Rabbi's Derasha

This is the orderly part of the book of Bamidbar.  Everything is being prepared for the march away from the mountain and toward the entrance to Eretz Yisrael.  Nothing untoward has happened yet.  The trouble doesn’t start until next week.

The order of the preparation has a logic to it -- everyone is organized and accounted for;  everyone is placed in marching order.  The encampment itself is then cleared out of ritual impurity.  Which brings us to the Sota women, who presents a case of doubtful impurity.   Resolving that doubt might take a miracle, but resolving it is important.  

At this point, we have reached the most famous juxtaposition in our Parsasha.  The Talmud asks, Why is the episode of the Sota women followed by that of the Nazir?  And it answers, because someone who witnesses the catastrophe of the Sota woman will take a vow to become a Nazir.  That is, if someone sees what laxity in social situations can lead to, they will separate themselves from wine because it leads to laxity in social situations.  Simple as that.  The Nazir realizes that he or she could have the same weakness and looks to address it.

That is the most known juxtaposition in the Parasha.  But are there others?  Why does the blessing of the Kohainim follow after the Nazir?  Why does the section with all of the tribes bringing offerings for the dedication of the Mishkan follow the blessings of the Kohanim?  Don’t all of these juxtapositions have reasons?  

The answer is yes, they do, but I want to concentrate on only one of these now.  I want to address the contrast drawn between the Nazir, who is a sort of honorary Kohen, and the actual Kohanim who deliver the blessing to the people.  They both are considered holy, but there is a difference.  Kedusha, holiness, means a certain type of separation but it means it in a certain way.  In the modern use of the word Kedusha one sees what its broader meaning.  When one is “Makdish” time, it means one sets it apart for a certain focus.  Holiness means to devote oneself to something, to focus on it.  

The contrast between the Kohen and the Nazir is in where each one places that focus.  A Nazir takes on a type of asceticism because he or she wants to correct something in his or her system.  The Torah calls a Nazir holy but it also calls him or her a sinner.  A Nazir brings a sin offering when the episode ends.  Having to put oneself into an extreme situation is a sin.  We are not meant to be ascetics.  We are meant to engage with the physical world and sanctify it.  It is laudable to seek a corrective but one has to see the corrective as unfortunate.

In contrast, the Kohanim have a special, separate status because they are putting themselves in service to the Klal, to the community.  The Nazir’s focus is on self.  Again, a laudable corrective, but it is for an individual while the Kohanim serve the community.  That is why the community takes care of the Kohanim.  They devote their lives to performing the divine service for the community, and to teaching, and the community takes care of their physical needs.

The Torah teaches through its words and its structure.  This juxtaposition is to strike the contrast, and to make it clear that taking care of oneself is commendable but taking care of the community represents something well beyond that.