Naso Nasso

Abstinence for the sake of Heaven

Tzaddik, fasting, spiritual discipline…

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Numbers 6:2

The Nazir
Generally speaking, the nazir undertakes a vow of abstinence for a specific amount of time. If he or she did not specify, it is assumed that the period lasts for 30 days. The nazirite vows apply in all times. If a person were to take a nazirite vow in the present era, he must observe it forever because we do not currently have a Temple to offer sacrifices when the vow is concluded. The nazirite laws are only observed in the Holy Land, and one who takes the vow in the diaspora is compelled to move to Israel to observe the naziriteship there. Despite taking these things into account, there are a few principles to glean from concerning the Nazir. The Jerusalem Talmud, tractate Nazir explains the Halachah:

Talmud Yerushalmi, Nazir 6:1:2

The three prohibitions may be viewed as a progression:
Separation – Prohibition against wine

What is so important about the nazir obtaining from wine or grapes (or any derivative thereof)?

What is the principle being inferred? Abstinence.
The question as to how did the idea of the nazir come about in context to scripture (why its immediately after the Torah of the Sotah, unfaithful wife…) , is due to the idea ,as laid out by the mefarshim/commentators , that the wife was seduced by intoxication of wine. In lew of this idea, many saw this as an opportunity via the Torah of the nazir to rise above their inclinations.

According to these commentaries (Rashi and Ibn Ezra), becoming a nazir means separation or abstinence, aimed at distancing the person from transgression. The nazir avoids drinking wine and brandy, which cause inebriation and may lead to sin. However, from the Ibn Ezra’s explanation we see that there is more involved here than just keeping oneself from sin. There is also the element of acting “for the sake of God’s service.” and we will see that as we continue.

Mishlei/Proverbs 31:4-6 says,

Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch discusses this point: The avoidance of anything that is made from grapes will be a constant warning for him. As a nazir, he has a great mission – to repair his thoughts and his feelings. Therefore, he is obligated to maintain the clear head and equanimity required for this service.

Its evident that the Nazir was to abstain from drinking wine. Not to get inebriated/drunk, or slight buzz. That is clear. However, why is there such a focus on not just abstaining from drinking the blood of grapes, but also consuming the grapes, raisins, husks, leaves or any part of the vine? There seems to be a major principle here. Wine, grapes, leaves

Hosea 3:1

The Nazarite was to avoid everything that proceeded from the vine, because its fruit was regarded as the sum and substance of all luxurious and sensual enjoyments.

Like a Kohen

Leviticus 10:9 states:

Separation and Holiness – Prohibition against haircuts

Numbers 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation,…. Be the time he has vowed to be a Nazir whether it be a week, a, month, or more, even a thousand days, but not less than thirty, as Ben Gersom observes:
there shall no razor come upon his head; he might not shave his beard, nor cut off his locks, and shave his head, nor cut short his locks with a pair of scissors, nor any with anything by which the hair may be removed, as Ben Gersom; nor pluck off his hair with his hands, as Maimonides says ( Hilchot Nezirut, c. 5. sect. 11.); but let it grow as long as it would during the time of his separation, which is expressed in the latter part of the verse:

Hair growth. Its about Abstinence from vanity. Now, we shouldn’t think that the nazir is being allowed to look like a mess according to outward appearance. But, it’s about simplicity, humility, and truth. The nazir is concerned about truth in the inward parts as opposed to the external glamor.

Concerning the likes of you the Torah has written: איש כי יפליא לנדור נדר לה’.” This is what the Torah refers to when it describes a נזיר as having נזר אלוקיו עליו, “having the crown of his G–d on his head.” Such a person has entered the domain that Adam was in before he sinned, before he became a זר, when he too still wore that “crown”. At that time his closeness to G–d was such that it did not require something זר, i.e. an intermediary, such as holy anointing oil. This status, however, is maintained only during the currency of his vow; afterwards the Nazirite reverts to being an ordinary mortal like the rest of us and this “crown” is withdrawn from him. He therefore has to bring certain offerings to atone for reverting to a lower level of sanctity, to the condition that Adam/Man has been in since the first sin. This, then, is the reason the Nazir has to bring sin offerings.
-Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Vavei HaAmudim 20:3

Rasta! Rastafari…dredlocks

(Acts 18:18)
Abraham Ibn Ezra explains in his commentary that whoever is free from desire is likened to a king who has a crown and royal diadem on his head.

