IF SOMEONE IN HIS PRESENCE DIES UNEXPECTEDLY OR SUDDENLY, AND CAUSES  THE NAZIRITE HEAD TO BECOME DEFILED, HE SHALL SHAVE OFF [THE HAIR OF] HIS HEAD ON THE DAY OF HIS PURIFICATION... AND ON THE EIGHTH DAY, HE SHALL BRING TWO TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS... THE PRIEST SHALL PREPARE ONE FOR A SIN OFFERING AND ONE FOR A BURNT OFFERING AND ATONE ON HIS BEHALF FOR SINNING BY COMING INTO CONTACT WITH THE DEAD

(Bamidbar 6:9-11)

 

for sinning by coming into contact with the dead - He did not take precautions against becoming defiled by the dead. Rabbi Eleazar Hakappar says: He afflicted himself [by abstaining] from wine.

(Rashi Bamidbar 6:11, Judaica Press translation)

 

and atone on his behalf for sinning by coming into contact with the dead: Even though his defilement was involuntary it is still called a sin. Ibn Ezra states that the involuntary [defilement] befell him as a punishment for some other sin he committed, and a transgression comes as recompense for a transgression.

(ShaDaL ad loc)

 

Since it is referring to the case of a corpse that appeared by surprise and the nazirite is in no way guilty [for becoming ritually unclean through contact with it], it is clear that the sin is that he abstained from wine. If this circumstance did not befall him he would not have been called a sinner, since it was proper for him to abstain from physical pleasures in order to achieve the spiritual pleasure of clinging to God, however, since that circumstance [of ritual defilement] was forced upon him it served as a sign that he was unworthy [of being a nazirite], and thus he had pointlessly caused himself grief by abstaining from wine and sought something of which he was unworthy.

(The NeTziV of Volozhin, Ha'Amek Davar Bamidbar 6:11)

 

For the entire duration of his abstinence, he is holy to the Lord. This is the [verse's] interpretation: Do not imagine that he is sanctified only in his actions and not in his essence. That is why it says, For the entire duration of his abstinence, he is holy to the Lord, for he is made holy in his essence and lofty in his station. When he separates himself from desires and luxuries and guards himself from them all, he becomes pure in his materiality and excellent in his essence. That is why it says: If someone in his presence dies unexpectedly or suddenly - he was involuntarily brought into a state of defilement and was not expected to be on guard against such an event. He shall bring... prepare... atone on his behalf for sinning by coming into contact with the dead. This is the interpretation: Since he was a holy man of high station, he requires atonement for the fact that a man happened to die in his tent. As it states in Makkot 11a, the murderer remains in the city of refuge until the High Priest dies because the latter should have asked for mercy upon his generation but failed to do so. The nazirite has a station similar to that of the High Priest, since they both bear the crown of his God upon their heads. That is the meaning of his for sinning by coming into contact with the dead.

(R. Meir Simkha MiDvinsk: Meshekh Hokhma 6:8)

 

 

And grant you peace - There is no vessel that can contain blessing other than peace

Haim Rubinstein

One concept links together the Festival of the Giving of the Torah, the Book of Ruth, and this week's parasha: the concept of blessing. We find it in the blessing of the Torah, in Boaz's blessing of the reapers, and in the triple blessing of the priests. A blessing is a prayer for bringing down abundance and bounty, a prayer of thanks for a commandment we can observe or for a kindness received, or a prayer relating to an unusual event. God is the source of abundance addressed by the blessing; ability and governance are His alone, as we read in our parasha, Nasso: They shall bestow My Name upon the children of Israel, so that I will bless them (Bamidbar 6:22). This should send a message to all those who believe that it is within man's power to grant blessing and abundance.

So that I will bless them. From whence do we learn that Israel should not say that their blessings are dependent upon the priests? It is learned from the verse: so that I will bless them. From whence do we learn that the priests should not say, "We shall bless Israel"? It is learned from the verse: so that I will bless them. (Sifri 43:6:27)

The number of words found in the three verses of the triple blessing matches the mathematical series of prime numbers (3, 5, 7). Perhaps this fact points to origin of the blessing as found in the first verse: May the Lord bless you and watch over you. The source of the blessing is prime and the first member of the series is mentioned in its second member: it is the name and appellation of the First Prime - the Lord.

The number three connects the triple blessing with "the secret of the speech of the holy Seraphs, those who sanctify Your name in holiness; 'Holy, holy, holy.'" The next prime number, eleven, ahad asar kokhvaya - eleven stars - may allude to this connection. The priests act as seraphs, bringing down God's blessing to the Israelites. During the three festivals of pilgrimage the Israelites who visit the Temple receive the triple blessing from the priests. This is the only element of Temple ritual that persists in our own times; every day the priests stand up before the worshippers in the synagogue to offer the blessing originally uttered in the Temple.

