Parshas Naso For the week ending 5 Sivan 5755 in Israel (12 Sivan 5755)* 2 & 3 June 1995 (9 & 11 June 1995)* *week ending dates for locations outside of Israel =========================================================================== Summary The Torah assigns the exact Mishkan-related tasks to be performed by the sons of Gershon, Kehas, and Merari, the Bnei Levi. A census reveals that over 8,000 men are ready for such service. All those who are ritually impure are to be sent out of the encampments. If a person confesses that he wrongfully retained his neighbor's property after having sworn to the contrary in court, he has to pay an additional fifth of the base-price of the object, and bring a guilt offering to atone for his transgression. In the event that the claimant has already passed away without heirs, the payments are made to a Kohen. In certain circumstances, a husband who suspects that his wife had been unfaithful brings his wife, a Sotah, to a Kohen. The Kohen prepares a drink of water mixed with a certain dust and a special ink that was used for inscribing Hashem's Name on a piece of parchment. If she is indeed innocent, the potion does not harm her -- in fact it brings a blessing of children. However, if she is guilty, she suffers a supernatural death. A Nazir is someone who voluntarily vows to dedicate himself to Hashem for a specific period of time. He is obliged to abstain from all grape products, let his hair grow, and avoid all contact with corpses. At the end of this period, he shaves his head and brings special offerings in the Temple before returning to normal life. If he fails to successfully complete his count, he needs to begin the count anew after shaving his head and bringing an offering in the Temple. The Kohanim are commanded to bless the people. The Mishkan is completed and dedicated on the first day of Nissan in the second year after the Exodus. The Princes of each Tribe make a communal gift to help transport the Mishkan, as well as donating identical individual gifts of gold, silver, animal and meal offerings. =========================================================================== Commentaries "A man or woman who will take the vow of a Nazir for the sake of Hashem...from new or aged wine...shall he abstain" (6:2). "Good evening! And here is the nine o'clock news. The perpetrators of last year's spectacularly daring $5,000,000 diamond heist were finally sentenced today, to life in prison..." David leaned forward and turned off the TV, and then sinking back in his armchair he mused to himself "$5,000,000! Their only mistake was they weren't careful enough...if that had been me, I would have gotten away with it!" In order to restore a husband's trust in his wife after she has behaved in a way which indicates that she may have been unfaithful to him, the Torah provides a means of verifying her innocence. This is called the mitzvah of Sotah. If she is innocent her childbearing is blessed, but if not, she dies a spectacular and miraculous death -- her stomach swells until she literally explodes. The Torah immediately follows this with the mitzvah of the Nazir: A person who takes upon himself additional stringencies such as refraining from wine and all grape derivatives. Rashi explains that the connection of the two sections is to teach us that someone who sees the terrifying demise of the Sotah should understand that indulgence in wine leads to adultery, and distance himself from anything to do with wine. But the question remains, surely the spectacle of the grisly end of the Sotah should, in itself, be more than adequate warning! The implication here is that we are more attracted by the crime than deterred by the punishment: A person can always rationalize and say to himself: "They weren't careful enough -- I would have gotten away with it!" The spectacle of punishment enforces the idea of the feasibilty of sin more than the danger of getting caught. "Speak to the children of Aaron, saying `Thus you will bless the Children of Yisrael...'" (6:23). Not once does the Torah express the mitzvah of the Kohanic blessing with the phrase "You will bless," rather it says "Thus you will bless." The essential quality of the Kohen is chesed (kindness), it is his instict to give blessing. The Torah stresses the method and the form of the blessing -- "Thus you will bless..." -- "When you come to do that which is instinctive to you, do it `Thus'." (Admor Rav Avraham Mordechai M'Gur) "Thus you will bless the Children of Yisrael..." (6:23). Meaning: You will bless them just as they are -- "Thus" -- not just the outstanding and the important, not just the righteous, but every Jew is deserving of bracha as he is..."Thus". (Admor M'Modjitz) "And He will give you peace" (6:26). "Peace in your coming in, and peace in your going out...peace with all men" (Bamidbar Raba, 11). The final words of the Kohanic blessing express the three kinds of peace: Peace in the home, in the state and in the world. The Talmud says that he who dreams of a pot, a river, or a bird will see peace (Berachos 59). Two people eating from the same pot is the symbol of peace in the home. The river symbolizes peace in the state, spreading fertility and well-being throughout all of its parts. However, the river cannot encompass the whole world. The bird wings its way from continent to continent -- the symbol of peace encircling the world. Similarly -- `peace in your coming in,' represents peace in the home, and `peace in you going out' -- peace in the state, and `peace with all men' -- the peace of the bird -- the harbinger of world peace. (Ksav Sofer) =========================================================================== Haftorah: Shoftim 13:2-25 Shimshon (Samson) is the most famous Nazir in Tanach, and thus this week's Parsha, which describes the laws of the Nazir, is complemented by the story of the birth of Shimshon. "The angel of Hashem said to him, `Why is it that you ask for my name? It is hidden'" (13:18). The more you seek the essence of the angel of holiness -- to ask his `name' -- the more elusive and hidden he becomes. But when Yaakov asked the angel of Esav, the representative of the yetzer hara (the evil inclination), what was his name, he also said "Why is it that you ask my name?" However, there is a difference: The angel of holiness has a name but it is hidden, whereas the yetzer hara has no name -- The yetzer hara has substance only when we don't seek to know who and what he really is. If a person will examine the "identity papers" of the yetzer hara, even for a second, he will realize that he has no substance whatsoever, and thus no name... (One of the Gedolei HaMussar in Mayana Shel Torah) =========================================================================== Pirkei Avos: Perek 1 Warning: Lying is Habit Forming! "The world stands on three things -- justice, truth and peace" Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel (Avos 1:18) Even when no harm results from a distortion of the truth it must be avoided. There is a Talmudic tale (Yevamos 63a) of a problem which the Sage Rav had with his wife who consistently prepared a meal for him contrary to the order he conveyed to her. When Rav's son Chiya became old enough to realize what was happening he decided to solve the problem by conveying to his mother the opposite of what his father had asked him to order. When Rav surprisingly found the meal he actually wanted and asked Chiya what had happened to his mother's contrariness he learned of the "white lie" which his son had told. Rav praised his cleverness but condemned his action, citing the warning issued by the Prophet Yirmiyahu (9:4) that lying is habit forming and one who tells "white lies" develops a tongue so addicted to distortion that he will find it difficult to tell the truth even when it really matters. Rabbeinu Yonah =========================================================================== What do you do with TW*? Nathaniel Alfred Persily wrote: I just wanted to thank you personally for the lists you send to me. They are a joy to read and one of my only sources of Jewish education here in Berkeley. I forward them on to many people who are beginning to get interested in Torah Judaism for the first time. What do you do with TW? 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