Naso – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

איש או אישה כי יפליא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

When we first set eyes on an individual who has chosen a life of crime, human nature tends to focus on the present; he is a criminal, with little or no redeeming value. Rarely do we take the time to question his or her origins: What was his or her family life like as they were growing up? Did he or she go to school? Did he or she have good friends? In other words, we rarely ask where and when he or she went wrong? For the most part, this is due to a preconceived notion that all criminals…

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כל ימי נדר נזרו... קדש יהיה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5774

All the days of the vow of his nezirus… holy shall he be. (6:5)

The Nazir is unique in that his body becomes consecrated to Hashem. He becomes kadosh, holy, b’kedushas ha’guf, his actual body becomes holy. He is not permitted to become ritually impure to a corpse, even to his closest seven relatives. Why? Ki neizar Elokav al Rosho, “For the crown of his G-d is upon his head” (ibid 6:7). What is the meaning of being the “receptacle” for Hashem’s crown? Why would this be a reason for prohibiting him from becoming contaminated to a corpse? Is he holier than the Kohen who is permitted to become tamei, contaminated, to his seven…

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כה תברכו את בני ישראל אמור להם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5774

So shall you bless Bnei Yisrael, saying to them. (6:23)

The Kohen who blesses the people has an “approved text” to which he must adhere verbatim. There is no room for the Kohen to supplement the prescribed text stated in the Torah. The Kohen who adds blessing transgresses the prohibition of Es kol hadavar asher Anochi metzaveh eschem oso tishmoru laasos, lo soseif alav v’lo sigra mimenu, “The entire word that I command you, that you shall observe to do; you shall not add to it, and you shall not subtract from it” (Devarim 13:1). In his commentary to the pasuk, Rashi cites examples of Bal Tosif, do not add:…

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נשא את ראש בני גרשון גם הם

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5773

Raise the heads of (count) the children of Gershon as well (after counting Kehas). (4:22)

Shlomo HaMelech writes, Yekarah hee mipeninim v’chol chafatzecha lo yishru bah, “It (the Torah) is dearer (more precious) than pearls, and all your desires cannot compare to it” (Mishlei 3:15). Following the census of the Jewish People, Hashem asked Moshe Rabbeinu to count Shevet Levi separately. Their count was carried out according to their sequence in birth: Gershon, Kehas, Merari. After their tasks within the Bais HaMikdash were designated, the sequence changed; as Kehas, the bearer of the Aron Kodesh, preceded Gershon, who carried the Curtains. The Midrash establishes the order of the counting of the Leviim according to the…

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כל הבא לעבוד עבודת עבודה ועבודת משא באהל מועד

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5773

Everyone who comes to perform the work of service and the work of burden in the Ohel Moed. (4:47)

The Talmud Arachin 11a seeks a Scriptural source for the obligation to have song in the Bais Hamikdash. Ten sources are cited. One source is from the above pasuk: La’avod avodas avodah, “To perform the service of the service.” Chazal ask and others respond, “Which service requires another service? We must say that this refers to song.” An earlier source quoted by the Talmud employs the pasuk in Devarim 28:47 to provide the reason for the various calamities visited on the Jewish People. Tachas asher lo avadita es Hashem Elokechem b’simchah u’betuv leivav, “Because you did not serve Hashem, your…

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איש או אשה כי יפליא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5773

A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazarite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

The translation of yafli, “shall disassociate,” follows Rashi, who views the Nazir as someone who breaks with society’s norms, seeking to separate himself from the temptations of his environment. It is a noble position to take, one to which not all of us can aspire. Ibn Ezra takes it a step further. He defines yafli as wonderment. The nazir is doing something astonishing. It is truly out of the ordinary to undertake a vow that will sever oneself from the taavos, physical desires, which others find so “life-sustaining.” Ibn Ezra is teaching us a powerful lesson. To overcome one’s habits;…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5772

“Take a census of the Bnei Gershon, as well.” (4:22)

Part of Bnei Gershon’s responsibility was to participate in the musical accompaniment of some of the Korbanos Tzibur, communal offerings, a duty that in the Talmud Arachin 11a, Chazal characterize as labor. Horav Moshe Feinstein, z.l., explains the significance of “gam heim”, also them, or, as well, as the Torah’s way of demonstrating to us that no difference existed between the work performed by Bnei Kehas, who carried the Aron HaKodesh, and the work of Bnei Gershon, who were seemingly not involved in such a holy endeavor. Exactly what one does is not significant, it is how and why one…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5772

“Any man, if his wife will go astray and commit a trespass against him.” (5:12)

Rashi explains the juxtaposition of the laws of sotah, the errant wife, to the preceding passage, which addresses the laws of Matnos Kehunah, the Priestly gifts. The connection between the two passages is that if one withholds the gifts that rightfully belong to the Kohen, he will have to confront the Kohen when he is required to bring his wife, the sotah, to him. Simply, this means that if one does not go to the Kohen out of his own free-will, he will be compelled to go out of a sense of urgency and necessity. This makes sense in regard…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5772

“And a man will have lain with her…and she became secluded and she was defiled…and a spirit of jealousy had passed over him and he warned his wife.” (5:13-14)

Regarding the phrase, “and a spirit of jealousy had passed over him,” Rashi explains that this occurred prior to the seclusion. If he had become jealous after the seclusion, however, this law would not apply. In other words, the Torah writes about the seclusion and defilement prior to the jealousy, even though, in reality, the jealousy must precede the seclusion. We must endeavor to understand why the Torah changes the sequence of events. Why not record the events in their sequence: first kinui, jealousy and warning, followed by setirah, seclusion? Horav Yitzchok Goldwasser, Shlita, cites Chazal in the Talmud Sotah…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Naso, 5772

“But if the woman had not become defiled, and she is pure, then she shall be proven innocent and she shall bear seed.” (5:28)

Rabbi Akiva, cited in the Talmud Sotah 26a says, “Then she shall be proven innocent and she shall bear seed,” what does this mean? It refers to a circumstance in which a woman who previously had been unable to conceive, who had been wrongly accused of infidelity, will now be blessed with conception. Rabbi Yishmael questioned this, suggesting that every barren woman, therefore, will seclude herself. After being wrongly accused, she will be blessed with a child. A virtuous woman, who nonetheless remains loyal to her husband and avoids all suspicion, however, will continue to be barren! Is this fair?…

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איש או אישה כי יפליא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

כל ימי נדר נזרו... קדש יהיה

All the days of the vow of his nezirus… holy shall he be. (6:5)

כה תברכו את בני ישראל אמור להם

So shall you bless Bnei Yisrael, saying to them. (6:23)

נשא את ראש בני גרשון גם הם

Raise the heads of (count) the children of Gershon as well (after counting Kehas). (4:22)

כל הבא לעבוד עבודת עבודה ועבודת משא באהל מועד

Everyone who comes to perform the work of service and the work of burden in the Ohel Moed. (4:47)

איש או אשה כי יפליא לנדר נדר נזיר להזיר לד'

A man or woman who shall disassociate himself by taking a Nazarite vow of abstinence for the sake of Hashem. (6:2)

“Take a census of the Bnei Gershon, as well.” (4:22)

“Any man, if his wife will go astray and commit a trespass against him.” (5:12)

“And a man will have lain with her…and she became secluded and she was defiled…and a spirit of jealousy had passed over him and he warned his wife.” (5:13-14)

“But if the woman had not become defiled, and she is pure, then she shall be proven innocent and she shall bear seed.” (5:28)

YEARS

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