Parashat Naso:Levites and Nazirites

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May 14 2010
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The stirring words of the Rambam at the end of Hilkhot Shemittah ve-Yovel (13:12-13) are deservedly well-known:


Why was the Tribe of Levi granted no right to a share in the Land of Israel and in its spoils, together with his brothers? Because they were set apart to worship the Lord, to serve Him, and to teach His upright ways and His righteous judgments to the many, as it is said, They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances, and Israel our Law (Deut. 33:10). They were consequently set apart from the ways of the world: they may not wage war as do the rest of Israel they have no share in the Land, and they may acquire nothing for themselves by physical force. They are rather the host of the Holy name, as it is said, Bless, L-RD, His host (Deut. 33:11). It is He, blessed be He, who acquires for them, as it is said; I am your portion and your inheritance. (Numbers 18:20).


Not only the Tribe of Levi, but each and every individual of those who come into the world, whose spirit moves him and whose knowledge give shim understanding to set himself apart in order to stand before the Lord, to serve Him, to worship Hi, and to know Him, who walks upright as God had made him to do so, and releases his neck from the yoke of many speculations that the children of man are wont to pursue- such an individual is consecrated to the Holy of Holies, and his portion and inheritance shall be in the Lord forever and ever-more. The Lord will grant him in this world whatsoever is sufficient for him, the same as He had granted to the priests and to the Levites. Thus indeed did David, upon whom be peace, say, O L-RD, the portion of my inheritance and of my cup, You maintain my lot (Psalms 16:5).


Rabbi Yehudah Cooperman, in his sefer Qedushat Peshuto shel Miqra (Jerusalem, 2009, pp. 298-301) pointed out certain similarities between these words of the Rambam and that of the author of the fourteenth century anonymous work , written in Barcelona,  titled Sefer Ha-Hinukh. In the midst of his discussion of a nazir (Mitzvah #376), and while discussing why a nazir is even forbidden to come into contact with the bodies of his dead relatives, (equivalent to the rule regarding a kohen gadol and more stringent than the rule regarding a regular kohen) the Hinukh writes as follows:


…if a man has vowed to be a nazir to the Lord, then all the days of his vow to be a nazir he is consecrated to the Lord as Scripture attests about him, because his separation to God is upon his head (Numbers 6:7). Then he is not to become defiled through worldly cravings, and is not to be found in any house of feasting or a banquet of friends. For his separation from wine attests about him that he has set his heart to understand and practice abstinence before the Lord and to repair the ways of this spirit, leaving aside the pleasures of the benighted body. Then having set his whole heart and all his thoughts on the good of his precious spirit, and having cast off the needs of his self and his flesh, why should he desire the company of his companions and friends any longer, except for some mitzvah?


There is no doubt that as the spirit is raised to a higher level, the pleasure of the body, with all that concerns it, becomes very insignificant in its eyes. Then all the more certainly will it not go after the company of other persons, whether they are near or far; and it will find pleasure in nothing whatever except in the hallowed (Divine)  service to which it has become attached, and to which it constantly looks.


In my opinion, part of the language of the Hinukh might be appropriately seen as an expression and application of the notion that the Rambam had already formulated in Hilkhot Shemittah ve-Yovel and quoted above. This nazir, although not of the tribe of Levi, is also becoming “consecrated to the Holy of Holies!” (This term [Hebrew: nitqadesh qodesh qodoshim] is clearly taken from the Book of Chronicles {I Chronicles 23:13}. The verse there states: The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should be sanctified as most holy, he and his sons forever, to offer before the L-RD, to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name for ever. In light of this verse, I believe that the correct translation of the Rambam should not be “is consecrated to the Holy of Holies, but is consecrated as Holy of Holies). The Rambam believed that the highest level a human being can achieve, is immortality of the soul =eternity of the intellect, one  who devotes himself entirely to God has an opportunity to achieve this height.


To be sure, according to the Rambam, any human being, Jew and non-Jew can reach the exalted level of being “consecrated to the Holy of Holies” But an immediate Jewish application, replete with its strict and precise halakhic manifestations, is to be found in Parashat Naso, in the person of the nazir.

Parsha:
Naso 

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    Learning on the Marcos and Adina Katz YUTorah site is sponsored today by Judy & Mark Frankel & family l'ilui nishmos מרדכי בן הרב משה יהודה ע"ה and משה יהודה ז"ל בן מאיר אליהו ויהודית