Naso Parshah Thoughts
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Initiative
Moshe was reluctant to accept wagons from the Nesi’im until Hashem told him to. Why?
Wagons were not necessary to make the Mishkan. Hashem gave Moshe a specific list of the things needed; gold, silver, copper etc. All other individual initiatives were not encouraged.
To suggest improvement is to know. Who understood the Mishkan well enough to improve upon it? Nadav and Avihu brought their self-styled korban, and met with disaster. Moshe was not eager to accept individual initiatives in bringing sacrifices to the Mishkan.
However the nesi’im operated from a different perspective; while normal people donated what was requested from them, nesi’im, as leaders, saw their mandate to look ahead and figure out how will the Mishlan be moved when necessary.
Their initiative was unlike Nadav and Avihu’s: It was about transporting the Mishkan, not service in the Mishkan itself. It was done because they saw a need, not just for self expression. They were leaders, their job was to look ahead.
Some factors to take account of when taking initiative in a klal matter: is the initiative unnecessary? Is it someone else’s job? Does the initiative involve changing existing structures?
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No Loss
The Torah elaborates greatly on the presents the nesi’im, the tribal leaders, brought. Although they brought identical gifts, the Torah reiterates each present as a separate incident, rather than summarize them in one general paragraph.
The Torah is usually most sparing of words. Why all the description?
The Ralbag suggests that there was good reason the Nesiim brought the same gift. To forestall any jealousy or rivalry between them, no one brought a better offering than his peer in any way.
This noble plan involved personal sacrifice. Were each one to bring his offering according to his own ideas, each offering would be different, and merit a paragraph in the Torah about him. Now that they brought the identical thing, they stood to lose that.
The Torah gave each his own paragraph anyway. The Torah lesson is: self-sacrifice for the sake of peace cannot make one lose.
Hashem will make it up to us….
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The Holy Rebel
What is the essential nature of a Nazir?
His halachos are clear:
No wine: the prohibition against wine goes above and beyond that of a Kohen – a Kohen may not come drunk to serve, but a Nazir may not even eat grape seeds, despite their being non-alcoholic. And obviously, it is unrelated to service.
No haircutting.
No touching the dead. More stringent than a Kohen, who may bury family members, a Nazir may not.
A Nazir cannot contact a dead body ‘for the crown of Hashem is upon his head’ – this ‘crown’ being his hair. His hair is referred to repeatedly as ‘it shall be holy’ (6:5) ‘and he shall hallow his head’ (6:11). His hair is holy! When he becomes (inadvertently) impure ‘his head became Tamai’. At the end of the course of his Nezirus he cuts his hair at the Ohel Moed entrance, and places it in the fire cooking his Shlamim!
Why is hair important, and what is the connection between all these?
The Halacha states: a king takes a haircut each day. A Kohain Gadol each week, and a Kohain at least once a month. Hair cutting is associated with respectability and being civil. Someone who has not taken a haircut for some time looks uncouth; hippies does not cut their hair.
Drinking wine is also urbane. It is genteel, the drink of the gentleman. Cosmopolitan and eminently civilized.
A Nazir cuts himself; he breaks free from society. He rethinks and re-examines all he does. He wants to know if he is doing things because everyone else is, or because it’s the right thing to do. He is a rebel, but not as a personal statement. He takes temporary measures only in order to gain perspective. A rebel with a cause.
That’s holy! He has exchanged the bonds of civilization for the bonds of Hashem. He has declared himself outside the pale of respectability, answerable to his G-d alone. Even upon his return to normalcy his life will never be the same. He will live inspired, doing right because its right – for G-d’s greater Glory alone. We put him on a pedestal, as a model for humanity. He is a lesson to us (drudges!) all.
P.s. In today’s spirit of conformity, this message is doubly poignant.
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Sin And Abstinence
A Nazir sins because he abstains from wine – what’s so sinful about that?
The Kitzur quotes a Yerushalmi Kiddushin that man needs to justify any thing that his eyes saw and he did not enjoy. The Gemarrah relates that poor Amoraim would save up penny by penny to buy different types of fruit each year.
