitution, and a ritual offering.
The parashah continues with the ritual for the sotah – the suspected adulteress. In the absence of actual proof or substantive evidence, a married woman suspected by her husband of adultery is subjected to trial by ordeal, and compelled to drink bitter waters, in which dust from the sanctuary floor is dissolved. Also added to this potion are scrapings from a parchment on which a series of curses and adjurations, recited by the priest during the ordeal, have been inscribed. An offering of jealousy consisting of barley flour is presented at the altar. The ritual instructions provide that a woman guilty of unfaithfulness will become desperately ill in reaction to the potion, while an innocent wife will be unharmed.
The extensive passage dealing with the sotah and the unseemly specter of wifely faithlessness is followed immediately by a very different ritual, the vow of the nazirite, which is an expression of extraordinary faith and devotion to God. An Israelite man or woman may elect to undertake a temporarily heightened state of personal consecration through a vow of self-denial. The nazirite must refrain from wine or other intoxicant, as well any other grape product. The nazirite is to avoid ritual impurity contracted through contact with a corpse, even in order to attend to the burial or mourning for a close relative (parent, sibling, etc.). Finally, the nazirite’s hair is consecrated and must not be cut. Scripture’s (and later Jewish tradition’s) ambivalence about the nazirite’s asceticism is reflected in the sin
offering that is brought to mark conclusion of the devotee’s term of consecration, which suggests that although the self-denial is carried out with holy intent it is sinful in its own right.
The priestly blessing is prescribed as a primary duty of the kohanim. The blessing is famous for its beauty as well as for its intricate poetic structure: verses of 3, then 5, then 7 words, consisting of 15, then 20, then 25 consonants. The three verses address six divine acts of favor, blessing, protection, shining, graciousness, divine attention (lifting of God’s face), and bestowing peace.
The parashah concludes with a lengthy and repetitive listing of the dedicatory gifts brought by the tribal princes at the consecration of the sanctuary, and with a description of God’s ongoing communication with Moses in the form of the divine voice emanating from between the cherubim atop the cover of the Ark.
Theme #1: “The Temptation of Temporary Temperance”
“If anyone, man or woman, explicitly utters a Nazirite’s vow, to set himself apart for
the Lord, he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant.” Numbers 6:2-3
Derash: Study
“God decries both asceticism and hedonism.” Rabbi Moshe Tendler
“Moral life is not always simple: a matter of black and white, good and evil, right and wrong. It usually is, but not always. Viewed from the perspective of personal perfection, the nazirite is good and holy. But from the perspective of Jewish faith as a whole, such a life is not an ideal. Judaism wants us to celebrate life, not retreat from it. It is holy to retreat from the world and its challenges – but holier still to engage with them.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
“When a man or woman renounces the vanities of this world, and seek to devote him or herself entirely to God, that is a truly wondrous occurrence, for it is in the nature
of things to lust after the desires of your own heart.” Ibn Ezra [“truly wondrous” –
pele nifla – a pun on ki yafli – translated above as “explicitly vows” but possibly also, “utters an extraordinary vow” – JHP]
“The worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that.” John Sterling
“One is happy as a result of one’s own efforts once one knows the necessary ingredients of happiness: simple tastes, a certain degree of courage, self-denial to a
point, love of work, and, above all, a clear conscience.” George Sand
“To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing,
love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete
monster!” Denis Diderot
Questions for Discussion
In what ways do the laws of the nazirite vow, prescribed in our parashah, reflect our
tradition’s ambivalence about the practice – the grudging approval of ascetic piety suggested by the comments of Rabbis Tendler and Sacks?
In what other ways does Jewish tradition teach the virtues of self-denial? How central a role should this value play in Jewish education and spiritual development? (Consider the statement by John Sterling.) How is self-denial, as George Sand asserts, conducive to personal happiness?
Where today do we find “truly wondrous” personal role models of deep devotion to God? How is such devotion expressed most constructively? What safeguards does the Torah put in place to keep the “extraordinary” devotion motivating the nazirite from degenerating into fanaticism or militancy?
Why wine? What analogous indulgences of twenty-first century society might we consider incompatible with a desire more fully to serve God? Given this aspect of the nazirite experience, how might we rethink the meaning of the prevalence of wine in Jewish ritual, from the drops given an infant at a bris to the two cups shared by bride and groom beneath the chuppah to kiddush on Shabbat?!
