Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Shabbat Naso
Torah:
Numbers 4:21 - 7:89 / Haftarah: Judges 13:2 - 25
“Do Not
Separate Yourself from the Community”
Dear Friends,
Are Jews allowed to separate themselves from the
community in the search for holiness?
Are Jew allowed to abstain from certain joys of life in order to be more
pious. May Jews be ascetics?
This week, the Torah discusses the institution on
the Nazirite, through which a common Israelite who wants to devote some time
during his life to holy service can assist the Cohen priests and Levites. There are three requirements: no drinking
wine or eating grapes, no cutting hair, and no touching the bodies of the
dead. The most famous Nazir was Samson –
remember his long hair?
The rabbis question whether these three
restrictions are an Israelite approach to asceticism, that is abstaining from
certain behaviors and cutting oneself off from the community in order to seek
higher states of spirituality and mysticism? On this point, the rabbis are
united. Judaism does not permit
asceticism. We are not permitted to cut
ourselves off from the community. We are
not permitted to cause bodily harm (which some religions call, “mortification
of the flesh”). We are not permitted to
deny ourselves of the joys of life.
We no longer have the Nazirite customs. Nevertheless, we are encouraged to seek God
and to participate in the process of making life better. Judaism teaches
moderation and the avoidance of excess.
We are encouraged to pursue the enjoyment of life’s gifts and to shape
our desires to serve God and all humanity.
L’Shalom (In Peace),
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