by Rabbi Martin J. Berman
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
This week’s Parasha, Naso, deals with the Nazir: “A man or a woman who will take a nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem….” (Numbers 6:2)
The Nazir, who seeks to purify himself and come close to Hashem, separates himself from three things: cutting the hair, drinking wine, and becoming tameh (ritually impure through contact with the dead). These three separations are said to symbolize correcting blemishes in the three worlds of Thought, Action and Speech.
Thought: Hair grows from the head, the seat of thought. Thus, cutting the hair represents correcting imperfections in the sphere of thought.
Action: Tum’ah corresponds to the sphere of action. The principal source of Tum’ah results from contact with a dead body, yet before its death, the body was the epitome of action.
Speech: Wine represents the function of speech. Hence the saying: “Enter the wine – exit the secret.” Secrets are communicated by words, by speech. Correction in the sphere of speech is effected by abstinence from wine.
With that in mind, if we want to understand and emulate the act of becoming a Nazir, purifying ourselves and coming close to Hashem, we must separates ourselves from three things. We should separate our thoughts from the indecent and profane. We should separate our actions from those that cause physical harm to others. And we should guard our speech from injuring the feelings and reputations of other people.
That should be the pledge of the Nazir today.
Shabbat Shalom!
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