Transcript
Okay, good morning. Good morning, good morning. First of all, great rally last night. Everyone who came, thank you very much. We had about 800 people here for our יום ירושלים Yom Yerushalayim rally for Israel. It was a wonderful event and concert, so if you came, appreciate it. If you didn't come, I'm sure you had a fantastic excuse, because if you didn't, God bless you. Okay. פרשת נשא Parshas Naso. We are, we have the privilege of reading פרשת נשא Parshas Naso this שבת Shabbos, so again, we'll give a quick overview first, and then we'll get into the details of one of the specific sections. פרשת נשא Parshas Naso is an action-packed פרשה parsha. We've got a lot going on. The פרשה parsha begins with the responsibilities of the family of גרשון Gershon. ראש בני גרשון גם הם לבית אבותם למשפחותם Rosh bnei Gershon gam hem l'veis avosam l'mishpechosam. It's kind of a continuation of the census. מררי Merari's responsibilities and the totals. Then we get into the שילחו מן המחנה כל צרוע וכל זב וכל טמא לנפש shilchu min hamachaneh kol tzarua v'chol zav v'chol tamei l'nefesh. We send out of the camp anybody who is impure, trying to maintain the purification of the מחנה ישראל machaneh Yisrael of the Jewish camp. The laws of theft from a Jew and from a גר ger, if somebody steals, that it's not only a physical sin, but it's one that is spiritual as well. Then we get to the famous section of the סוטה sota, the wayward wife. A woman who practices infidelity, her husband suspects her, warns her, accuses her, nevertheless she's isolated with a man, in front of witnesses, and then she is tested if she denies that she indeed had an affair. She's brought to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash to the כהן Kohen. She drinks of the מי הממררים mei ham'rorim, she drinks of the bitter water, the מי ארורים mayim arurim that the water that one of the ingredients is שם השם Shem Hashem, God's name itself is dissolved into the water, which the גמרא Gemara concludes you see that God is even willing to allow His name to be erased for שלום בית shalom bayis. To God, שלום בית shalom bayis is a primary value. It's a slippery slope. It's not to say that one should violate שבת Shabbos because, you know, שלום בית shalom bayis, the spouse is not happy that they're keeping שבת Shabbos. But you see that God is willing to even allow His name to be erased in order to maintain a sense of שלום בית shalom bayis. Sorry. So, that's the סוטה sota. The woman drinks the water. If indeed she's innocent, then she is blessed with having a child easily with fertility. If she is indeed guilty as her husband accuses her, then she dies a graphic and horrific death. So, it's a lovely, heartwarming section in this week's פרשה parsha. She's given an opportunity to confess, the כהן kohen scares her, uncovers her hair. In fact, this is the origin of the source of the biblical source for a woman, a married woman covering her hair. From the fact that the Torah makes a reference to the accused woman, the סוטה sota, uncovering her hair as part of the process, indicates that a married woman does cover her hair. So that's learned from this section. Let's talk later. We talk later. The נזיר nazir, the following, the very next section is the section that we're going to spend time on, which is a person who takes a vow of נזירות nezirus, a person who takes a vow to be a נזיר nazir and what that is all about. And that goes into the priestly blessing, goes into ברכת כהנים birchas kohanim. We know the priests have what we call in the Yiddish דוכנ'ן duchaning. The priests for אשכנזים Ashkenazim outside of ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, outside of Israel, only on the major holidays. For ספרדים Sefardim every single day of the year, and for all Jews in Israel every day. The כהנים kohanim, the priests bless the people, and the formula is a very interesting formula that we're not going to spend time on now. Then finally the פרשה parsha gets to the offerings of each of the twelve tribes. I once heard Rabbi Pruzansky in Teaneck describe this as a פרשה parsha only a בר מצוה bar mitzvah boy's mother could love, because the end of the פרשה parsha, which is very long, goes through these 12 offerings, where each of the נשיאים nesiim, each of the princes seem to bring the identical קרבן korban. And yet the Torah repeats each time, only substituting their name, replacing their name, even though the sacrifice seems to be identical. Why would the Torah take up such valuable space doing that is a good question. So these are, that's an overview of what the פרשה parsha, like I said, it's action-packed. There's a lot going on, but what I want to focus on this morning together in analyzing the text is the section of the נזיר nazir. So we begin פרק ו' perek vav, chapter six of במדבר Bamidbar. פרק ו' פסוק א' Perek vav pasuk aleph. Says the Torah, וידבר השם אל משה לאמור Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe leimor. God spoke to Moshe saying, דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם Daber el bnei Yisrael v'amarta aleihem. Speak to the Jewish people and say to them, איש או אשה כי יפליא לנדור נדר נזיר להזיר להשם Ish o isha ki yafli lindor neder nazir l'hazir l'Hashem. God spoke to Moshe and He told him, a man or a woman who wants to take a vow, takes an oath to be a נזיר nazir, to live a life of abstinence for the sake of Hashem, is allowed to do so. And the Torah goes on to say exactly what they need to do. מיין ושכר יזיר חומץ יין וחומץ שכר לא ישתה וכל משרת ענבים לא ישתה וענבים לחים ויבשים לא יאכל Miyayin v'shechar yazir, chometz yayin v'chometz shechar lo yishte, v'chol mishras anavim lo yishte, v'anavim lachim vivsheim lo yocheil. What does it mean to be a נזיר nazir? What does this man or woman doing? What is the abstinence they're practicing? They are practicing abstinence from anything. made from grapes, even the skin, he shall not eat. You're not allowed to benefit from aged wine, from vinegar of wine, vinegar of aged wine, from the grape, any grape product. Grapes, grape juice, wine, vinegar, any grape product is prohibited to the נזיר nazir. So there's a number of questions. Let's see how sensitive you are to the text. What questions can we ask here? So, first of all, the I think the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim asked the question, which I appreciated his question more than I do his answer. But if you look at the אור החיים הקדוש Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, כאיפה הכתוב לומר דבר ואמרת keifa hakasuv lomar daber v'amarta? פסוק Pasuk says דבר אל בני ישראל daber el Bnei Yisrael, speak to the Jewish people, ואמרת אליהם ve'amarta aleihem, and say to them. Isn't that redundant? If you're speaking to the Jewish people, aren't you saying something to them? פסוק Pasuk should just say דבר אל בני ישראל daber el Bnei Yisrael, speak to the Jewish people. Or אמור emor. What is דבר ואמרת daber ve'amarta? It seems redundant and superfluous. That's his question. גם שינה לשונו וראוי שיחייבנו לומר משני מיני נזיר Gam shinah leshono v'rauy she'yechayeveinu lomar mishnei minei nazir. So