TORAH- FAX NASO TORAH DIALOGUE

NASO74ED
NASO - Numbers 4:21
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&' RA&&I ED DA(IS
1. After completi ng the descripti on of each of the
jobs requi red of the e!itical fami li es" the #orah
goes on to describe $hat is necessar% to purif% the
&amp of 'srael. 'n &hapter ( the #orah tells us )i f a
man or a $oman sins against his fello$ man" thus
being untrue to *od" and becomi ng guil t% of a
cri me+ he must confess the sin that he has
commi t ted. ,e must then ma-e resti tuti on of the
principl e plus a ./0 surcharge and gi!e it to the
!icti m of this cri me. 1 #he 2ambam in his legal code
of 3ishnah #orah does not identi f % the mit4!ah to
do #eshu!ah" to repent to *od. 't is not listed as
one of the 516 commandments 7the 2amban on the
other hand does list #eshu!ah as one of the 5168.
#he 2ambam does quote this !erse as the source to
require a person to orall% confess his sins. #his he
describes as a biblical commandment. ' $oul d see
this is the $a% the 2ambam has initi al l % formul ated
the mi t4!ah of #eshu!ah as a fundamental
necessit% to orall% confess his sin. One needs to
anal %4e ho$ confession $or-s as an integral part of
the #eshu!ah. 't is an attempt to re9 create oneself+
in essence to sa%" )' am not the same person ' $as
before : ' am a different person entirel %;1 72ED8
.. #he ne<t paragraph of the #orah describes at
length the incident of the Sotah" the suspected
adul teress. #his is a highl % unusual halachah in the
#orah because it is dependent totall % upon di!i ne
inter!enti on to resol !e the particular issue. 'n the
name of the =ilna *aon the follo$i ng difficul t % is
recorded. #he #orah states beforehand that a
person has to bring certai n gifts to the >ohen. An
indi !i dual $ho denies the gifts of the >ohen $ill
e!entual l % require the >ohen?s assistance because
he $ill be bringi ng his $ife as a suspected
adul teress. @et at the !er% end of the Sotah portion
our Sages state that the $hole process $ill not $or-
if the husband has been sinful. #he =ilna *aon sa%s
the sins of the husband are not necessaril % the
same orientati on as the $ife?s. 'f $e combi ne the
statements of our Sages in the begi nni ng and the
end then $e $ould conclude that the $hole la$ of
Sotah $ill not $or- because the reason the man is
bringi ng his $ife is because he failed to gi!e the
required gifts to the >ohen. 'n other $ords he had
sinned and $e learn at the end that if he does
possess sins then the Sotah resoluti on $ill not
happen. #his lea!es us $ith a problem in
understandi ng properl % the process. ' $ould thin-
that the =ilna *aon is pointi ng out in the
relati onshi p of a person $ho sins that the road of
sin mul ti pl i es and breeds more sins. 'n essence the
#orah is teachi ng us the necessit% to structure our
li!es properl % in all dimensions in order to purif% our
life and the li!es of those around us.