The nazirite vow was an egalitarian institution! Is this historic antecedent to today’s expansive ritual role for Jewish women a productive precedent or an unfortunate beginning?
Theme #2: “Aaronic Approbation”
“The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you peace!” Numbers 6:24-
26)
Derash: Study
“The priestly blessing is written in the singular (e.g., lecha, not lachem – JHP), because the most essential blessing for the people Israel is unity. Just as at Mount
Sinai: Scripture says ‘Israel encamped (singular) there.” The sages explain: ‘They were like one person with a single heart.’” Rabbi Shlomo Leib of Lentchna
“‘Graciously’ – Lord of the universe! If, God forbid, Your children are not worthy of Your kindness, ‘deal… graciously’ with them: as an unconditional and
spontaneous gift, just because that is Your nature!” Chafetz Chayim
“Peace. Shalom means more than the English word ‘peace’: it also means
‘completeness, perfection, harmonious interaction.’ The prophets of Israel were the first in history to conceive of peace as an ideal. Peace is the ultimate hope of monotheism, with its belief that the world is the product of a single will, not the blind clash of conflicting elements.” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
“However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.” John Calvin
“The only worthwhile blessings that are really ours to have and to hold are a growing mind, a helping hand and a faith that endures.” Rabbi Bernard Raskas
Questions for Discussion
Rabbi Sacks links the Jewish people’s esteem for peace – which he identifies as a founding value original to Israel – with theological principle: “a single (Divine)
will.” How might the Lentchna rebbe’s discussion of the blessing of Jewish national unity also be reflected in our understanding of God?
The priestly blessing also functions as a parental blessing, bestowed on children on holidays and, especially, on Shabbat. What personal blessings, hopes, and aspirations would (or do) you append to these verses as you bless and pray for your children? What “worthwhile blessings” do wish – and do we wish our children – “to have and to hold”? What steps might we take to make these goals a reality?
If you were the intended recipient of this blessing, how might you want these verses to be “completed”: “The Lord bless you with…? And keep you…?. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you…?”
How are the insights of the Chafetz Chayim and John Calvin (two very different religious thinkers indeed!!) related? How does our recognition of God’s countless blessings find expression in Jewish practice?
When does the deeper meaning of “shalom” (“completeness, perfection, harmonious interaction”) require that we abandon the simple meaning of “peace” by resorting to armed conflict? What other nuanced implications does “shalom” carry? (Justice? Honor? Integrity?)
Unlike most prescribed Jewish prayer, the priestly blessing (e.g., the Sh’ma, the Amidah, blessings for food) must be recited in Hebrew. What about this blessing merits this restrictive policy? How does prayer in Hebrew further the values expressed in the priestly blessing?
What is the significance in the fact that blessing the community is a central duty of the priesthood?
Historic Note
Parashat Naso, read on June 4, 2011, includes the provision that those who vow to be nazirites, thereby striving to draw closer to the service of God, must refrain from all intoxicants. On June 4, 1974, the Cleveland Indians hosted a never-to-be-
repeated 10-cent beer night. Animated by alcohol, unruly fans stumbled onto the field in significant numbers, forcing the home team to forfeit to the Texas Rangers
with the score tied 5-5 in the ninth inning.
Halachah L’Maaseh
In the diaspora, the kohanim recite the priestly blessing on the high holy days and the three pilgrimage festivals. Even a kohen who is not religiously observant or who
is disreputable and dishonest in business practices may participate in this ritual blessing of the congregation. Maimonides, for example, explains: “One ought not
tell a sinner to sin further by refraining from this mitzvah also!” (See Mishneh
Torah Hilchot Tefillah 15:6-7.) He points out further that God, not the flawed, human kohen (be he ever so pious and worthy) is the actual source of the blessing.
A kohen who has taken a human life, however, may not bestow the priestly blessing,
even after repenting. Some extend this prohibition to someone who has caused a fatal car accident (see, e.g., Responsa Yechaveh Da’at 5:16). A number of authorities permit soldiers who have been compelled to kill in battle to continue bestowing the priestly blessing, as they do physicians who have had patients die under their care (see, e.g., Responsa Igrot Moshe, Yoreh De’ah 2:158)