Parshat Nasso

Is it better to try to divorce oneself from the physical pleasures of this world to live a truly spiritual life, or is it better to be a part of this world and try to elevate the experience of physical pleasure into a spiritual experience as well?  There are many different religious perspectives with regard to this question.  Judaism also has a variety of perspectives on this question.  The debate about whether it is possible for physical pleasure to be something positive or not comes up in this week’s Parsha. 

This week’s Parsha has contains the laws of the Nazir.  The Torah (Numbers 6:1-11) describes the Nazir as someone who makes a vow to separate oneself as a result of a religious conviction: they are forbidden to consume anything made from grape products, cut their hair, or come in contact with dead bodies.  The question about whether this is positive behavior or negative behavior comes up here as a result of two seemingly conflicting verses.  Verse 8 says, since “he separated himself unto the lord, he shall be holy.”  But, verse 11 says that a part of the offering brought by the Nazir in the temple was a sin offering.  If the person is doing something holy, why is their required sacrifice considered a sin offering?

Nachmanides explains this contradiction according to the simple meaning of the verses.   His perspective is that the state of separateness is a good thing; a person should always desire to separate themselves for the sake of coming closer to God.  So the sin offering is brought because the Nazir is leaving the holy state that he/she had been in. 

An alternative perspective in the Jewish tradition is championed by Maimonides.  Maimonides in his introduction to Pirkei Avot says explicitly the Nazir is a warning against the ascetic life.  Maimonides explains that the Torah ideal is to do everything in moderation: “he should dwell amidst society in uprightness and faith and not in deserts or mountains.”  Furthermore, in Maimonides’ Mishna Torah (Deot 3:1), he quotes an opinion in the Talmud in response to someone who wishes to live the life of an ascetic:

Therefore, our sages commanded man to deny himself only the things denied him by the Torah.  He should not inflict on himself vows of abstinence on things permitted to him.  Thus our Sages stated: “what the Torah has forbidden to you is not sufficient?  You need to forbid yourself other things too?! ...To such things King Solomon referred when he counseled (Ecclesiastes 7:16), “So don’t overdo goodness and don’t act the wise man to excess, or you may be dumbfounded.”

If we are not supposed to deny ourselves things that the Torah permitted, why does the Torah permit a person to become a Nazir, and why is that person called holy?  In my opinion, I think that the both the perspectives of Nachmanides and Maimonides are important religious tools.  For most of us, most of the time, the lesson of Maimonides is most useful.  We need to have realistic religious goals, it needs to be a life that we can maintain and enjoy.  There is no reason to forbid ourselves anything that is permitted by the Torah; but that does not mean that Nachmanides’ message is irrelevant.  The religious ideal is to be connected to God at all times.  Maimonides’ middle path approach might not be assuming that we are disconnected to God, but his middle path approach is description on how a religious life should be led and not advice on how to make our daily lives more religious.  While the life of the ascetic might not be a realistic religious goal for us, its lesson is still a relevant one.  There are times when we can strive to push ourselves harder so that we can experience for ourselves what it means to be more connected to God.  The occasional experience of religious passion can have a trickledown effect into our normal lives.  Hopefully, by making the effort to separate ourselves in order to be holy from time to time, we can inject the rest of our lives with lessons learnt from those experiences.

Parshat Bemidbar

Humility is a very important value in Judaism.  Throughout the Talmud there are lessons regarding the importance being humble.  In Tractate  Sotah 5a the Talmud says, “regarding a person lacking humility, the Holy One (God) says, ‘He and I are not able to dwell together in this world’.”  Meaning, that pride a lack of humility can lead to so much pride that person pushes off any feeling of having a Lord greater than them. 

One of the many benefits of being humble that Judaism teaches is that it will keep you from sinning.  One place we learn this from is the first Mishna in the third chapter of Pirkei Avot.  The Mishna says:

Reflect on three things and you will avoid transgression: Know where you came from, where you are going, and before whom you will have to give an account and reckoning.  “Where you came from” – from a putrid drop;  “Where you are going” – to a place of dust, worms and maggots;  “And before whom you will have to give an account and reckoning” –  before the Supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.