6. #he emoti onal response of the husband is
described as >in?ah" $hich $e normal l % translate as
jealous%. #he negati !e tension that e<ists bet$een
the husband and $ife can onl% come to a bad
resul t. #he halachah is that the entire process of the
in!esti gati on" denial" and the drin-i ng of the
special" potenti al l % lethal $aters" cannot begi n
unless the husband $arns his $ife and e<presses to
her his suspicions. #his must be done in front of t$o
$itnesses. 2ashi on the #orah and the 2ambam
7Sotah 1A18 sa% that the >in?ah that the #orah refers
to is ;. that he $ill sa% to her in front of $itnessesA
)Do not be in a secluded place $ith Bloni 7a specific9
named person81. #he process begi ns $ith the semi9
public declarati on. #he fact that there are $itnesses
is bringi ng the internal matter to light. #his is the
first step to engage the pri!ate matter in order to
correct it. Not e!er%thi ng must become public. #his
s%stem of Sotah stems from a !er% pri !ate issue
and then gradual l % becomes a !er% public displa%
until the resolution $hich is highl % public. 't seems
that the pressure of the public displa% is necessar%
in order to create a proper resoluti on to an
other$ise damagi ng situation. #he connecti on
bet$een e<pelli ng those $ho are impure from the
camp is an attempt to purif % the entire &amp of
'srael. #his is also $ithi n that same subject. 72ED8
4. #he ne<t chapter is the la$ of the Na4ir" the
person $ho ta-es a Na4iri te !o$ to *od. ,e
separates himsel f from $ine products" isolates
himsel f" has no contact $ith a corpse and gro$s his
hair long. #his enti re process is in order for this
indi !i dual" male or female" to be in!ol !ed in an
attempt to re9 create his personal i t%. At the !er% end
of the period of the !o$ the #orah describes that he
drin-s again" and the #orah in that !erse 75A.18
refers to the person again as a Na4ir. #he #orah is
perhaps sa%ing that he has not changed at all" just
that he $as called a Na4ir initial l % but he is still
called a Na4ir after$ard because he is going bac-
and drin-i ng. Berhaps that is $h% he is bringi ng a
Sin Offering at the end. #he chances that he can re9
create himsel f in such a short time are small. #o
de!elop ne$ habi ts and change one?s character to
conduct oneself in a better $a% ta-es monumental
effort. A slo$ process is more effecti !e than the
radical change in this particul ar case. 72ED8
(. &hapter 5 ends $ith the descripti on of the
priestl % benedicti on" the Cir-at >ohani m. #he
>ohani m $ho get up and bless us are not
necessaril % the most learned of indi !i duals. #he%
are a famil % among the tribes of 'srael. De ha!e
learned to re!ere the >ohani m and for the most
part during the ti mes of the Sanhedri n made sure
the >ohani m partici pated as members of the
Sanhedri n. Cut it is not a requi rement that each
>ohen learn a certain !olume of halachic material
or be intellectual l % gifted in order to bless e!er%one
else. #he question is $h% put people in this position
to gi!e blessings if the% are not the most
intellectual l % gifted in the #orah societ%E Berhaps
the sinceri t% of the brachah is inherent $ithi n the
#orah?s s%stem. 'n other $ords the >ohani m
in!ol !ed $ere sustai ned b% the .4 different t%pes of
priestl % gifts gi!en to them b% the people. ,ence
the >ohani m trul % $anted the people to be blessed
so the% $oul d succeed economi call % in the material
$orld. 't $as to their benefi t because the% are
dependent upon the people to gi!e them. #his
ma-es sense in the old s%stem during #emple
ti mes" but ho$ about toda%E #oda% $e understand
that $e are all together in the same boat. 'f there is
financial stabili t% and $e are able to succeed
materi alisti call % then e!er%bod% can share in the
abundance of the success. ,ence the brachah the%
gi!e us is one the% $ish to recei!e for themsel !es
as $ell. 'n this $a% ' can understand !er% $ell that
since $e are all in the same boat that their
conti nui ng the famil % tradi ti on is one that is
important to us and important to them as $ell.
72ED8
5. #he first of the priestl % benedicti ons is" )3a%
*od bless %ou and -eep $atch o!er %ou1 75A.48.
#his brachah is financial and materi al istic. 2ashi
menti ons that *od $ill bless us $ith financial gain"
and then in the second clause )$atch o!er us1 is
that ,e $ill protect us so that people $ould not
steal the ad!ancement that $e ha!e recei !ed. #he
Neti !ot suggests that $hen a person is successful in
finances the tendenc%" as the #orah describes to us"
is that that person $ill )$a< fat and -ic-.1 #his
means that a person?s success $ill lead hi m to
arrogance and rebellion against *od?s decrees. So
perhaps the priestl % benedicti on" accordi ng to the
Neti !ot" is that *od $ill bless us $ith financial
success and then $atch o!er us in a sense that $e
$ill not succumb to the normal repercussions of
financial success. De $ill not rebel and $ill
conti nue to ha!e dedicated allegiance to the
teachi ngs of #orah.