Suppose you expect an important guest, and laboriously prepare a gala meal, taking pains to ensure that everything is tasty, just to the guest’s liking. When the guest finally arrives and sees the marvelous spread out on the table he says ‘Shucks, but why did you waste your time? I’m not eating anything here today anyhow!’ Isn’t that disappointing!?
Hashem prepares delicious foods for you and I to eat. Not doing so constitutes a lack of appreciation for His efforts, as it were. A Nazir’s sin is not partaking of that which Hashem has given him!
So we should be steeped in materialism? What ought our approach be?
The Shlah writes that only someone free of sin ought to enjoy food and drink, and even so only if it will harm his observance were he to fast. If fasting will not harm him, even the truly virtuous should fast. A sinner should fast in any case, even if he will be weak as a result. Abstinence is always recommended.
Others disagree. Some quote the Yerushalmi above requiring one to enjoy anything he can at least once a year as an appreciation for what Hashem has laid out for us.
Clearly guzzling is out, and eating in a way that will benefit Hashem and His greater glory is in. Where precisely do we draw the line –what percent of l’shaim shamayim is needed?
Rabbi Yitzchak Scheiner shlit”a expressed it like this: What has been granted unto us to enjoy and partake of this world is indeed Hashem’s gift to us. We need not ignore this gift nor be blind to it. In fact it is proper to enjoy it, as it was manifestly intended for. This is acknowledgement of Hashem’s gift. Life’s purpose is not enjoyment; however enjoyment is a healthy part of normal living. We are programmed to live life and enjoy it, and we are at peak productivity when functioning as human beings with a full involvement in this world. One must be normal; enjoy this world, and actively enjoy life. Do not make it your goal, however.
Enjoy!
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Encountering G-d
If a sotah, – a suspected women who drinks the testing waters, – was found innocent, she merited having children. Why? She acted indecent; secluding herself with suspect people after being warned not to, and faced the consequences thereof. Is she then due any reward?!
The Yalkut answers that her ordeal atoned for her wrongdoing and even entitled her to compensation too. That’s why she merited having children.
A friend suggested that any Sotah who was really guilty wouldn’t risk death and drink. Only those who were OK drank. If a woman who was innocent were not affected, people would think ‘Here all these women are drinking and it’s having no effect. Probably the waters are worthless!’ We don’t want that. So there is an effect no matter what, to maintain the threat-deterrent of the waters.
Perhaps the dynamic of the holy waters was to force an interaction between the Sotah and Hashem’s name dissolved in them – representing Hashem when she drank them. This direct encounter with G-d could not be a neutral one. If one is innocent, such an encounter must bring blessing. If guilty: curse. There had to be some effect, if not bad, then to the good!
The korban was matchmaker, bringing her and Hashem together. Although not for a happy reason nor result, this mincha was brought to confront the Sotah with her Maker.
The huge paradigm shift that occurred at the Churban was the loss of our ‘Gateway to Heaven’. I read in a history book that in terms of manpower, Judaism recovered from the effects of the wars within a few years. Our real loss was the Beis HaMikdash, the place ‘where Heaven Kissed Earth’. We lost our direct relationship to Hashem.
So so sad.
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The Pleasure Of Denial
A Nazir seems to suffer. He withdraws from the pleasure of wine and cutting his hair. He is called ‘sinner’ for hurting himself. The negative aspect to nezirus is that he pains and deprives his body. Yet this “sinning” is not prohibited, in fact it’s a mitzvah!
What of the pleasure in being a nazir?
Who is better off; someone who needs air-conditioning and has it, or someone who doesn’t need it in the first place? The one never needing it! He saves the cost of the air-conditioning, never worries about it breaking down, never suffers when it does, and lives a happier, simpler, existence. Less is more.
So the Nazir: A Nazir tries to achieve prishus. Prishus means not only that one deprives himself of worldly luxuries, but that one weans himself of the NEED for pleasures. It is better to not need pleasures at all than to need them and have them!
The Nazir has what others don’t: satisfaction and happiness. He needs nothing.
P.s. There is something else a Nazir enjoys, which is more sinister: he feels holy because he is deprived. Many people accept practices that cause themselves suffering because suffering for a good cause makes one feel like a martyr – and that feels good too. Watch out!
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