the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim concludes that there are perhaps two types of נזירים nezirim. There are two types of this individual who takes this vow. One we praise, one is praiseworthy, and one is less praiseworthy. So since the Torah is going to indicate that there are real two categories of being a נזיר nazir, that's why it introduces it with this double language of דבר ואמרת daber ve'amarta. You can read his answer. I'm not sure I fully understand it or that it's fully compelling, but I like his question. דבר ואמרת Daber ve'amarta, which actually you see in the פרשה parsha a few times, even the section prior also deals with דבר ואמרת daber ve'amarta. And each time the אור החיים Ohr HaChaim asks that question. Why the double language? You have to resolve that. What's interesting here is that both a man or a woman can be a נזיר nazir. איש או אשה כי יפליא לנדור נדר נזיר להזיר להשם Ish o isha ki yafli lindor neder nazir lehazir laShem. Tell you an interesting thing, when when in Yeshiva University, I don't know if this is true. I like to think of myself that I graduated like yesterday, but it's been already a long time since I was there. So Rav Schechter, ראש ישיבה Rosh Yeshiva Schechter, one of my רבנים rabbeim, who's the ראש כולל Rosh Kollel of the כולל Kollel in Yeshiva University. So when you graduate college, if you want to learn in the כולל Kollel, you have to take a בחינה bechina. You have to take a test to make sure that you qualify to enter. So Rav Schechter has a number of questions. He meets with you, and he asks you some questions to make sure you qualify for the כולל Kollel. So one of the questions that he used to ask, he was famous for asking this question, is he would turn to the ישיבה בחורים yeshiva bachurim and he would say, \"Can a woman be a נזיר nazir?\" \"Can a woman be a נזיר nazir?\" So the ישיבה yeshiva guys would sit there and they would clear. \"I don't know, is a נזיר nazir a מצוות עשה שהזמן גרמא mitzvas asei shehazman grama? Is it a time-bound מצוה mitzva? Women are exempt.\" They would start to try to figure it out. And that was his point. The point that he was trying to make to them is, you're holding a גמרא Gemara, you're analyzing intellectual gymnastics about time-bound מצוות mitzvos. It's a פסוק pasuk, you gotta know the חומש Chumash. If you go to Rav Schechter's שיעורים shiurim, you know, I sat in Rav Schechter's שיעורים shiurim for a number of years. If you know, Rav Schechter's emphasis always was, you start from the פסוק pasuk. If you're teaching a הלכה halacha, you begin from the פסוק pasuk. And then you get to the גמרא Gemara. You can't start in the גמרא Gemara and not know the פסוקים psukim. You have to know not only חומש Chumash, but you have to know all of תנ\"ך Tanach. So it's an interesting thing. איש או אשה Ish o isha. We think of a נזיר nazir, many automatically think in their mind of a man. This week's הפטרה haftarah, we read the story of שמשון Shimshon, who was perhaps the most famous נזיר nazir of them all. I may speak about it שבת Shabbos afternoon. But the truth is a woman could qualify as a נזיר nazir also. איש או אשה Ish o isha. Man or woman could qualify as a נזיר nazir.Now the Torah uses a very interesting word here, כי יפליא לנדור נדר ki yafli lindor neder. ידור נדר Yidor neder. Why doesn't it just say כי ידור נדר ki yidor neder? A man or a woman that they take a vow to be a נזיר nazir. What does the word יפליא yafli mean? What is the translation of the word יפליא yafli? So if you look at the ArtScroll here, in the Stone חומש Chumash, a man or a woman who shall disassociate, or dissociate himself by taking a Nazirite vow. Doesn't really translate. That's the equivalent of translating כי ידור נדר נזיר להזיר להשם ki yidor neder nazir lehazir laShem. ArtScroll doesn't really translate the word יפליא yafli. What is the word יפליא yafli doing here? So I call your attention to the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra. The אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra makes a great comment. יפליא Yafli comes from the word פלא pele. What does the word פלא pele mean? Wonder. פלא Pele is a wonder. A פלא pele is something which is a total wonder. יפליא Yafli, the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra really is translating as יפריש yafrish. יפריש Yafrish means to separate, to separate, and I guess that's what the ArtScroll is saying, to dissociate. To יפליא yafli, יפריש yafrish means to separate, to be apart. Because that's what ultimately the נזיר nazir is really doing. What the נזיר nazir is doing is abstaining from wine or a haircut or contact with a corpse. But the אבן עזרא Ibn Ezra has a beautiful insight. He says, או יעשה דבר פלא כי רוב העולם הולכים אחר תאוותם o ya'aseh davar pele ki rov ha'olam holchim achar ta'avasam. This individual is doing something which is nothing short of a פלא pele. פלא Pele, we use as kind of a Yiddish word. פלא Pele means a wonder. It's a wonder. You see something which is unusual, you see something which is extraordinary, you see something which is puzzling or which is curious, you say, \"That's a פלא pele. It's a פלא'דיגע peleh'digeh thing.\" It's a wonderous... so interesting. It's so unexpected. It's so supernatural. It's so different. What a פלא pela. So the Ibn Ezra says כי יפליא ki yafli. It's like the Torah's saying, somebody's willing to take a נדר neder to be a נזיר nazir? An individual is willing to forfeit these worldly pleasures in order to attain greater holiness and sanctity? Somebody's willing to sacrifice voluntarily, voluntarily say, I don't need to engage in the worldly pleasures. I want to live a life of asceticism and abstinence and to be holy and to be sacred. That individual is nothing short of a פלא pela. What a wonder. Wow. That's a wonder. So the Ibn Ezra beautifully is saying, that's פשט pshat איש או אשה כי יפליא לנדור נדר ish o isha ki yafli lindor neder. It's nothing short of a פלא pela when they're willing to do that. Rashi has a different interpretation. The individual's willing to give up what they're tempted by, what they're drawn to.The Rashi has a different יפליא yafli, יפריש yafrish. Rashi just like the Ibn Ezra. No, it's ultimately the real explanation, the real translation of the word יפליא yafli is יפריש yafrish. The real translation is to separate, to dissociate. But Rashi also says, what's the connection? למה נסמכה פרשת נזיר לפרשת סוטה Lama nismicha parshas nazir l'parshas sotah? לומר לך כל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה יזיר עצמו מן היין Lomar l'cha kol haroeh sotah b'kilkulah yazir atzmo min hayayin. שהוא מביא לידי ניאוף shehu meivi lidei niuf. Rashi, by the way, in all of this section, פרשת נשא Parshas Naso seems to be a conglomerate of really unconnected laws and narratives. What does בני גרשון ומררי Bnei Gershon u'Merari have to do with someone stealing? What does that have to do with a סוטה sotah? What does that have to do with a נזיר nazir? What does that have to do with ברכת כהנים Birchas Kohanim? What does that have to do with the נשיאים nesi'im? What do these things have to do with one another? We don't think that God