In other words, the nazarite crowns himself, distinguishes himself, through the look of his head. Subsequently, the nazarite’s mind must be protected from influences that would obstruct clarity of thought and contemplation. (His hair) It is left alone, untainted and untouched, as a symbol of the mind his hair covers. By allowing his hair to grow, others around him will recognize that he has dedicated his mental life to God, if only for a limited time.

different to a kohen, the nazir leaves his hair uncut, whereas the kohen cuts his hair similar to a Kohen, in which the crown was with the tzitz and mitznefet/crown,

Holiness – Prohibition against ritual impurity

Talmud Bavli, Megillah 3b:7 states,

Nazir 43a:5

“§ With regard to the ritual impurity of a corpse, the Sages taught: The Torah states concerning a priest’s exposure to ritual impurity imparted by a corpse: “He shall not become impure, a chief among his people, to profane himself” (Leviticus 21:4), from which it is derived that the prohibition does not apply until the time that the person with whom he comes into contact dies. A priest does not become impure or profane his priesthood at any earlier stage. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says that the verse stated with regard to a nazirite: “He shall not become impure for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die” (Numbers 6:7), from which one can infer that when they die, one contracts ritual impurity from them, i.e., not until the other person actually dies.”

, 44a:8
Keritot 7a:7

Rav Ashi said to him: There, with regard to teruma oil, it is written: “They will die through it if they profane it” (Leviticus 22:9), and since the priest has already profaned the oil by using it, it is considered profaned. But with regard to the anointing oil it is written: “For the consecration of the anointing oil of His God is upon him” (Leviticus 21:12). The Merciful One calls it anointing oil even at this stage, to teach that even though it is upon the High Priest it is not considered profaned, and instead remains sacred.

“Just as ‘nezer’ means the royal diadem which marks the person whose head it surrounds as being set apart and inaccessible, so here ‘nezer’ designates a regime of living and striving that raises the person who vows of his own free will to undertake it”; Samson Raphael Hirsch, The Pentateuch with Translation and Commentary, trans. Isaac Levy (Gateshead, England: Judaica Press, 1976)

He must not desecrate his sacred activities by honoring the dead and thereby downgrading his spiritual concerns. In this respect he is much like the High Priest. The focus is on upholding his consecration. He must be on guard regarding tumat met.

Like a Kohen

Stumbling block…

Rav. Shaul, states that one should abstaint from even the appearance of evil.

Yochanan,  1 Yochanan  2

Again, the Torah says that if man or woman takes a vow/neder nazir… The entire purpose for this Torah is focused on abstinence for the sake of Heaven. Drawing near in kedusha. Although it is not possible currently to be a nazir in the fullest sense according to Torah. However, based on the Torah’s principles, we can be like nazirim, namely we can be like Perushim. What is a Perush? What is Perishut? Perishut (separateness) comes from the word “Perisha” (the singular of “Perishaya”) which denotes “one who separates himself,” or keeps away from persons or things impure, in order to attain the degree of holiness and righteousness required in those who would commune with God.

“The vow of a nazir”– nezirah everywhere means separation, so too here he separates from wine. “To separate himself to HaShem” – to separate himself from wine for the sake of heaven. We remember that Vayikra/Lev. 19:2 says Be Holy for I Hashem your God am Holy.
Rashi says: “You shall be holy – be separated (perushim) from forbidden relations and from sin, for wherever you find barriers to forbidden relations, you find holiness.”

There is an entire group who have the name “separatists”. The Pharisees formed a league or brotherhood of their own (“ḥaburah”), admitting only those who, in the presence of three members, pledged themselves to the strict observance of Levitical purity, to the avoidance of closer association with the ‘Am ha-Areẓ (the ignorant and careless boor), to the scrupulous payment of tithes and other imposts due to the priest, the Levite, and the poor, and to a conscientious regard for vows and for other people’s property (Dem. ii. 3; Tosef., Dem. ii. 1). the name “Perishut” (=’Αμιξία = “separation,” in contradistinction to ‘Επιμιξία = “intermingling”) as their watch word from the time of the Maccabean contest (see II Macc. xiv. 37; comp. verse 3).

