This week we have the longest single parsha in the entire Torah, Parshat Naso, Numbers 4:21 - 7:89. It addresses many topics, each of which would justify an essay on its own. In fact, two of the topics, the rules for the sotah – a woman suspected of infidelity by her husband – and the rules for a nazir – a person who takes on a particular obligation to stay away from wine, corpses, and haircuts – each get an entire tractate in both the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. Prior to the sotah and nazir descriptions, the parsha begins with a continuation of the roles of particular Levite families in the Tabernacle, and gives the text for the blessing that all priests are to give to the people of Israel every day. The parsha concludes with an extended accounting of the gifts and offerings that the leaders of the 12 tribes brought for the occasion of the inauguration of the Tabernacle; these narratives are also read during Chanukah. The Haftarah, Judges 13:2-25, relates the narrative of the birth of Samson, who was famous for being a nazir for life.
In this dvar torah I will concentrate on what the rabbis – and by that I mean the great sages of the past – tell us about the nazir, and how this sheds light on a somewhat surprising attitude of traditional Judaism towards excessive religiosity. Details below the fold.
A vow to become a nazir is voluntary, for a default period of 30 days, although as the example of Samson shows it is possible to be a nazir for even for life. A nazir avoids all wine and other intoxicants, and all other grape products as well. A nazir does not cut or shave his or her hair. A nazir also avoids all corpses, even avoiding cemeteries, even when it is a close relative who has died. When there is an accidental or deliberate breach of the vow in any of these areas, the nazir starts the period all over again.
At the end of the nazir period the nazir comes to the Tabernacle (or Temple) with three animals for offerings: The first is a male lamb for an elevation offering , the second is a female lamb for a sin offering, and the third is a ram for peace offering accompanied by unleavened bread. There are some more details including completely shaving the nazir's body, and after the entire ritual the nazir can return to normal life, including consuming wine.
The rabbis were puzzled by the requirement for a sin offering. Sin offerings are usually connected to an accidental but serious halachic violation, such as forgetting that it is Shabbat and lighting a fire! The nazir, on the other hand, has just completed a period of abstinence from an intoxicating substance, a period of absence from signs of death, a period of abstinence from haircuts which are seen then and now as a pleasurable act. Where is the sin here?
In fact, the rabbis debated whether being a nazir –- or, for that matter, any kind of excessive piety or abstinence from things that are permitted under halachah –- is a good thing at all. And in this world where we tend to associate religion with extremes of belief and behavior, it is somewhat surprising to discover that the general attitude of the rabbis toward such is not particularly favorable. To quote from the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Nedarim, Page 10a:
אמר אביי שמעון הצדיק ורבי שמעון ור' אלעזר הקפר כולן שיטה אחת הן דנזיר חוטא הוי שמעון הצדיק ורבי שמעון הא דאמרן ורבי אלעזר הקפר ברבי דתניא ר' אלעזר הקפר ברבי אומר וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש וכי באיזו נפש חטא זה אלא שציער עצמו מן היין והלא דברים ק"ו ומה זה שלא ציער עצמו אלא מן היין נקרא חוטא המצער עצמו מכל דבר על אחת כמה וכמה מכאן כל היושב בתענית נקרא חוטא והדין קרא בנזיר טמא כתיב משום דשנה בחטא הוא
Abaye said: Simeon the Just, R. Simeon, and R. Eleazar hakappar, are all of the same opinion, viz., that a nazir is a sinner. Simeon the Just and R. Simeon, as we have stated. R. Eleazar ha-Kappar Berabbi, as it was taught: And he shall make atonement for him, for that he sinned against a soul. Against which ‘soul’ then has he sinned? But it is because he afflicted himself through abstention from wine. Now, does not this afford an argument from the minor to the major? If one, who afflicted himself only in respect of wine, is called a sinner: how much more so one who ascetically refrains from everything. Hence, one who fasts is called a sinner. But this verse refers to an unclean nazir? — That is because he doubly sinned.