The commentators disagreed in their interpretations of the blessings. Rabbi S.R. Hirsch viewed the three parts of the blessing as constituting three stages that complete each other:

May the Lord bless you and watch over you - The end of the verse (and watch over you) refers back to its beginning (May the Lord bless you). We learn from it that this blessing refers chiefly to those goods that need to be protected even after they are granted. They must be watched over to insure that they are realized by us and that they serve us as a genuine blessing.

From here R. Hirsch infers that the first blessing relates to material wealth. Such wealth must be guarded against loss; we must also take care to make worthy use of it.

May the Lord cause His countenance to shine to you - The Lord will be revealed by the valor of His governance. And favor you [vihuneka] - From the same root as hanan [grant], the Lord will grant man his heart's wishes... We find that the gift referred to here is of the following kind: God will grant us the spiritual abilities needed in order for us to see God's countenance that has been illuminated for our eyes... He will equip you with spiritual abilities to understand His words as they appear in the Torah and in prophecy." As it is written in Psalms (67): God will be gracious to us and bless us; He will cause His countenance to shine with us forever That Your way should be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

Rabbi Hirsch views this blessing as calling for the granting of spiritual assets needed by those who would know God by understanding His Torah.

May the Lord raise His countenance toward you - "This blessing concerns closeness to God. We shall gain such nearness if we make proper use of all the material and spiritual assets He has given us." Rabbi Hirsch finds three parts in the three blessings. These are three ascending rungs which might be implied by the number of words in each verse. The blessings relate to material possessions used for good purposes, to spiritual assets gained through God's illumination, and to the joint use of these possessions and assets to gain knowledge of God's "countenance" by way of the commandments, the Torah, and prophecy. Knowledge of the divine world is the human ideal.

And grant you peace - The complete utilization of these gifts is the ideal world, the world of peace. This is not the peace of war and conflict followed by compromise, but rather a world whose basic condition is one of peace - a state of being that leaves no cause for conflict or aggression. That is the condition for the fulfillment of the blessings. It is a state of the world in which the governance of men will follow God's path, governance in which each person will control his own inclinations, demonstrate gratitude, and perform kindness. The aspiration for peace is the aspiration for a God whose name is Shalom - Peace. Peace is an excellence greater than all others - it is the foundation of God's world. Peace is the ideal of the Torah world, and many verses and prayers mention the concept of Shalom. Peace as an ideal upon the earth.

And so it says: Go out, O daughters of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon, upon the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his nuptials and on the day of the joy of his heart (Song of Songs 3). On the day of his nuptials - that is [the day of] he giving of the Torah. And on the day of the joy of his heart - that is [the day when] the Temple will be built. May it be built soon and in our days - amen! R. Ovadiah MiBartenura comments: upon King Solomon - that is the Holy One blessed be He, for peace is His; his mother - that is the congregation of Israel. (Mishnah Ta'anit 4:8)

Every mention of Solomon [Shlomo] in the Song of Songs is considered to be holy [i.e., a reference to God]; it is a song to Him for Whom peace is His. (Shavu'ot 4, 35b)

Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the Priest - said The Holy One, Blessed Be He, it is proper that he receive his reward, Say, therefore, I grant him My pact of peace. Great is the [gift of] peace given Pinchas, for the world cannot function without peace, and the entire Torah is peace, as is written, Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths, peaceful (Proverbs 3:17), and if one comes from a journey we bless him with peace. In the morning we beseech peace, and at evening we ask for peace; the [blessing following] Shema Yisrael concludes with “Who spreads a sukkah of peace over his people;” the prayer service ends with a plea for peace; the priestly benediction ends with peace. Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta said: There is no vessel that holds blessing - but peace, as is written: The Lord will give strength to his people, the Lord will bless his people with peace. (Bamidbar Rabbah 21:1)

Haim Rubinstein, one who blesses himself with the triple blessing

 

Acceptance of the Torah by Coercion vs. Acceptance by Free Choice

And they stood beneath the mountain

Rabbi Hanina bar Hama bar Hassa said: - This teaches us that the Holy One, Blessed Be he, suspended the mountain over them as though it were a basin.

(Shabbat 88a)

 

External and Internal Peace: the Juxtaposition of Sections in Parashat Naso

...It would seem that this passage (5:5-8; the section dealing with the guilt-offering for theft) is intended to remove from the camp an evil that could encourage fights and disagreements; that is - that one must be careful not to unjustly damage the property of others, or try to exploit the weakness of others who lack avengers.

...and so this section (pertaining to the sotah, 5:11-31) follows upon a passage intended to remove controversy and conflict from Israel in general, for this [the sotah] passage is meant to remove conflict from the household, and household peace comes before the nation's peace...

...and this section (regarding the nazir, 6:1-21) follows sotah passage, whose purpose is to remove conflict and loss from the household, because the point of this [the nazir] section is to calm the individual's internal conflict and loss that is associated with physical desire that can lead to sin...

...and after it recalled that which removes strife between a person and himself, and that which removes conflict and disagreement and loss from the household and from the entire nation, it brings up this passage, which is that of the priestly blessing, thus making a wonderful comment about perfection and genuine peace.