Yet, while the more rigorous ones withdrew from political life after the death of Judas Maccabeus, refused to recognize the Hasmonean high priests and kings as legitimate rulers of the Temple and of the state, and, as Essenes, formed a brotherhood of their own, the majority took a less antagonistic attitude toward the Maccabean dynasty, who, like Phinehas, their “father,” had obtained their title by zeal for God (I Macc. ii. 54); and they finally succeeded in infusing their own views and principles into the political and religious life of the people.
Early believers were like pharisees, Paul was, Yeshua is believed to have been a Pharisee… In other words, nezirut and perishut are the same thing, because there is no commandment to separate other than nezirut, and therefore the Sages called nezirim “perushim.”

The Talmud specifically questioned why a nazarite did not abstain from food instead of wine and answered that not having food would weaken him. The goal of abstention is not to weaken the body’s constitution, but to free the mind from distraction or distortion such as would be caused by alcohol consumption. In the words of the sixteenth-century Italian exegete, Rabbi Obadiah Sforno, the nazarite consecrated himself to God to “engage in His Torah, follow His ways and cling to Him.”

The Torah asks us not only to refrain from what is forbidden but to refrain from and to suppress desires as these might ultimately lead us to violate what is forbidden outright.

What is the Hashem revealing to you concerning things to abstain from?

Holiness

Rashi says: “You shall be holy – be separated (perushim) from forbidden relations and from sin, for wherever you find barriers to forbidden relations, you find holiness.” But in Torat Kohanim, I saw simply: “Be separated.” And this is what they teach there:

“And you shall sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy, because I am holy” – just as I am holy, so too you shall be holy. Just as I am separated, so too you shall be separated.

But the truth is that there is no dispute between Rashi and the Ramban, because they spoke of different levels of holiness, because holiness has many levels, as is mentioned in many places in the Torah.

It is stated in the Zohar, Parashat Kedoshim, 3:81a:

*  Thus the existence of two levels of holiness is made explicit: the first is the holiness of one who guards himself from forbidden relations and the second is a higher holiness, the holiness of HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

However, the highest level of holiness is the level of holiness of HaShem, which is total separateness from strict judgment and the left side, and this is the holiness of the nazir. Therefore, the Ramban writes that the separateness mentioned all over the Talmud is the one that those having it are called perushim, i.e. separated from excesses, such as wine and meat.

And indeed, in VaYikra Rabbah 24:4 it is stated:

HaKadosh Baruch Hu said to Mosheh, Go say to my children Israel: Just as I am separated, so too you shall be separate. Just as I am holy, so too you shall be holy, as it is said: “You shall be holy.”

It follows that HaShem’s commandment “You shall be holy” is a directive to be perushim, separated.

The fact that the unmodified term perushim belongs specifically to nezirim follows from what the Sages say in Midrash Tehillim 137:

It is taught: A person should plaster his house but leave a small amount in commemoration of Jerusalem. A woman should don her ornaments but leave a small piece in commemoration of Jerusalem, as it is written (Tehillim 137:5): “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget itself.” And once the Temple was destroyed, there were many perushim in Israel who wouldn’t eat meat or drink wine.

This is also brought in Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim 885.

They were certainly nezirim, as it seems from the words of the Sages in BaMidbar Rabbah 10:23: “Even if he only said ‘I am a nazir from wine,’ he is a full nazir.”

In BaMidbar Rabbah 10 it is said:

Nezirut everywhere means perishut, as the verse says (VaYikra 22:2): “They should separate themselves (veyinnazeru) from the holy things of Israel,” and it says (VaYikra 25:5): “The grapes of your private property (nezirecha),” and it says (Hoshea 9:10): “And they separated themselves (vayyinnazeru) to shame,” and it says (Zecharyah 7:3): “Should I weep in the fifth month to separate myself (hinnazer)?” Thus nezirut everywhere means perishut.

The same is found in Rashi, commentary to BaMidbar 6:2:

“The vow of a nazir”– nezirah everywhere means separation, so too here he separates from wine.

“To separate himself to HaShem” – to separate himself from wine for the sake of heaven.

In other words, nezirut and perishut are the same thing, because there is no commandment to separate other than nezirut, and therefore the Sages called nezirim “perushim.”

It follows that the word perushim means nezirim, and the intention of HaShem’s commandment “You shall be holy” is to be nezirim.