This Week In The Torah.



Parsha Nasso Bamibar/Numbers Ch.4 v. 21-Ch.7

Honouring Others
by Rabbi Yechezkel Fox

Even though G-d wants us to steer away from honour for ourselves, we are expected to be very sensitive in according honour to other people. There is a beautiful illustration of this sensitivity at the beginning of this week's parsha.

Our parsha is a continuation of last week's parsha, Bamidbar. There, the Torah begins to detail the division of tasks for the Tribe of Levi in transporting the Tabernacle. They were split into three groups based on the descendants of the three sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Kohath's family is discussed first---and then the parsha abruptly ends. This week's parsha picks up from there, and describes first the family of Gershon's tasks, and then Merari's. How strange that this topic is not dealt with all in one place, either all in last week's parsha or all in this week's. (In fact, in the non-Jews' division of the Torah it is all in one chapter.)

The Arbarbanel, one of the greatest rabbis of fifteenth century Spain, unlocks this mystery for us. G-d had a problem, as it were. On the one hand the family of Kohath deserved honour because they were given the most prestigious tasks: to carry the holy vessels, such as the Ark and the Menorah. However, the family of Gershon also required to be honoured in recognition of their seniority as descendants of Levi's first-born son. The solution was to put the family of Kohath first at the end of last week's parsha. This allowed for the allocation of a prime spot at the beginning of this week's parsha for the family of Gershon. In this way, G-d showed His sensitivity to each of them; and in so doing gave us a clear example to learn from.

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The Nazir and the Priest

G-d spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: So shall you bless the Children of Israel, saying to them: May G-d bless you and safeguard you." Ch.6/22-24

Immediately after the passage concerning the nazir (see Ch.6/1-21), the Torah teaches about the priestly blessing. The sequence of things in the Torah is never random, there is always an important lesson contained in the order of the parsha. What can we learn from the juxtaposition of the laws of the nazir and the priest?

The priest blesses us that "G-d should bless you and safeguard you". Every blessing, every increase in the material benefits of this world, needs protection. The Torah is not advising us to take out an extra insurance policy; rather we need protection from the potential damage to our spirituality. Wealth can lead one away from trust in G-d and devotion to His mitzvot, and if so, the blessing was really a curse. Wealth is only a blessing if it brings us closer to G-d.

And this is why the parsha of the nazir precedes the priestly blessing. For the nazir is a person who is striving to gain control of his physical desires (abstention from wine), turning away from vanity (growing his hair) and raising his level of sanctity (being unable to have contact with the dead, like the High Priest). The Torah is hinting that someone who has cultivated within himself the nazir personality will be a worthy recipient of the priestly blessing. For such a person, with the attitudes of the nazir, new wealth will lead to greater spiritual returns.

Sources:MeShulchan Gevoa in the name of The Ctav Sofer

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The Book of Numbers

Parshas Nasso is always read after Shavuos. At Shavuos we celebrate the Giving of The Torah. We remind ourselves that the Torah is from G-d and is above any other wisdom. The Torah is symbolized by the number 22, since it is made up of the 22 letters of the aleph-bet. The transcendance of Torah is symbolized by the number 8---the world was created in 7 days, so 8, as it were, lies beyond the physical world. 22 multiplied by 8 equals 176. Parshas Nasso, the longest in all of Chumash, has exactly 176 verses. It is read each year following Shavuos to remind us of the lofty ideas of Torah we learn about on Shavuos.*

* Not coincidently, the longest volume of the Talmud, Bava Basra, also has 176 pages. The longest chapter in Tehilim (Psalms), chapter 119, contains---you guessed it---176 verses.

Source: Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Isbee.




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