Netvort Parshas Naso 5771:             If You Say So
By Rabbi Joshua (verbally known as The Hoffer) Hoffer

The Ramban, in his introduction to the book of Bamidbar, writes that the book begins by defining the boundaries of the mishkan, just as the boundaries around Mt. Sinai were defined before the Torah was given there.   Since the mishkan was a means of continuing, in a more hidden way, the experience of the open occurrence of the dwelling of the divine presence, boundaries had to be set to indicate where each group of people was allowed to go. With the appointment of the different families of Levi to their various tasks in the mishkan, as described in parshas Bamidbar and parshas Naso, the order of encampment was complete.  The following sections of Naso describe, as explained by Rabbi Yaakov, a student of the Rashba, in his Toras Ha Mincha, the means of maintain the divine presence in and around the mishkan. Thus, the laws of sending out various people who have incurred impurity are given, the manner of testing a woman who is suspected of marital infidelity as described in great detail.  The last two sections describe the laws of the nazir, and the blessings given by the kohanim to the people. These two sections actually deal more with bringing the divine presence into the camp than preventing it from leaving, as is the case in the laws of sending out those who became defiled with impurity and the case of the suspected sotah.

According to Rav Tzadok HaCohein, in his commentary Pri Tzaddik, there is an additional connection between the laws of nazir and the blessing of the kohanim.  He says that one can keep all of the laws of being a nazir and still not be a nazir, unless he makes a vow to become a nazir.  We thus see how powerful the medium of speech is, so too, in regard to the blessings of the kohanim, the power of speech is emphasized.  Even though the blessings actually come form God, as the Torah spells out, it is only through the kohanim invoking God's name that he blessings are brought down to the people. Rabbi Avraham Schorrr, in his commentary HaLekach Vehalibuv, cites this comment of Rav Tzadok and adds that at Mt. Sinai, as well, the power of speech was demonstrated by the nation when it declared, ' naaseh venishma,' or, we will do all that God says and listen (learn), mentioning observance of the mitzvos before learning them in depth, a commitment which brought them much merit.  This idea of the power of speech, as brought out at Mt. Sinai, says Rabbi Schorr, helps explains why parshas Naso, in which we also learn of this power, is read  on the Shabbos either directly before or after Shavuos.

I would like to offer another explanation for the proximity of the laws of nazir to the blessings of the kohanim, and a related connection between parshas Naso and Shavuos.  Rav Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, known as the Kotzker Rebbe, points out, as mentioned by Rav Moshe Sternbach in his Ta'am Vada's,  that the nazir is likened to a kohein gadol in that he cannot defile himself even to bury one of his close relatives, although a regular kohein is allowed to do so. The kohein gadol must conduct himself equally towards every Jew.  A nazir, in this sense, has the status of a kohein gadol, and the Torah tells us that every man and woman of the Jewish nation has the potential to attain this status. The Torah then tells us that the kohanim must bless the Jewish people every day, by reciting a series of verses which contain  God's name and His blessings, and placing God's name upon the people so that His blessings will be bought down. perhaps the message here is for the kohanim to realize that the special tasks they have been given in the mishkan do not  turn them into a religious elite that is separated  from the people as we see from the laws of the nazir, every Jew has the ability to become similar to a kohein gadol. Rather, they area carrying out the function given them by God to assure that the divine presence dwells among the people as a whole. This was also brought out at Mt. Sinai, when as Rashi brings from the midrash, the people acted as one nation with one heart, to accept God's Torah, and become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

The entire Netvort consortium wishes a joyous Shavuos to all of its constituents.

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