The translation from the Aramaic is the Soncino translation, available here:
http://halakhah.com/
It should be noted that this opinion, that abstaining completely from things that are permissible, is not uncontested. There are numerous admiring but not entirely sympathetic narratives in the talmud of unusually pious individuals who live ascetic lives. One such sage of note was Rabbi Zadok, who lived at the very end of the Second Temple, as described in Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Gittin, page 56a:
ר' צדוק יתיב ארבעין שנין בתעניתא דלא ליחרב ירושלים כי הוה אכיל מידי הוה מיתחזי מאבראי וכי הוה בריא מייתי ליה גרוגרות מייץ מייהו ושדי להו
R. Zadok observed fasts for forty years in order that Jerusalem might not be destroyed, [and he became so thin that] when he ate anything the food could be seen [as it passed through his throat.] When he wanted to restore himself, they used to bring him a fig, and he used to suck the juice and throw the rest away.
That piety may have inadvertently cost a life; the very same page describes the one of the possible causes of the death of "Martha the daughter of Boethius was one of the richest women in Jerusalem" during the famine that occurred during the Roman siege of the city immediately prior to the destruction of the Temple. (She appears to have been sufficiently wealthy to have purchased the office of high priest for her husband, Joshua son of Gamla, who somehow turned out to be a good choice as he instituted the first ever compulsory education law ever!)
איכא דאמרי גרוגרות דר' צדוק אכלה ואיתניסא ומתה
Some report that she ate a fig left by R. Zadok, and became sick and died.
Even immersion in Torah is not necessarily a good thing. There is a famous passage in Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, page 35b, in which the positions of Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai argue whether it is ideal to spend all ones time in Torah. Rabbi Ishmael argues that the very words of the Shema, in Deuteronomy 11:13-14, say that of course we would engage in worldly pursuits (and in fact it is phrased as a blessing).
יג. וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם:
יד. וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ וְתִירשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ:
13. And it will be, if you hearken to My commandments that I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14. I will give the rain of your land at its time, the early rain and the latter rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil
(Judaica Press translation.
http://www.chabad.org/...)
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai instead argues that were everyone to spend their time on worldly pursuits the Torah will be forgotten. The talmud's response is rather clear:
אמר אביי הרבה עשו כרבי ישמעאל ועלתה בידן כר' שמעון בן יוחי ולא עלתה בידן
Said Abaye: Many have followed the advice of Ishmael, and it has worked well; others have followed R. Simeon b. Yohai and it has not been successful.
Rabbi Shimon may have changed his view at a later point in his life; in another famous talmudic passage (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat, pages 33b-34a) he spends time trying to use his Torah knowledge to serve a community that needed it.
Moderation was also accepted as a Jewish value in the Middle Ages. Maimonides devotes an entire chapter of his monumental corpus of Jewish religious law to the importance of moderation in character traits. The entire chapter is well worth reading; here is a link to the Hebrew: http://www.chabad.org/... and an English translation: http://www.chabad.org/...
ד. הדרך הישרה היא מדה בינונית שבכל דעה ודעה מכל הדעות שיש לו לאדם והיא הדעה שהיא רחוקה משתי הקצוות ריחוק שוה ואינה קרובה לא לזו ולא לזו לפיכך צוו חכמים הראשונים שיהא אדם שם דעותיו תמיד ומשער אותם ומכוין אותם בדרך האמצעית כדי שיהא שלם בגופו כיצד לא יהא בעל חמה נוח לכעוס ולא כמת שאינו מרגיש אלא בינוני לא יכעוס אלא על דבר גדול שראוי לכעוס עליו כדי שלא יעשה כיוצא בו פעם אחרת וכן לא יתאוה אלא לדברים שהגוף צריך להן ואי אפשר להיות בזולתן כענין שנאמר צדיק אוכל לשובע נפשו וכן לא יהיה עמל בעסקו אלא להשיג דבר שצריך לו לחיי שעה כענין שנאמר טוב מעט לצדיק ולא יקפוץ ידו ביותר ולא יפזר ממונו אלא נותן צדקה כפי מסת ידו ומלוה כראוי למי שצריך ולא יהא מהולל ושוחק ולא עצב ואונן אלא שמח כל ימיו בנחת בסבר פנים יפות וכן שאר דעותיו ודרך זו היא דרך החכמים כל אדם שדעותיו דעות בינונית ממוצעות נקרא חכם:
Halacha 4
The straight path: This [involves discovering] the midpoint temperament of each and every trait that man possesses [within his personality.] This refers to the trait which is equidistant from either of the extremes, without being close to either of them.
