Congregation Beth Shalom

Torah Portion: Naso

Book of Numbers
Chaps. 4:21-7:89
June 3, 2011

What, and who, is a Nazarite?  This Torah portion introduces a new category of religiousity-the Nazir.  The Torah states, "If anyone, man or woman, explicitly utters a nazirite's vow, to set himself apart for the Lord, he shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant. . .no razor shall touch his head. . .he shall not go in where there is a dead person.  Even if his father or mother, or his brother or sister, should die (Num. 6:1-5)."

In ancient Israel, there existed a hierarchy of holiness.  Based on birth, the Israelites were divided into three groups: Cohanim (priests), Levi'im (Levites, or priestly assistants), and Yisraelim (ordinary common folk).  The overwhelming majority of Jews were part of the third category.  It was for their purpose the category of Nazir was created.  For the priest and levite, their entire existence was devoted to the divine service of God.  What about the average Jew?  What if he/she wished to devote their lives to a holier and more devout existence?  What recourse was there for them?  They could take a vow to become a Nazir requiring that they abstain from drinking alcohol, cutting their hair, and attending to the dead.  Their vows had to be for no less than thirty days and it only applied in the Land of Israel.

No one is certain when the vow of the Nazarite ceased to be operative.  What is known is from the 6th century c.e onward there is no mention of this practice.  In fact, with the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 c.e., the priests and levites were effectively out of work.  In the absence of the Temple, synagogues arose.  Devotion to the service of God became egalitarian-a pursuit available to all Jews.

Rabbi Brad Artson writes, "The Nazir was the path for the biblical Jew who wanted to make that relationship central and public.  But what of our own age?  What of the Jews who have those same deep spiritual needs, the same burning desire to make their Judaism a priority?  Those people need look no further than their own synagogues. . .The challenge of participating with a full heart in the pageant and drama of Jewish living is still before us.  Not as Nazirites, but as enthusiastic participants in learning and in worship services, as practitioners of the mitzvot, each one of us can claim a unique place as a servant of the living God."

Rabbi Howard Siegel