put together a book in which just, you know, off the top of his head, he threw random items together to form a פרשה parsha. There needs to be, excuse me, some unifying theme. What's the connection? So Rashi struggles to understand למה נסמכה פרשה זו לפרשה זו lama nismicha parsha zu l'parsha zu. Within each of these sections, he says, why, what's the juxtaposition of these sections? Why are they connected? What can we learn not only from the content of the section itself, but what can we extrapolate and learn from the positioning, from the juxtaposition of these sections one to the other?So Rashi says, you know what you could learn here? כל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה Kol haroeh sotah b'kilkulah. If you see a woman in all of her glory, and I say that of course in a facetious manner. You see a woman who indeed was disloyal, indeed who was who had lacked in who lacked fidelity to her husband. There's a woman who was accused and she cheats on her husband. And you see the process that she is put through in which she is brought to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash and she is accused, she's given an opportunity to confess, she doesn't confess, her hair is uncovered, she's humiliated publicly. She then drinks from this water and indeed if she is guilty, she dies a horrific death. So what's the conclusion? יזיר עצמו מן היין Yazir atzmo min hayayin. If you see that, take a vow of abstinence from wine. שהוא מביא לידי ניאוף Shehu meivi lidei niuf, because the גמרא in סוטה Gemara in *Sotah* says that what is one of the key causes of promiscuity and illicit relations and affairs? Wine. People drink, their inhibitions are down, when their inhibitions are down, they have poor judgment, their lust and desires and temptations take over, and they make really, really, really bad, bad decisions. Often it's not in a state of sobriety that people make these poor decisions, but they've had a few cocktails, they've had a few drinks, they've been on the business trip, they're at the bar in the hotel, they're at the lounge, and in that context they make that poor decision. So Rashi says when you see the סוטה בקלקולה sotah b'kilkulah, when you see what the result of drinking can be, the appropriate response is to say, I want none of that. I'm not going to drink like that. I'm going to take a vow of abstinence. So the question is on Rashi, I once saw, a great question. You see a סוטה בקלקולה sotah b'kilkulah. If you see this woman and you really see what the result of her actions are, that she is caused to go through this humiliating process, she drinks this water, she dies this explosion, her body explodes in the temple. It's a horrific death. You think you need to take a vow not to drink wine? Seeing the consequences isn't enough? In other words, if you told me that you saw that she did this after drinking wine, she may get away with it, she may not get away with it, people know, people don't know. She confided in you privately that I once drank too much and I cheated on my husband and I hope this doesn't come back to ruin my life. So then I can see you having to say, I'm going to take a vow of abstinence now because I'm I got to take an oath that I'm staying away from wine, I see what it can lead to. But if a person already witnesses and observes what can happen, the horrific outcome, the consequences of such poor decision making, do they need to take a vow? Or just seeing the consequences will make sure, will ensure that they don't mimic that behavior. behavior. Why do you have to go so far as to take a vow? It's a great question. I have even a greater answer, but I'm not going to share it with you because I may use it in a דרשה drasha on שבת Shabbos morning. I haven't decided yet.So that's Rashi כי יפלי ki yafli. Rashi is explaining what is the connection between one פרשה parsha and the other. The Ibn Ezra says יפלי yafli is מלשון פלא milashon peleh. It's פלא peleh that a person would be willing to forfeit their desires, their תאוה taivah, to give up, to control, to be disciplined over one's desires, over one's תאוה taivah is nothing short of a פלא peleh. נדר נזיר Neder nazir. אין נזירה בכל מקום ein nezira bechol makom says Rashi, אלא פרישה ela prisha. אף כאן Af kan שפירש מן היין shepeireish min hayayin. When you see the language of נזיר nazir, what does נזיר nazir really mean? We don't really translate the word נזיר nazir. We use נזיר nazir as the noun. It could, but Rashi says it means פרישה prisha, it means separation. It means to be apart because this individual is living a life of asceticism. They are living a life of abstinence. They are living a life apart. להזיר להשם Lehazir laHashem, Rashi continues, להבדיל עצמו מן היין לשם שמים lehavdil atzmo min hayayin leshem shamayim. What's the reason? Not because he read that alcohol is fattening and it's bad for you, and not because of some other ulterior motive, but his reason, his motivation to take this vow of abstinence is לשם שמים leshem shamayim because wine is an obstacle to service of השם Hashem, too much wine, I should say, and therefore he takes this vow of abstinence to make sure that he is of clear mind, that he is sober, that his judgment and intent are pure, and that he is able to connect with השם Hashem. But he can drink scotch. Correct. Correct, it's wine products. Okay. Hold on, hold on, we gotta hold the questions and comments till the end, because we're not, no comment. We can't, we gotta hold it till the end so you honor the people on the tape. Says the ספורנו Sforno. If you look at the ספורנו Sforno, רב עובדיה ספורנו Rav Ovadia Sforno, he also כי יפלי ki yafli, יפריש עצמו מהבלי ותענוגות בני אדם yafrish atzmo mehevlei veta'anugos bnei adam. ספורנו Sforno is similar to the Ibn Ezra, יפלי yafli, he doesn't say it connected to the word פלא peleh, but יפלי yafli is יפריש yafrish. He is separating himself from what? The הבלי ותענוגות בני אדם hevlei veta'anugos bnei adam. The the mundane, useless pursuits of pleasure that man chases after. And why? לנדור נדר נזיר להיות נזיר ופרוש מן התענוגות המורגלים lindor neder nazir lihiyos nazir ufarush min hata'anugos hamurgalim, in order to distance himself from the habitual pleasures of this world. להזיר להשם, להפריש עצמו מכל אלה למען יהיה כולו להשם Lehazir laHashem, lehafrish atzmo mikol eileh lema'an yihiyeh kulo laHashem. The goal of the נזיר nazir, says the ספורנו Sforno, is to separate from these worldly pleasures, to not feed desire but to cut off desire so that he will be exclusively dedicated to God. לעסוק בתורתו וללכת בדרכיו ולדבקה בו la'asok beToraso velaleches bidrachav uledavka vo, to be occupied with God's Torah, to walk in His ways and to cling to Him. Those are the goals of the נזיר nazir. The נזיר nazir is not doing this to lose weight, נזיר nazir is not doing this to look good, נזיר nazir is not doing this because it's stylish to grow your hair long. The נזיר nazir's goal, if properly done, is למען יהיה כולו להשם lema'an yihiyeh kulo laHashem, to be exclusively dedicated to השם Hashem, to have the clarity of mind to be occupied by Torah, and to have the clarity of thought to