Therefore, the early Sages instructed a man to evaluate his traits, to calculate them and to direct them along the middle path, so that he will be sound {of body}.
For example: he should not be wrathful, easily angered; nor be like the dead, without feeling, rather he should [adopt] an intermediate course; i.e., he should display anger only when the matter is serious enough to warrant it, in order to prevent the matter from recurring. Similarly, he should not desire anything other than that which the body needs and cannot exist without, as [Proverbs 13:25] states: "The righteous man eats to satisfy his soul."
Also, he shall not labor in his business except to gain what he needs for immediate use, as [Psalms 37:16] states: "A little is good for the righteous man."
He should not be overly stingy nor spread his money about, but he should give charity according to his capacity and lend to the needy as is fitting. He should not be overly elated and laugh [excessively], nor be sad and depressed in spirit. Rather, he should be quietly happy at all times, with a friendly countenance. The same applies with regard to his other traits.
This path is the path of the wise. Every man whose traits are intermediate and equally balanced can be called a "wise man."
Most people who are knowledgeable about religions of the world would tell you that following the middle path is a Buddhist ideal. As can be seen here, it is a Jewish ideal as well.
So what would be Jewish piety? More from Maimonides:
ה. ומי שהוא מדקדק על עצמו ביותר ויתרחק מדעה בינונית מעט לצד זה או לצד זה נקרא חסיד כיצד מי שיתרחק מגובה הלב עד הקצה האחרון ויהיה שפל רוח ביותר נקרא חסיד וזו היא מדת חסידות ואם נתרחק עד האמצע בלבד ויהיה עניו נקרא חכם וזו היא מדת חכמה ועל דרך זו שאר כל הדעות וחסידים הראשונים היו מטין דעות שלהן מדרך האמצעית כנגד שתי הקצוות יש דעה שמטין אותה כנגד הקצה האחרון ויש דעה שמטין אותה כנגד הקצה הראשון וזהו לפנים משורת הדין ומצווין אנו ללכת בדרכים האלו הבינונים והם הדרכים הטובים והישרים שנאמר והלכת בדרכיו:
Halacha 5
A person who carefully [examines] his [behavior], and therefore deviates slightly from the mean to either side is called pious.
What is implied? One who shuns pride and turns to the other extreme and carries himself lowly is called pious. This is the quality of piety. However, if he separates himself [from pride] only to the extent that he reaches the mean and displays humility, he is called wise. This is the quality of wisdom. The same applies with regard to other character traits.
The pious of the early generations would bend their temperaments from the intermediate path towards [either of] the two extremes. For some traits they would veer towards the final extreme, for others, towards the first extreme. This is referred to as [behavior] beyond the measure of the law.
We are commanded to walk in these intermediate paths - and they are good and straight paths - as [Deuteronomy 28:9] states: "And you shall walk in His ways."
והלכת בדרכיו -- And you shall walk in His ways. And those ways are not extreme. Judaism has rejected celibacy as an idea -- even the most pious men are expected to marry and try to have children. In a
previous dvar torah I pointed out that we aren't supposed to be guttons in food, sex, or anything else that is permitted. The lesson of the nazir is that excessive abstinence from things that God permits us to enjoy is at best for if any a select few, and maybe not even for them. Judaism is a this-worldly spiritual path; we develop a closer connection to God by keeping his commandments and dedicating our lives to service of God and our fellow humans rather than by excessive asceticism.
May this inspire us to learn more Torah and to fulfill more commandments!