Parshat Naso
June 13th-14th, 2003
14 Sivan, 5763

It seems that the consumption of wine has always been surrounded by controversy.

Today, physicians debate whether or not it’s good medical practice to encourage certain people to partake of wine as a therapeutic measure. On the one hand, there is solid evidence that a glass or two with dinner can help improve cholesterol numbers--and, therefore, perhaps should be part of the "doctor’s orders" to patients with high cholesterol levels. Yet, others argue that since someone who takes up drinking (even for purposes of health) might become an alcohol abuser, it is not prudent to prescribe Cabernet and Chardonnay as a way of dealing with the problem.

In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about an ancient wine-related practice that also generated some (fascinating) disagreement among the Talmudic sages. Admittedly, though, the context has to do with the question of optimal spiritual health, rather than biological well-being. (So if cholesterol is your only concern, I’ll still refer you to those with white coats, rather than black hats!)

The Torah describes the rules by which a man or woman could temporarily become a "nazir" (Nazirite), taking a vow to abstain from wine and grape-based products for a temporary period--usually 30 days--as well as to observe certain other restrictions. (The Hebrew word, "nazir," denotes "separation.")

Why would a person wish to become a nazir? Simply, to attain a greater degree of kedusha (holiness), to dedicate oneself more fervently and exclusively to spiritual concerns for a fixed period of time. Even though this means leaving aside the physical delights (not least, the intoxicating effects) of the fruit of the vine. Indeed, the Torah confirms, apparently with approval, that holiness is the result of this separation. "All the days of his abstinence, he is holy to Hashem." (6, 8) The nazir does take on a different, and more elevated, spiritual status than a normal person--as indicated by the halakhic prohibition from coming into contact with a dead body during that time. (In this respect, the Nazir becomes like a temporary Kohen, who always must observe this stricture.)

A great thing, to grow in holiness!

Yet, on the other hand, one great Talmudic sage teaches that becoming a nazir is most certainly NOT the ideal. He argues that the Torah alludes to this through a strange bit of wording in Chapter 6, verse 11, when--discussing another issue--it describes the nazir as "sinning against the person." This Talmudic sage understands the Torah to mean that the nazir is, in a sense, sinning against his or her own person, by depriving the body of something it enjoys greatly--drinking wine. All the more so, he continues, is it considered a "sin" (chet) to afflict the body with excessive fasting (i.e., apart from where halakha requires it).

Well, now, what’s the final verdict? Is a nazir holy…or is he a sinner?! Is he to be praised for the ambition to come closer to G-d (through temporary abstinence)…or to be chastised for doing it through a pathway of physical affliction?!

There is much discussion about how to resolve this seeming dichotomy. One of my great teachers taught us (based on an accepted tradition) that in non-legal Torah discussions, apparently "contradictory" opinions really just reveal different aspects or facets of the subject at hand. In this case, then, it’s not "one or the other." The nazir is BOTH holy and, in some sense, a sinner! Certainly his or her desire is pure, and the effect of the temporary abstinence from a great physical delight can indeed be greater spiritual purity and concentration. But the person has still "sinned" in the sense of having "missed the mark"--which is the actual meaning of the particular term for sin used here, chet. (Other Hebrew terms connote a greater degree of intention, or malice, in transgressing.)

The nazir has missed the mark because G-d wants us to enjoy the physical delights that He has permitted, in this delightful world He created! He wants our bodies to be content and satisfied…even as we (hopefully) pursue, in the course of our lives, goals that go beyond just delighting our senses (and quaffing fine wine) 24 hours a day!

Of course, the Torah does not want us to be hedonists (i.e., to overindulge in physical pleasures for their own sake), but at the same time, it does not wish us to deprive our bodies of the pleasures--enjoyed in moderation (a key word)--that make us happy. After all, our Sages decreed that Kiddush, the declaration of the sanctity of the Sabbath (a day of holiness, remember), should be made ideally over…a cup of WINE! The physical pleasures of life are a great blessing, and it is up to us to use them properly: to enjoy them in the context of our career of serving (and singing joyously to) our Creator.

Praiseworthy are you, nazir, for wanting to take a break from the usual pleasures of wine (or of this world in general), so that you can attain more holiness, or so that you can restore more of a balance in your life! But take caution as well, nazir, for holiness in Judaism ultimately means using (not abusing…and not abandoning) the physical pleasures G-d has given us. We sanctify wine, and other delights, by partaking of them in moderation, and utilizing them as the fuel to increase our gratitude unto G-d, and our (holy) joy (simcha) in the precious and meaningful life that He has given us.

With all the tragedies occurring in the Land of Israel at the present time, I feel a little funny writing (yet again!) about physical pleasures. Perhaps this is a time when fasting, or at least crying out to Hashem, is most appropriate as we attempt to awaken heavenly compassion on K’lal Yisrael.

I guess I have two thoughts on that count. One is that the gratitude we feel from the delights G-d has given us--and the sense of bodily contentment they afford us--can give us strength to pray with feeling, and to study Torah with diligence. (Our great living Sages have emphasized the importance of such study, with all its far-reaching spiritual benefits, now, in our present straits.) The second is that Shabbos is approaching, the day when oneg (bodily delight) is itself a mitzvah--that’s right, an obligation!--, and no one here should be abstaining or afflicting themselves for these 25 some hours or so. We should delight in all the Sabbath give us, and all that it represents: our faith in a Creator Who made this world with a purpose, and Who will one day--it should be speedily, in our time--again reveal Himself openly to mankind. May we yearn all the more intensely for the messianic era that is itself compared to the Sabbath, a time of spiritual delight (not to mention peace and justice) for ALL mankind…when all terror and evil will be removed from the world.

GOOD SHABBOS!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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