(RaLaBaG, as quoted by Nehamah Leibowitz, z"l's Iyyunim le-Sefer Bamidbar, 45-6)

 

Growth of Hair As An Expression of Mourning Or A Partition Between the Nazarite and Society

Throughout the term of his vow as a nazirite, no razor... Why did God command that the nazirite not shave his head? Because shaving beautifies one, as is illustrated by Joseph: And he shaved and he changed his clothes. Letting the hair grow long is an expression of sorrow and mourning. Therefore the Holy One, Blessed Be He, said: After this nazirite enjoined himself from wine in order to distance himself from indecency, let him grow his hair long so that he become unsightly and sad, lest the evil inclination assail him; throughout the period of his vow to be a nazirite holy to God, they are forbidden him as though they are sanctified objects from which one may not derive pleasure, for he has sanctified them to the name of Heaven.

 (Bamidbar Rabbah 10:10)

 

And the nazirite shall shave - The shaving of the hair ordered here and the placing of it on the fire which is cooking the shelamim meal forms the most striking expression of the meaning of naziritism just ended, and of its value only being relative to the happy life to be lived henceforth before God. His life as a nazirite was only to have been a preparatory provisional training. If letting the hair grow was the sign of a sanctifying separation and withdrawal into oneself (v. 5), the complete shaving is the expression of thenceforth ceasing this separation and thenceforth completely re-entering the whole social life of the community. This complete re-entry into the whole social life of the community is not merely something permissible, it is a just commandment. It is a commandment to be happy and have pleasure before God, to live a life permeated with the spirit of the shelamim. This kind of life transcends a life of naziritism, of renunciation and abstention, which reveals its moral strength only in seclusion and retreat. Naziritism has no value unless it leads to complete social integration.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch 6:18)

 

The Torah Should be Accepted through a Personal Decision, "Not in order to receive a reward."

...That is why Israel was not given the Torah immediately after the splitting of the Red Sea, because if they had received it after the splitting of the Red Sea, it would have looked as if they accepted the Torah in order to receive a reward, as a result of the great miracles that had just been performed for them. That is why God waited a bit - meanwhile they could partially forget the miracles performed for them, as it says, there was no water for the community, and they complained. Afterwards, they received the Torah, saying that they would do it and hear it, which proves that they accepted the Torah solely out of love for the Torah.

(From Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev's Kedushat Levi)

 

Reception of the Torah: Forced or Freely Taken?

And they stood beneath the mountain: R. Avdimi bar Hama bar Hasa said: This teaches us that the Holy One blessed be He held the mountain over them like a basin and told them, "If you accept the Torah, all is well, but if not here shall be your graves." R. Aha bar Yaakov said: This implies a great claim against [the validity of the acceptance of] the Torah. Rava said: Even so, the generation received it [again] in the days of Ahasuerus, for it is written, the Jews observed and accepted (Esther 9); they observed what they had already accepted.

(Shabbat 84a)

 

...It is important to reiterate and stress that the religious decision does not result from events, but derives from man's judgment and decision. In this context it is proper that we return to the RaMBaM as he deals with an issue which is ostensibly a purely halakhic ruling, but which has deep ideological significance.

In The Responsa of the RaMBaM (ed. Freiman, Chap 30), the RaMBaM is asked regarding the wording of the conclusion of the blessings over the Torah... should it be "Blessed are you, O Lord, who gives the Torah" or perhaps "Who teaches Torah to His people Israel"? It should be mentioned that both phrases are found in our daily prayer book, in the "Blessings of Dawn", but the version "who gives Torah" is also the accepted benediction recited by one who is called up to the Torah.

RaMBaM responds and rules that the correct version is "who gives Torah"; he rejects "who teaches the Torah to his people Israel," emphasizing:

Inasmuch as the ending "who gives the Torah" is the essence of the benediction, for its substance is that He charged us with its reading.

It should be understood that for the RaMBaM, "its reading" means "its study", and this, too, is the meaning of its "being given." The Giver of Torah gave us the Torah so that it be studied. RaMBaM adds:

This is the substance of the benediction, to beseech assistance in its study, and whoever concludes with "He who teaches Torah" sins (variant reading errs"), because God does not teach us, He commanded us to study it and to teach it. This is based upon a primary principle of the Torah - that observance of the commandments is in our hands; we are not forced to perform them by God.

The importance of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people lies not in what is described in the famous Aggadic embellishment: 'The Holy One, Blessed Be He, suspended over them a mountain as if it were a tank", but rather in Israel's accepting the Torah of their own accord, and this is not what happened at the Revelation at Sinai, which was acceptance by compulsion - which did not succeed.

This story represents a great devaluation of the significance of faith base it upon revelation and miracles and wonders, and they ignore the fact that there can be no true faith unless it comes from within man's self.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parshiyot HaShavu'a, pp. 300-301), if men wish to

 

 

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