be able to pursue God and to cling to him and we'll see that's also why he has to remain pure because if he's contaminated by a corpse, he's limited in the contact he can have with השם Hashem, and that would also be an obstacle to his worship. But isn't שכר shechar a non-wine derivative? Yes, but it's שכר shechar, no, שכר shechar here only means שכר shechar mixed with wine. שכר Shechar, if you used a other kind of alcohol, scotch, or whiskey, or bourbon, and it was not mixed with wine, it would be permissible. It is grape and grape products that are prohibited to the נזיר nazir, and any שכר shechar that has a wine derivative that has wine mixed in as well. Okay, continuing. The the כלי יקר Kli Yakar here asks a series of questions. Look on the כלי יקר Kli Yakar on פסוק ב pasuk beis. We said that this applies איש או אשה כי יפלי לנדור נדר נזיר להזיר להשם ish o isha ki yafli lindor neder nazir lehazir laHashem. A man or a woman who do this פלא'דיגע peledige thing of taking a נדר neder, of taking a vow. By the way, how long does it last, this vow? So it lasts as long as you want it to. A person could stipulate they want to be a נזיר nazir for a day. A person could stipulate they want to be a נזיר nazir for 10 years. סתם נזיר Stam nazir, says the גמרא Gemara, the משנה Mishna, סתם נזיר שלושים יום stam nazir shloshim yom. If a person just says I'd like to take, I want to be a נזיר nazir, they take a vow to be a נזיר nazir, but they don't indicate how long, so the assumption, this is applies to another number of areas in Jewish law. For example, if a person takes a loan, if I borrow money from you and I never told you how long I'm borrowing it from you. So I meet you at the candy machine and I say, I'm at the rally for Israel last night at the Boca Raton synagogue where they're selling food as part of a fantastic, phenomenal rally, and I don't have money on me and I say can I borrow five dollars to get some food. And the parties never stipulated how long the loan was to take place, so the next day the lender comes and says, pay me back, you borrowed five bucks. The borrower has the right to say, you can't. can't come after me for the money yet because סתם הלוואה שלושים יום stam halva'ah shloshim yom. If it was not stipulated, when we don't stipulate, the assumption is that a person has in mind 30 days. So 30 days whether it's for a loan, whether it's for a vow of being a נזיר nazir. If a person didn't stipulate how long, the assumption is a period of 30 days. In any case, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, איש או אישה כי יפליא לנדור נדר נזיר להזיר להשם ish o isha ki yafli lindor neder nazir lehazir laShem. אף על פי שכבר הושווה איש לאישה לכל עונשין שבתורה af al pi she'kvar hushva ish le'isha lechol onshin she'baTorah. Why do we have to mention a woman here? Why can't we use the generic term איש ish which the Torah employs all the time, and uses the generic term man to assume not the gender man, but the category of humanity, and a woman is included in that category? She's already included לכל עונשין שבתורה lechol onshin she'baTorah, all of the punishments in the Torah. מכל מקום פירט כאן אישה, כי לכך נסמכה פרשת נזיר לפרשת סוטה mikol makom perat kan isha, ki lechach nismicha parshas nazir leparshas sotah. לומר לך שכל הרואה סוטה בקלקולה יזיר עצמו מן היין lomar lecha shekol haro'eh sotah bekilkula yazir atzmo min hayayin. וזה שייך יותר בנשים מב אנשים v'zeh shayach yoser banashim mei ba'anashim. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar something interesting, says Rav Luntschitz. Something very interesting. He says that he lived where did he live? Not in Łódź. Łódź? Where did the כלי יקר Kli Yakar live? Maybe this is revealing of his community. But he says that why does this, why does the Torah specifically mention a woman here if normally she's subsumed under the category, the generic category of man? Because after all we said, what is the connection between this פרשה parsha of סוטה sotah and נזיר nazir? That a woman who sees, a man who sees, anyone who sees a woman בקלקולה be'kilkulah going through this process will take a vow of abstinence. Who is more likely to be influenced by wine to make these poor decisions, says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar? Women. Okay? זה שייך יותר בנשים מב אנשים zeh shayach yoser banashim mei ba'anashim. כי מסתמא הנשים יזירו מן היין ki mistama hanashim yaziru min hayayin. He says, and if you look, he continues, he says, that men because I guess of their body mass, they are able to absorb alcohol better than women. So if men drink alcohol, I guess everything obviously depends on the quantity one is drinking. But if men drink alcohol, maybe socially, recreationally, they could drink alcohol and not lose their judgment as easily. But women because I guess are more susceptible to being influenced by a lesser amount of wine. So therefore, it is women who will, maybe that and the fact that it's a woman who was the סוטה sotah, and therefore women will see that סוטה בקלקולה sotah be'kilkulah and say, I don't want to be in that circumstance myself. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, even though normally women are included in כל עונשין שבתורה kol onshin she'baTorah and there's no reason to specifically mention women, it does so anyway because after all this is on the heels of the פרשה parsha of סוטה sotah, so we are specifically pointing this out for women to be protective of them. So what's the rule? So rule number one is מיין ושכר יזיר, חומץ יין וחומץ שכר לא ישתה, וכל משרת ענבים לא ישתה, וענבים לחים ויבשים לא יאכל mi'yayin v'shechar yazir, chometz yayin v'chometz shechar lo yishteh, v'chol mishras anavim lo yishteh, va'anavim lachim vivayshim lo yochel. פסוק ג' Pasuk Gimel, verse three. Newer aged wine have to abstain, vinegar of wine or vinegar of aged wine, anything grapes have been steeped shall you not drink, fresh and dried grapes shall he not eat. You can't eat grapes or grape products, you can't eat wine, or anything that has wine mixed in, anything that has wine mixed in with it. The truth is a lot of our scotches and sherry for sure, but a lot of the scotches and brandy and scotch and what's the other word I'm looking for? Not scotch. Bourbon? Rye, bourbon. Rye. Okay, we got all, got a whole bartender here. Whiskey, thank you, whiskey. Anyway a lot of them are aged in casks, sherry casks that are wine that has absorbed in its walls. There are a lot of examples. So even though true, strictly speaking, if somebody had a pure, you know, potato vodka, the נזיר nazir could drink it and get drunk, which would violate the spirit of the law, but certainly in those days, the assumption was that wine fermented, grapes fermented is what produces alcohol, and that's used as a catalyst that's mixed in with these other forms of alcohol and that's what the individual is abstaining from. That's the first category they abstain from is is grape products is alcohol. פסוק ד' Pasuk Dalet, כל ימי נזרו מכל אשר יעשה מגפן היין, מחרצנים ועד זג לא יאכל kol yemei nizro mikol asher ye'aseh migefen hayayin, mechartzanim v'ad zag lo yochel. All of the days of