Questions & Commentary on Parashat Naso'
1. How does the Nazirite in Numbers 6 differ from the
Suspected Adulteress in Numbers 5? How are the two figures interrelated?
Deborah Pardo-Kaplan
Numbers 5 begins by commanding a state of holiness
in the camp of Israel:
men and women who are unclean are to be exiled outside its borders. God says to
Moses: "You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the
camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell"
(Numbers 5:3). All those who are impure are to be placed outside the boundaries
of where God's chosen people live, and where God dwells among them. The sins of
the unclean almost always have the opportunity to be removed; through ritual
washings, waiting periods, through restitution and sacrificial offerings. The
unclean could then be restored to their community and into the presence of God.
But what about the woman whose husband has become
jealous; suspicious that she has gone astray, removing herself from under his
protection and authority? Is there any restoration back into the community for
her? Or is her fate one like a leper never healed - to stand on the outskirts
of her former home forever looking in?
The woman is told to come before the priest at the
tent of meeting and to offer a sacrifice devoid of oil and frankincense. Unlike
the usual more elaborate offerings, hers lacks joy. It bemoans her possible
guilt and the pain of her husband; for the sacrifice is brought by her husband:
"He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; . . . an offering
of remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance" (Numbers 5:15). There is to be no sweet aroma that
rises into the heavens, just burnt grain.
The priest then takes the woman from her husband and
she is brought before God. Once her hair has been shamefully and mournfully
uncovered, the priest removes earth from the sanctuary floor and places it in
holy water from the laver. The offering is placed in her hands while the priest
holds the water in his: "The bitter water, it is called, that brings a curse"
(Numbers 5:24).
The priest charges her to accept an oath upon
herself. If she is innocent she can go free. Beginning with this assumption,
the priest says: "If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray
to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, be free from this bitter
water that brings a curse" (Numbers 5:19); but if guilty the priest says to
her: "The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people when the Lord
makes your thigh waste and your belly swell. And this water that brings a curse
shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste
away" (5:21-22). God causes the
woman to become that living oath within the chosen people, affirming the
consequences of either guilt or innocence by saying the double "Amen, Amen".
The curse is written on a scroll (with God's name)
and scraped into the water. She drinks the water out of a ceramic vessel (also
used for purification of skin diseases), not the usual gold vessel. The magical
element of drinking a potion has been transferred onto the God of Israel whose
supreme authority and omniscience will judge her sin that no witness has seen.
Not a human, not an angel, not one of the gods, but the Lord of Israel will see
into her soul. She tastes the unpleasant earth in her mouth reminding her of
the possible guilt of her actions. If she is guilty, the plague will come upon
her, one inducing infertility, or perhaps, abortion if she has become pregnant
from the secret adultery she has committed. The suspected adulteress is unique
among biblical characters - hers is the only case in biblical law where the
outcome of a hidden sin depends on a miracle; on God's intervention. If she is
innocent, she will be free to bear children.
This suspected wife offers a reverse picture to the
person described in the following chapter: the holy Nazirite, who at the end of
the period of separation, also stands before a priest, palms out, but with an
elaborate offering: its recipe consists of a boiled shoulder of a ram, a loaf
of unleavened bread, a thin cake, and a shorn head. The woman of the jealous
husband is compelled by law to swear her oath for divine evaluation, while the
Nazirite under no compulsion, chooses to set him or herself apart for divine
blessing.
The biblical passage does not explicitly tell us why
someone might choose this kind of ascetic life temporarily. The verbal form of
Nazirite, lehazzir (its root nazar), means to restrict.
Interestingly, the word for vow - neder, is a variant of the root nazar.
Neder: to vow, implies devotion, commitment, pledge - all the positive
aspects of the Nazirite, whereas, nazar means to restrict, abstain,
self-deny. The Nazirite becomes a combination of one committed and devoted to
self-denial and restrictions for the purpose of sanctification to God.
Solomon Astruc, in the 14th c., in Midreshei
Hattora, says the sin is not in becoming or ceasing to be a Nazirite, but what
precedes the Nazirite vow - the previous inability to discipline desire. This
may remind us of the woman who precedes the Nazirite in the scriptures - the
woman suspected of adultery who might not have restrained her pleasures in a
man other than her husband. Could the Nazirite vow, following promptly after
the adulteress be a gracious offer necessary for the person, like the
adulterous woman, to restrict herself, vow abstinence and be restored to
holiness through the vow? Or could these two paradigms be juxtaposed to relay
the general solution for humans when tempted? Could this Nazirite vow be thus a
necessary but extreme medicine for spiritual ills as determined by Astruc?
2. On the surface it seems odd that the Torah would devote
seventy verses to the donations of the tribal leaders at the dedication of the
altar since all twelve gifts were identical (Numbers 7:12-82). What is the Torah trying to teach us?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
One reason the Torah devotes so many verses to the
gifts of the tribal leaders, even though they were exactly the same, is to
underscore the point that every one of their gifts were equally precious in the
sight of God. As the Midrash states:
R. Judan said: The Blessed Holy One considered it as though
they had all presented their offering on the first day as well as on the last,
none being greater than another.
