…there was a moment of Divine anger, during which 70, 000 died. It seems hard to reconcile the idea of counting as an act of love with the fact that counting involves great risk. The second source of perplexity is the phrase the Torah uses to describe the act of counting: naso/se’u et rosh, literally, “lift the head.” There are many…
The word Naso that gives its name to this week’s parsha is a verb of an extraordinary range of meanings, among them: to lift, to carry, and to forgive. Here though, and elsewhere in the wilderness years, it is used, in conjunction with the phrase et rosh (“the head”) to mean “to count.” This is an odd way of speaking,…
The Parsha in a Nutshell In Naso we continue last week’s description of the preparations the Israelites made for their journey from Sinai to the Holy Land. Naso discusses many different topics which at first seem unconnected. These include the roles of two of the families from the tribe of Levi – Gershon and Merari; the census (counting) of the…
Last year in these studies we noted the well-known difference of opinion among the Sages about the nazirite – the individual who undertook to observe special rules of holiness and abstinence: not to drink wine or other intoxicants (including anything made from grapes), not to have his hair cut and not to defile himself by contact with the dead. In…
Our sedra contains the laws relating to an unusual phenomenon in the religious life: the case of the nazirite, an individual who undertook – by oath and for a limited period – a special set of self-imposed restrictions. He vowed [1] to refrain from wine and other intoxicants, including anything made from grapes; [2] not to have his hair cut;…
…the day that Moses finished erecting the Tabernacle” – the source of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s statement that “Wherever it says ‘and it came to pass’ it refers to something that existed in the past, and was then interrupted, and then returned to its original situation.” Tanchumah [Buber], Naso, 24 The Tabernacle, small and fragile though it was, was an…
As mentioned in a previous Covenant and Conversation, there was an ongoing debate between the Sages as to whether the Nazirite – whose laws are outlined in this week’s parsha – was to be praised or not. Recall that the Nazirite was someone who voluntarily, usually for a specified period, undertook a special form of holiness. This meant that he…
…an opportunity to be seized and a temptation to be resisted. NASO: You are as important as you make other people feel. BEHA’ALOTECHA: We tend to become what our friends are. So choose friends who are what you aspire to be. SHELACH LECHA: Never let negative emotions distort your perceptions. To see the world as it is, not as you…
…Sacks (London: Lubavitch Foundation, 1986), 239–245. [3] See Midrash Tanchuma, parshat Naso 16. [4] Brachot 35b cites the view of R. Ishmael as evaluated by Abaye. [5] Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Deot 6:1; Shemoneh Perakim, ch. 4. How many reasons can you think of that make it hard to understand why ten of the spies brought a negative report back…
…etc; Mishnah; and Gemara. Now, have a look at that page. Can you see it [see page 16 in the hyperlinked source sheet]? That’s what we say immediately after the blessings of the Torah. Can you see what’s happening in that passage? And precise three stage learning: “Yevarechecha Hashem Veyishmerecha”, the priestly blessings from parshat Naso; then “Eilu devarim she’ein…