his being a נזיר nazir, anything made from wine, even the skin, he shall not eat. So even if the grape is crushed and all that remains is the skin, and the skin didn't ferment, nevertheless because it's a grape product, one abstains from the grape. So that's category number one, the three things the נזיר nazir abstains from. What's category number two? פסוק ה' Pasuk Hey. כל ימי נדר נזרו תער לא יעבור על ראשו, עד מלאת הימים אשר יזיר להשם קדוש יהיה, גדל פרע שער ראשו kol yemei neder nizro ta'ar lo ya'avor al rosho, ad melos hayamim asher yazir laShem kadosh yihyeh, gadel pera se'ar rosho. ראשו rosho. פסוק ה' Pasuk Hey. All the days of his being a נזיר nazir, a razor, a scissor, shall not pass over his head until he completes the days of being a... Nazir. Why? For the sake of השם Hashem, because he is holy. The growth of hair on his head shall grow. That he's growing hair, גדל פרע שער ראשו gadel peras se'ar rosho, his hair shall continue to grow on his head. So I ask you, why? I understand that alcohol is an impediment. Alcohol interferes with sincere worship of השם Hashem. I understand the poor role that alcohol plays. By the way, just to elaborate on that for a moment, how do we know that alcohol is so negative in the worship of השם Hashem? Are you allowed to drink when you're in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash? One is liable. אהרן Aharon's two sons died, a gazillion explanations are offered, but one of them is that they drank. They came in inebriated. They drank in the temple proper and you're not allowed to. And of course, where did that opinion get that conclusion? Because the very next section after the death of אהרן Aharon's sons is the prohibition, כהנים kohanim, priests are not allowed to drink in the temple. Why? Why are you not allowed to drink in the temple? So I don't want to get into this at length. Rabbi Soloveitchik has a magnificent interpretation. It connects to פורים Purim. פורים Purim, a holiday which is characterized by drinking. How do you, so so not Jewish to have drinking as a virtue. How do you have a whole holiday dedicated or characterized by drinking? So Rabbi Soloveitchik develops the notion that פורים Purim is the the holiday of exile. The miracle took place in שושן Shushan. We do not say הלל Hallel on פורים Purim. Why? Because עכתי עבדי דאחשורוש אנן akatei avdei d'Achashverosh anan. We remain in the fourth exile, the exile of Achashverosh, even today. Yes, yesterday we celebrated the reunification of ירושלים Yerushalayim, we celebrated Jewish sovereignty over a united ירושלים Yerushalayim and over Israel, but we don't have a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. The גאולה geulah, the redemption is incomplete. We still are in many ways under the exile of Achashverosh, under עכתי עבדי דאחשורוש אנן akatei avdei d'Achashverosh anan, over the exile of Rome, over the over the fourth exile. So who was the one who said that's why you don't say הלל Hallel? That was רבא Rava. רבא Rava was the one who said, why don't we say הלל Hallel on פורים Purim? עכתי עבדי דאחשורוש אנן akatei avdei d'Achashverosh anan. We are still under the exile of Achashverosh. Who is the one who says you should drink on פורים Purim? It's none other than רבא Rava. אמר רבא חייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא עד דלא ידע בין ארור המן לברוך מרדכי Amar Rava, chayav inish livsumei b'Puraya ad d'lo yada bein arur Haman l'varuch Mordechai. The same רבא Rava is the one who says you should drink. Is that a coincidence, says the רב Rav, says Rabbi Soloveitchik? No. Why did רבא Rava say you have to drink? It is because we don't have a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. You see, the greatest שמחה simcha, the greatest joy that a human being could possibly experience is to feel the presence of the Almighty, to be in the presence of the creator of the universe. When one is in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, and we can taste yet but a fraction of this at the כותל Kotel, or the כותל Kotel tunnel tours, or if you go on הר הבית Har Habayis on the Temple Mount, you could taste, you could get just a taste of this. But when you feel the presence of הקדוש ברוך הוא Hakadosh Baruch Hu of the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam, when you feel the Almighty's hand, when you know with certainty and full confidence that he exists and that he guides your life and your destiny, nothing can give you greater joy, because you feel at ease. You feel relaxed. You feel the ultimate comfort to know that everything that happens happens for a reason, happens in our best interest. The greatest שמחה simcha, it's not a coincidence, says the רב Rav, whenever you find the term שמחה simcha being used in the תורה Torah, you find the term לפני השם lifnei Hashem. ושמחת לפני השם V'samachta lifnei Hashem. והיית אך שמח לפני השם V'hayisa ach sameach lifnei Hashem. The תורה Torah always uses the term שמחה simcha, joy, where is that really fulfilled? When one is לפני השם lifnei Hashem, when one is before השם Hashem, when one is in God's presence. Real, genuine, authentic שמחה simcha is feeling the presence of השם Hashem. Says רבא Rava, פורים Purim, we don't have that opportunity. We don't have a בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. We don't have what פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos describes, the ten miracles that took place daily in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, which were a reminder of God's presence and his existence, ten miracles. Imagine, you were filled with doubt. You had a moment of hardship and you said, I just don't know. Is there a God? Does he care? Is he involved in my life? You went to the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, you witnessed one of those miracles daily, and you felt relieved to know, ah, השם Hashem is there. השם Hashem is in my life. We don't have that. So where do we derive שמחה simcha? In a counterfeit version. Says the רב Rav, that's why specifically on פורים Purim what we say is, you can't get the authentic שמחה simcha because עכתי עבדי דאחשורוש אנן akatei avdei d'Achashverosh anan. So שמחה simcha comes, you get a little high, you have a little bit of a לחיים l'chaim, and that little לחיים l'chaim brings a little joy and that's the joy. But to have a counterfeit experience when you have the potential and the possibility to have the authentic one is an affront to the Almighty, is an affront to השם Hashem, is an affront to the רבונו של עולם Ribono Shel Olam. So you can't drink in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash. Not only can you not drink, it's a capital crime. Says the תורה Torah, a person who drinks in the temple, in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash, is liable, is put to death. Put to death. Because to feel counterfeit שמחה simcha to turn to a counterfeit version in the presence of השם Hashem is to deny השם Hashem, is to is to be an affront to השם Hashem. So you see, all of that was just to give you background that wine, on the one hand, it's kind of paradoxical because on the one hand our Jewish tradition