Thus, the lengthy twelve-fold repetition of the
princes offering's highlights the important truth that all the gifts of God's
people are equally meaningful and valuable to him. Like the tribal leaders, we
must learn to become proactive givers.
Secondly, though all the gifts were identical, the
order in which they were brought and what they symbolically communicated about
the role of each tribe was different. The leaders brought their gifts not
according to the order of the birth of the tribes, but rather according to the
order in which they set out to travel in the wilderness. The reason why Nachson
of the tribe of Judah
took the lead in both cases is that Judah
represented the royal tribe chosen by God to lead the people and was the one
from whom King-Messiah was ultimately going to be a descendant. As the Midrash
Rabba states, "Nahshon led off by presenting an offering to symbolize
authority, since his father had appointed him king over his brethren." Since Judah
represented the crown of kingship, he was given the honor of leading the
people. From this we learn that the Lord honors those who are willing to make
the sacrifice of leading his people. Next came Nethanel from the tribe of
Issachar. The honor of being second was given to this tribe because of their
dedication to and knowledge of Torah. Midrash Rabba says:
The prince of Issachar, when his turn arrived, made an
offering to represent the Torah; because the members of his tribe loved the
Torah more than any of the other tribes; as may be inferred from the text, '
And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times,' etc.
(1 Chronicles 12:33).
Since this tribe represented the crown of Torah,
they were given the honor of following Judah, the royal tribe. From this we
learn that God honors those who honor his Word. One the third day, Eliav ben
Chailon, the leader of Zevulan, brought his donation. Zevulan along with
Issachar and Judah as its head made up the first of four encampments of Israel.
According to our Sages, they were given this honor due to their generous
support of Torah learning. The Midrash states:
Why was Zebulun privileged to be third to present his
offering? Because he loved the Torah and lavished money without stint on Issachar
so that the tribe of Issachar might not be compelled to seek a livelihood and
thus have to neglect the study of the Torah.
From this we learn that God grants great honor and
blessing to those who support individuals, organizations, and institutions that
are committed to the spiritual service of educating people in the way of Torah
and Brit Chadasha. Ultimately, the gifts of each of the twelve tribes added
something of great value to the mission and spiritual well being of God's
people. When we strive to the same, we bring great joy to Messiah and become
precious in his eyes as well.
Dr. Noel Rabinowitz
Luke 21:5-24 - The Destruction of Jerusalem
This week's besora reading records Yeshua's
prophetic teaching on an event that the Jewish people consider one of the (if
not the) darkest days in all of Jewish history: the destruction of Jerusalem
and the temple in 70 C.E.
The discourse as a whole describes Jerusalem's
destruction as well as the Lord's return at the end of the age. While today's besora
reading focuses on the first of these events, it is important we remember that
the story concludes with the return of the Son of Man riding on the clouds as
the great warrior-king to rescue his people and restore the nation (Luke 21:
25ff).
Before we arrive at that joyful moment, however,
there is much to consider and to learn. Unlike the eschatological discourse of
Matthew 24, which focuses on the still distant siege of Jerusalem that will
take place during the Great Tribulation, today's passage focuses on events that
would unfold within the lifetime of many of the disciples.
Yeshua's talmidim set the stage for the
discourse by observing that the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and
gifts dedicated to God. Yeshua responds to them, saying, "As for what you see
here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one
of them will be thrown down" (vv. 5-6).
In what follows Yeshua describes the destruction
that will follow because of the nation's unfaithfulness (v. 22). He describes
the signs that will take place before the end (vv. 7-11) and the terrible
persecution that his disciples will suffer (vv. 12-19). In vv. 20-24 Yeshua describes the horrific
events that will befall Jerusalem
itself.
In Luke's version of the eschatological discourse,
Yeshua is clearly focused on Jerusalem's
fall in the current age. He does not discuss the Great Tribulation or that fact
that none would survive had the Lord not cut short "these days." Instead, he
predicts that an army will surround Jerusalem
and destroy the city (v. 20) Pregnant women and young mothers will fall by the
sword (v. 23). Jerusalem's citizens
will be taken away into captivity, and the city itself will be "trodden down"
by the gentiles (v. 24).
In this passage, Yeshua thus predicts the terrible
events that will befall the nation within a relatively short period of time.
Yet even for Luke, these events are merely a snapshot, a "preview" of the
things yet to come. This, of course, brings us to the second half of Yeshua's
message. In vv. 25-29 Luke connects the destruction of Jerusalem
to the cosmic changes that will shake the world and the return of the Son of
Man.
What devotional nuggets can we mine from this text?
A passage about suffering and judgment, the suffering of women and children and
destruction of the Temple doesn't
really lend itself to warm and comforting devotional thoughts, does it? I suppose that there in lies the lesson. The
world is not the way it's supposed to be.
When the world in general and our lives in
particular are at their bleakest, we need to remember that God will make things
right. The time of the gentiles will come to an end (v. 24), Yeshua will return
(vv. 27-28), and the citizens of Jerusalem
will once dwell in peace in the messianic kingdom. Therefore, let us remember
to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
However, we also need to translate these truths into personal realities. Let us
strive to live our daily lives with confidence that despite the evils that
befall us, our future hope is certain.
Learning 