One way to look at this Mishna is that when you realize that in the great scheme things you aren’t so great, this humbling reflection will motivate you to avoid sinning.  The implication being that the lack of humility can make a person feel better than others or overly important, this can cause a feeling of entitlement.  The feeling of entitlement can lead one to treat others poorly, or to feel entitled to get away with not living up to their religious responsibilities.  There are countless other examples and lessons throughout the Jewish tradition which argue the value of humility and its positive impact on human behavior.

I would like to share with you a commentary I found in this week’s Parsha which teaches a similar lesson.  The Torah in this week’s Parsha warns that if one were to gaze upon the holy vessels of the Tabernacle as they are being covered in preparation for travel, that person would die.  Rabbi Moshe Hefez a 16^th century Italian Rabbi comments on this section:

I believe that the text contains a warning against the temptation of high office and the cure – humility.  Pride and the feeling of success come before a fall.  True contentment and happiness can only be achieved by the feeling of reverence and humility.  The sons of Kehath (Levites whose job it was to prepare the Tabernacle for travel and to carry it when traveling) were in danger of becoming victims of pride and vanity as a result of the privilege of carrying the ark which had been bestowed upon them.  The Holy One, blessed be He, therefore withheld from them one important detail.  They were not allowed to carry the ark until Aaron and his sons had covered the holy things, so that they should realize that they, too, were subordinated to someone higher than themselves.  The prohibition of touching the holy things was designed to deflate their pride.  They should not imagine they were in complete control and become over proud. 

Parshat Behar

                The beginning of this week’s Parsha begins with some of the laws pertaining to the land of Israel, particularly the laws of Shemitta.  These laws basically command the Jewish farmers in the land of Israel to let the land lay fallow on every seventh year.  “When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a Sabbath unto God” (Leviticus 25:2).  Commenting on this verse, the Sefat Emet (Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter 1847–1905) says, “because the Lord has given us the land so that it will be known to us that the land belongs to God.” 

                                This relationship is highlighted by the Sefat Emet’s comment on the Shemitta laws.  When a person owns a piece of land, they are  masters of that land.  A person might feel that since the land is his/her property he/she can do whatever they want with that land.  For the Jewish person observing the laws of Shemitta, this is not the case.  The Jewish person will feel mastery and ownership over the land in his/her possession, and hopefully sustain him or herself and family through working the land;  however, the laws of Shemittah help reinforce the idea that they are not the sole owners of the land.  There is a power which still dominates them; even on their own land they are subordinate to God.  This is the relationship being described by the Sefat Emet.  The land owner is recognizing that the land belongs to God by observing God’s laws on his/her land.  

Most of us would probably find it quite strange to give something to someone in order for that person to realize that the object really belongs to the giver.  Usually, when we give something to another person, that object no longer belongs to us; it is now the property of the person who is receiving it.    But this is not the case with God.  Everything in this world really belongs to God. It is through God’s great mercy that we are given life and that our existence is sustained.  According to Judaism, we have a choice- whether to recognize and appreciate that our existence is dependent on God or not.

The lesson with regard to Shemitta is relevant to all aspects of our lives.  We can go through life oblivious to the fact that we were created by God and owe our continued existence to God, or we can choose to recognize that our lives depend on God.  I believe that this is one of the goals of Jewish law.  There are laws pertaining to all aspects of our life:  the way we eat, the way we dress, the way we treat other people, the way we wake up in the morning, the way we go to sleep, etc.  We show our gratitude for having been created and proclaim that we are subservient to God by making a point to bring Jewish law into all aspects of our lives.  It’s one thing to think in our hearts that we believe in God, and that God is always with us- but it's quite another to act upon it. Actions speak a lot louder than words.  By following Jewish law we can constantly remind ourselves that we are servants of the Holy one.