is steeped in wine. We drink wine for קידוש kiddush, we drink wine for הבדלה havdalah, we drink wine under the חופה chuppah, we drink wine at a ברית bris, we drink wine at a פדיון הבן pidyon haben, we drink wine at, you name it. What do we call when a couple gets engaged? We make a לחיים l'chaim. Wine permeates our tradition. But of course, it does so in great moderation. The wine in our tradition is to give a sense of חשיבות chashivus, is to give a sense of dignity, is to give a sense of regality to the occasion. But, but wine as a, to pursue wine in excess, not in moderation, is something which is antithetical to Jewish values. It's a counterfeit form of שמחה simcha. And so the נזיר nazir, the first thing that they abstain from is wine. No wine. Wine and being connected to God don't go together. If the only way that you can feel God in your life is by getting inebriated, that is an inauthentic experience. It's an inauthentic avenue to feel השם Hashem. It's a it's a shortcut and an inauthentic avenue. So that's number one. But number two, we just read the פסוק pasuk, תער לא יעבור על ראשו Taar lo ya'avor al rosho. A razor, a scissor can't pass over his head. The נזיר nazir can't get a haircut. Why can't the נזיר nazir get a haircut? What's wrong with getting a haircut? I understand how wine is an impediment to worship. How is a haircut an impediment? Guy can't have a long hair, a woman can't have long hair and yet דאווען daven with כוונה kavana, say תהלים Tehillim, learn well? How is hair an impediment? So look at the ספורנו Sforno. ספורנו Sforno in just a few short words explains. תער לא יעבור על ראשו Taar lo ya'avor al rosho says the ספורנו Sforno, ובזה ישליך אחרי גוו כל מחשבת יופי ותיקון השער U'v'zeh yashlich acharei geivo kol machsheves yofi v'tikun hasa'ar. You know what hair represents? Beauty. Hair represents the aesthetic. Hair represents the pursuit of the external, of beauty. In fact, hair plays a significant role in Judaism. When we talk about women covering their hair, when we talk about the נזיר nazir not being able to cut their hair, you talk about the מצורע metzora having to shave their head as part of the rehabilitation process, talk about the זב zav, hair plays a prominent role. And there's some who say, and this is very interesting, hair is the only body part that we can manipulate for beauty. Think about it for a moment. You could put makeup on but that's an external thing. You can have plastic surgery and that's an external thing. You wear clothing and that's an external thing. But hair is essentially the only body part, I guess you grow your nails long, but hair is really the only body part that can change and can change our image. Someone has long hair, they look one way. They cut their hair very short, they look totally different. Someone has manipulated their hair, they can look beautiful. Someone who is disheveled and unkempt, where do they look like that? You know, if you're not smelling an odor, and you just look at someone from afar, they look disheveled and unkempt because of their hair. Hair is the external manifestation of beauty and of aesthetic. And that's part of the reason why a woman, a married woman covers her hair, because if hair represents the external manifestation of the human body part of beauty, then that's something which is reserved for one's husband. That's not our topic for today. But the נזיר nazir, says the ספורנו Sforno, why is the נזיר nazir instructed not to cut their hair? Because they should not be consumed with the pursuit of beauty. Second impediment to pure worship, the second obstacle or interference with connecting exclusively with השם Hashem, is when one cares about the beauty and the material and the aesthetic of this world. And that's represented through the hair. So, you know, if you if you're always worried about shopping and the latest fashions and the latest fads, if you look in the mirror all the time and you're worried about how you look and you this and you that, it's going to diminish your spirituality. That's not to say that a spiritual person is ugly. It's not to say that a spiritual person is unkempt. You know, one of the greatest compliments that I ever receive, and thank God I receive it very often, is when people say to me, \"You know, your רעבעצין rebbetzin is so inspiring because she's so put together and she's so beautiful, and yet she's so modest and she's so spiritual.\" And that's I think one of the great compliments and that's the ideal of the Jewish woman, and it's true for men as well is, it doesn't mean to be spiritual you need to forfeit any attention to how you look. You don't have to dress in styles from 50 years ago and and not care how you look. you can look attractive without looking attracting. And and you can pay attention without being consumed. So that's what the, that's what the ספורנו Sforno's saying, that the נזיר nazir who's trying to go that extra mile. Remember, the נזיר nazir is not the default for the average person. The average person should cut their hair. The average person should go to the beauty salon. The average person should have their hair done and feel good about how they look. The average person should enjoy a glass of wine at dinner and there's nothing wrong with it. The נזיר nazir is not imposed on the average person. In fact, we'll get to it in a moment that the נזיר nazir might even not be the ideal. The נזיר nazir might be less than the ideal. We'll see it in a moment. But for the נזיר nazir whose goal is to have an exclusive relationship with השם Hashem to promote spirituality without interference, so, first of all they've got to remove wine from their lifestyle, and second of all, they don't get a haircut, which is symbolic of not caring at all about the physical world, exclusively pursuing the spiritual world. That's number two. Number three is פסוק ו' Pasuk Vav. כל ימי נזרו להשם על נפש מת לא יבא Kol yemei nizro l'Hashem al nefesh meis lo yavo. Number three is all of the days of their נזיר nazir status, they are not allowed to become exposed to טומאת מת tumas meis, they cannot have contact with a corpse, and they cannot become impure. They cannot become impure. לאביו ולאמו לאחיו ולאחותו לא יטמא להם במותם L'aviv ul'imo l'achiv ul'achoso lo yitama lahem b'mosam, even to their father or their mother, their brother or their sister, they cannot have contact with their corpse, כי נזר אלקיו על ראשו ki neizer Elokav al rosho, because the, some translate it here, נזר neizer means the crown of God is on their head. The simple translation is the status of being a נזיר nazir, a נזיר nazir to God is on their head. Some see it as נזר neizer is a type of crown. There's a glory, there's a crown. And that crown even supersedes the contact with the immediate family members. And this is distinct to a כהן kohen. A כהן kohen is allowed to become impure to immediately family members, this נזיר nazir can't. Why? פסוק ח' Pasuk Ches. כל ימי נזרו קדוש הוא להשם Kol yemei nizro kadosh hu l'Hashem. All the days of his being a נזיר nazir, he is holy, he is sanctified, he is sacred to God. What does that mean? What does that