7. #he #orah describes to us the fact that the
>ohani m lift up their hands to bless us. Onl% the
>ohani m do this. FDhen ' bless m% children and
grandchil dren" ' do not put both m% hands on their
heads because ' am not a >ohen. ' do put one hand
on the child?s head" but not t$o. See the #orah
#emi mah on this !erse.G De reall% need to as- $h%
is it necessar% for the >ohani m to e<tend their
hands or for that matter for me to e!en e<tend one
hand. A brachah can be gi!en orall %. ,opeful l % an
oral brachah is effecti !e. &ertainl % $hen ' gi!e a
brachah to m% child or grandchi l d o!er the
telephone ' belie!e that it is an effecti !e brachah.
Cut e!en more effecti !e is a brachah that is
combi ned $ith the action of raising one?s hand or
hands. #his indicates a $illi ngness to combi ne the
oral blessing $ith acti !e deeds. ,ands indicate a
$illi ngness to do good deeds. 72ED8
H. Barshat Naso is the longest parsha in the #orah
because of the repeti ti on that domi nates the latter
part of the sidrah. Each tribal prince brings the
e<act same sacrifice to the dedication of the Altar.
Dh% does the #orah gi!e a separate paragraph for
each princeE Dh% not lump all their gifts into one
paragraph since the% $ere identicalE
HAFTORAH
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,UDGES
#here $ere certain personali ti es in the Cible
$ho $ere considered Na4iri tes but not e<actl % li-e
the Na4ir described in the #orah. One such t%pe of
Na4ir is Shimshon 7Samson8 $ho is referred to as a
Na4irite to *od because his !o$ $as imposed upon
him b% an angel of *od. Se!eral la$s $ere unique
to Shimshon besides the length of the !o$ 7from
birth to death8. One la$ $as that some of the
Na4irite la$ $as imposed upon his mother duri ng
the pregnanc%. 3ost important $as that Shimshon
$as permi t ted to be in contact $ith a dead bod%
7#almud" Na4ir 48. #his $as permi tted since
ShimshonI s life $as dedicated to fighti ng the
Bhilisti nes $ho desecrated the ,ol% Ar-. #o ta-e
re!enge against the Bhilistines" he $as required to
-ill $ith the s$ord and $ith his hands. Similar to
Shimshon" the prophet Shmuel $as also a Na4ir for
his enti re life" and the !o$ $as imposed upon hi m
7b% his mother8 and not initiated b% him. A third
form of Ciblical Na4irite $as the !o$ ta-en b%
A!shalom 7>ing Da!idI s son8. ,e too- his !o$ as an
adul t" and the !o$ $ould last until his death. ,e
$as permi tted to cut his hair once in t$el !e
months.
SHA&&AT HALA-HAH
#he technical discussion of Shabbat ball pla%i ng
in!ol !es questions of carr%i ng on Shabbat and the
surface upon $hich the pla%i ng occurs. Another
halachic dimension to the question is the proper
use of Shabbat time. Adults and older children
7e!en prior to Car 3it4!ah age8 are ad!ised to
refrai n from pla%i ng ball on Shabbat and to de!ote
their ti me to learni ng and to acti !i ti es more in
-eepi ng $ith the holiness of the da%. De do not
stop smaller children from pla%i ng ball pro!i ded
that the% are pla%i ng in an area $herei n one is
permi t ted to carr% 7i.e. indoors or in an area $ithi n
an Eru!.8 Jurthermore" one is not permi t ted to pla%
ball on a ground that is not pa!ed or surfaced. #his
$oul d be a !iolati on of le!eling the ground or
possibl % diggi ng a hole in the ground.