Numbers 4:21-7:89 | Judges 13:2-25 | Mark 14:1-11

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Parashat Naso
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead

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 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.

Mark 14:1-11 - Mitzva for Me

Seth Wexler

The Besora portion this week brings us into the home of Shimon haMetzora (Simon the leper), in a place known as Bethany, a short distance outside of Jerusalem on the southeastern side of the Mount of Olives.  The Passover holiday was approaching, and the process of Yeshua's arrest and crucifixion was beginning to unfold. In a silent yet powerful act of deep devotion, a woman we believe to be Miriam (the sister of Eliezar and Martha) anoints the "Anointed One." Mark 14:3 continues, 

. . . and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over his head.   

The response by some of the talmidim was natural and rational. "Why was this fragrant oil wasted?  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor." Imagine, after all, the good that could have come if this costly product was used more efficiently? Yeshua, however, rebukes them and says,   

Let her alone... she has done a good work for me [mitzva for me]... Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.

    Mark 14: 6, 9 

The passage ends with Yehuda Ish Keriot (Judah Iscariot) going to the temple authorities and betraying Yeshua in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. 

To echo the talmidim, why was a year's wages (the cost of the anointing oil) "wasted" on this one occasion?  These days, we could have added to the building fund, bought a new sefer Torah, purchased books and resources for our local Messianic synagogue, or sponsored an entire shul to attend the UMJC conference in Miami! Yeshua, having the perfect perspective on God's economy, saw things differently. With his eyes always on the "heart of the matter", Miriam's humility and generosity was measured and found far more precious than the monetary cost of the oil.    

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - PARASHAT BEHA‘ALOTEKHA

Numbers 8:1-12:16
Zechariah 2:14-4:7
Matthew 26:17-30