mean? Is that indicating he's called קדוש kadosh? What we have here, and I'll just, I'll give you the, what we're going to in a little bit right now. On when it comes to the נזיר nazir, we seem to have two conflicting messages. On the one hand, this פסוק pasuk he's called קדוש הוא להשם kadosh hu l'Hashem. He's holy, he's sacred to God. On the other hand, we'll see that when he concludes his נזיר nazir status, his pledge, he offers a קרבן חטאת korban chatas. He brings a sin offering. Why is he bringing a sin offering? A sin offering is brought when a person does something wrong, when one makes a mistake, when one has an indiscretion. What did the נזיר nazir do wrong? And more importantly, which is it? Is he קדוש kadosh or is he a חוטא choteh? Is he holy or is he a sinner? Did the נזיר nazir do something right or did he do something wrong? There are two attitudes in חז\"ל Chazal towards this question. And we'll get to it in a moment what's underlying it. So just in the translation of the word קדוש kadosh here, you see a hint to these two conflicting opinions and approaches to the נזיר nazir. Is the נזיר nazir here, he or her, are they holy or are they a sinner? So look at פסוק ח' Pasuk Ches, רש\"י Rashi. רש\"י Rashi says, why is the נזיר nazir called קדוש kadosh? זו קדושת הגוף מלטמא למתים Zu kedushas haguf miletamei l'meisim. We're not saying he's holy. We're not saying he's holy. It's not that his abstinence and asceticism has led to holiness. Holy here means he can't have contact with a corpse. Holiness is the opposite of impurity, he's pure. Says רש\"י Rashi, קדוש kadosh in this context means he's pure, therefore he can't have contact with a corpse. But don't think holy here means he's holy, as in what a holy Jew, holy brother. He's not a holy brother. He's a חוטא choteh, he's a sinner. קדוש Kadosh here means קדושת הגוף kedushas haguf. It means he's pure. That's one of the criteria to be a נזיר nazir is you can't be impure. In contrast, in contrast, look at the ספורנו Sforno. קדוש יהיה Kadosh yiheyeh, says the ספורנו Sforno, נבדל מן התאוות החומריות Nivdal min hata'avos hachomriyos. No, he's holy. Why is he holy? Because he is apart from worldly temptations. When you overcome desire, when you overcome temptation, that's how you achieve holiness. This נזיר nazir is holy because he lives an ascetic life, because he is apart, because he is sovereign over his temptations and desires, נבדל nivdal, he's separate and apart מהתאוות החומריות meihata'avos hachomriyos from the physical desires. He is not only pure in the טמא tamei sense, or טהור tahor sense, but he is קדוש kadosh. He is holy because he is apart from desire. So there you see the first hint to this question of is the נזיר nazir holy or is the נזיר nazir a sinner? Or is the נזיר nazir a sinner? So the third criteria is no contact with a corpse, that would lead to impurity, impurity brings down the spirit and the soul, limits the contact one can have in the בית המקדש Beis Hamikdash and so on, and that's antithetical to the goals of the, of the נזיר nazir. Of the נזיר nazir. And then the פרשה parsha goes on to delineate if he does by accident come in contact with the corpse. What if he can't help it? What if he's sitting in the בית מדרש Beis Medrash learning and the guy next to him, his חברותא chavrusa drops dead of a heart attack. He did nothing wrong, he didn't intentionally have contact with a corpse, but somebody dies, he's sitting in the same אוהל ohel, he's under the same roof as the person who died, he becomes contaminated himself. So the פרשה parsha goes on to tell us the sacrifices that he offers in order to purify, and he has to start again. Start from the top. He now begins his נזיר nazir pledge all the way from the beginning. And then the פרשה parsha concludes, this is not the פרשה parsha of נשא Naso, but the פרשה parsha of נזיר nazir by telling us how he concludes his status of being a נזיר nazir. He finishes his term of נזירות nezirus, he offers certain sacrifices, and זאת תורת הנזיר zos Toras haNazir, these are the laws of a נזיר nazir. So which is it? Holy? Is he holy? Did he achieve something special? Or is he a cheater? Did he take a shortcut? Is he somebody who's a חוטא choteh, is he somebody who's a sinner for whom he needs to bring a sacrifice? So look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar פסוק י\"א pasuk yud alef. Says in the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. The two sides of this debate I'll share with you, there are many, but I'll share with you here the כלי יקר Kli Yakar and the רמב\"ן Ramban. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar. שלו נזהר מן, וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש u’chiper alav me'asher chata al hanefesh. He needs to atone for the fact that he sinned. What was his sin? שלא נזהר מטומאת מת shelo nizhar mitumas meis, because he had contact with the corpse. Even though it was by accident, he should have, it was an accident he could have avoided, so he needs atonement for contact with a corpse. רבי אלעזר הקפר אומר Reb Elazar Hakapar omer, אשר ציער עצמו מן היין asher tzi'er atzmo min hayayin. רבי אלעזר הקפר Reb Elazar Hakapar, רבי אלעזר הקפר Reb Elazar Hakapar is one of the תנאים Tannaim. If you go on, when I was in Israel a few months ago, if you go to צפורי Tzipori in the north of Israel, in the great museum that they have there, you, they have the stone that was on top of the entrance to his בית מדרש Beis Medrash. It says the בית מדרש Beis Medrash of רבי אלעזר הקפר Reb Elazar Hakapar. You know how incredible that is? We're studying his words over 2,000 years, close to 2,000 years later. And they have the, what's it called, the mantel, the, the lintel. Thank you, the lintel that would sit over the entrance of his בית מדרש Beis Medrash, רבי אלעזר הקפר Reb Elazar Hakapar. Anyway, so רבי אלעזר הקפר Reb Elazar Hakapar says, אשר ציער עצמו מן היין asher tzi'er atzmo min hayayin. No, you know why he's bringing a קרבן חטאת korban chatas? You know why he brings this sacrifice? Because he vowed to abstain from wine. He vowed to abstain from wine. So what, what, what was wrong with that? So look at the next paragraph. אמנם מקום יש לפרש דברי רבי אלעזר בדרך אחרת ולאמר Omna makom yesh l'faresh divrei Reb Elazar b'derech acheres v'lomar. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, I want to explain the following. You know what the sin is of becoming a נזיר nazir? שלכך נקרא הנזיר חוטא, כאילו היה איש תם וישר ומכלכל דבריו במשפט לא היה צריך לנדור ולהזיר She'l'kach nikra ha'nazir choteh ki'ilu haya ish tam v'yashar v'chalkel divarav b'mishpat, lo haya tzorech lindor u'lhazir. כי מי יעכב על ידו להתנהג בפרישות... מותרות בלא נדר Ki mi ya'akev al yado l'hisnayeg b'prishus... mutaros b'lo neder. This individual, if they were righteous and they were just and they were straight, they could have abstained from all these things without having to take a vow. They could have achieved holiness within permissible, within permissiveness. In other words, they could have achieved holiness, they could have achieved holiness within the permissible. You don't have to go to the extent of taking a vow of saying that I won't have wine, just have one cup of wine. Have half a cup of wine or don't have wine without taking the vow. כי הוא, זה יורה, ומצטרך להקשר בנזירות, זה יורה כי הוא יודע בעצמו שאין מעצור לרוחו Ki hu, ze yora umid'itzrchech l'hiskasher b'nizirus, ze yoreh ki hu yodea b'atzmo she'ein ma'atzor l'rucho. על כן הוא כופת ונשבע כנגד היצר הרע Al kein hu kofeis v'nishba k'neged hayeitzer hara. Why is this individual taking the oath? Why is he taking the vow? Because he or she realizes they have no self-control. They lack the self-control and the discipline to achieve holiness on their own. They need to take a vow. They need to take an oath. They need to impose upon themselves from the outside restrictions and boundaries because they lack the discipline and self-control to achieve it on their own. ובזה גרם לעצמו צער U'v'ze garam l'atzmo tza'ar. כי כל דבר שבנדר יצרו תוקפו ביותר Ki kol davar she'baneder yitzro tokfo b'yoser. And you know what happens as a result? They cause great pain to themself. Because you know what happens when you take an oath that something's off limits? When you swear you're not going to have something? Guess what? You want it more than ever. You can't help stop thinking about it. You become obsessed with it, and you want it more than anything. ומטעם זה נקרא כל הנודר חוטא U'mitam ze nikra kol ha'noder choteh. כמו שלמדו מהפסוק, וחיטאתה על נפשו יהיה בחטא k'mo shelamdu me'hapasuk, v'chitechta al nafsho yihyeh v'chet. שמגרה יצר הרע בעצמו she'megareh yeitzer hara b'atzmo. ואומרים לו v'omrim lo, לא lo. דייך מה שאסרה לך תורה במאסה של היצר הרע, והרבה לו יוסף עליו, כי בכל מה שאוסר תורה אף פי שגורם לו גירוי היצר הרע, כמו שאמר מסגבר בישראל יותר מבאומות. מכל מקום, שניים הם עומדים כנגד התורה שבכתב ותורה, שניים הם עומדים כנגד התורה שבכתב ותורה שבעל פה. Says that this individual, someone who takes a vow is called a sinner. You know why? When you reveal when you have to take a vow is that you don't have the self-control to take care of it without the vow. So if you need to cut back from potato chips, just cut back from potato chips. But if you have to say, I take a שבועה shvuah, I take a vow, I take an oath that hereby these potato chips are forbidden to me. Which the Torah sees as being binding. Those potato chips now have the status of pork. If you eat the potato chips when you've taken a proper vow not to eat them, it is, from a הלכתית halachic standpoint, the equivalent of eating pork, literally. We have the ability through our words to transform the permissible into the forbidden. You could turn potato chips into pork. But what does it say about a person who has to go that far to turn potato chips into pork? It says they don't have the discipline and self-control to simply stop eating potato chips, or to have one potato chip and not eat the entire bag.So says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, this individual who could have abstained from wine and who could have de-emphasized the physical, the material, his hair, her hair, had to take an oath, a vow. That reveals their weakness. They are spiritually weak and therefore they're called a חוטא chotei. And not only that, they have increased and they have promoted their יצר הרע yetzer harah for the very thing that they've taken the vow to abstain from. Because I promise you, if you take a vow and say these potato chips are like pork for me, all you're going to think about are potato chips. And you're going to walk into every supermarket and convenience store and gas station and your eyes are going to be drawn directly to the potato chips. And you're going to be at a party and someone else is going to be munching potato chips, and you're going to have the shakes. You're going to go crazy needing potato chips. Because when you, the the, you know, it's it's the forbidden apple. When you make the something forbidden to you, it draws greater attention, makes a person want it even more. And the כלי יקר Kli Yakar goes on and he elaborates, and he describes, I think so beautifully, that does the נזיר nazir achieve holiness in their asceticism and abstinence? Yes. But it's a holiness which is achieved through a shortcut. Real holiness is not by leaving this world. Real holiness is by engaging this world and nevertheless being holy. Real holiness is when you can not be afraid and not have to abstain from the world God gave us, but you can engage His world and achieve holiness from within it, when you can be, take it in a dignified way and elevate his physical world. So when you leave the physical world, can you be holy? Sure you can. But it's a shortcut. It's a counterfeit avenue and journey towards that holiness. And says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, that's why he's called a חוטא chotei.The רמב\"ן Ramban has a different view. Look at the רמב\"ן Ramban on פסוק י\"ד pasuk yud daled and with this we end. The רמב\"ן Ramban says, you know why he's called a חוטא chotei? טעם החטאת שיקריב הנזיר ביום מלאת נזרו לא נתפרש Ta'am hachatas sheyakriv hanazir b'yom melos nizro lo nispareish. The Torah doesn't give you the reason why he has to bring a קרבן חטאת korban chatas, a sin offering, on the day he concludes his his term. והדרך הפשט כי האיש הזה חוטא נפשו במלאת נזרו V'haderech hapshat ki ha'ish hazeh chotei nafsho bimlos nizro. כי הוא עתה נזור מקדושתו ועבודת השם Ki hu ata nazur mikdushaso v'avodas Hashem, וראוי היה לו שיזור לעולם v'ra'ui hayah lo sheyazor l'olam, ויעמוד כל ימיו נזיר וקדוש לאלוקיו v'ya'amod kol yamav nazir v'kadosh l'Elokav. You know why he brings the sacrifice? Because he's ending his term. He should have remained this way forever. What do you mean he wants to go back to the regular world? He's going to go back to grooming his hair or her hair, go back to drinking wine, go back to contact with a corpse. Go back, they're going to leave this elevated status to go back to the mundane world? That individual brings a קרבן חטאת korban chatas. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, because the נזיר nazir has achieved holiness and it's a proper, admirable holiness, they shouldn't be leaving it. In other words, for the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, you know why you bring a חטאת chatas? You belong back in the mundane world. You bring a חטאת chatas because you took a detour, you took a counterfeit detour through abstinence to get to holiness, but you belong back in the mundane world. You bring the חטאת chatas because he became a נזיר nazir. Says the רמב\"ן Ramban, no. You belong in the holy world. You bring the חטאת chatas because you're leaving that world to go back to the mundane world. You really belong and should stay there for good, because that's where real holiness is achieved. You have a fundamental disagreement on holiness. Is it through abstinence and asceticism? Is that or is that a counterfeit journey and aversion to get there? So that's a little bit about the נזיר nazir, there's a lot more to talk about, why is the נזיר nazir connected to פרשת ברכת כהנים parshas birkas kohanim, the section that follows right afterwards? But we are out of time. I wish you a wonderful...
