~ Thoughts on The Parsha ~
Parshas Nasso
Pieces of Peace
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
דַּבֵּר אֶל
בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי תִשְׂטֶה אִשְׁתּוֹ
וּמָעֲלָה בוֹ מָעַל
“Hashem spoke to
Moses, saying, “Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: Any man, if
his wife will go astray and commit a trespass against him....”
-Nasso 5:11-12
וְכָתַב אֶת הָאָלֹת הָאֵלֶּה
הַכֹּהֵן בַּסֵּפֶר וּמָחָה אֶל מֵי הַמָּרִים
And the kohen shall
inscribe these curses on a scroll and erase it into the bitter waters....”
-Nasso 5:23
This
week's parsha discusses the topic of sotah – the story of a woman who was specifically warned by her husband
not to be with a certain man, and yet was caught secluded with him. The Torah[1] describes
that when she is brought to the kohen, there was an interesting process
she had to go through. First, her husband brings a karbon[2] on
her behalf. Then, the kohen takes an earthenware cup filled with mayim
kedoshim (sacred water)[3] and puts
dust from the ground into it. The kohen then uncovers the woman's head[4] and gives
her the karbon to hold[5]. If at this
point the sotah has yet to confess, the kohen begins to recite
the following introduction before giving her the water. He says, “If a man has
not lain with you, and you have not strayed in defilement with someone other
than your husband, then you shall be innocent from these bitter, afflictive
waters. But if you have strayed with someone other than your husband, and you
have become defiled, and a man other than your husband has lain with you...!”
The kohen then continues to announce, “May Hashem set you as a curse and
as an oath among your people, when Hashem makes your thigh fall and your
stomach distend....” The woman then responds, “Amen Amen.” At this point, the kohen
inscribes these curses on a scroll and erases it into the bitter, afflictive
waters. The sotah then drinks the water[6]. If she
indeed is guilty, then her stomach becomes swollen and her thighs collapse.
However, if the waters have no affect then she is innocent and receives a beracha
(blessing) to have easy childbirths in the future and produce
beautiful children.[7]
The
obvious question on the sotah process is why is it necessary that the
erasing of Hashem's name be included? Certainly the same miraculous results
could be achieved without this disgrace to Hashem's name. Furthermore, the gemara[8] writes that
it is asur (forbidden) to erase Hashem's name[9]. If so, why
should the process include erasing Hashem's name by putting it in the water for
the sotah to drink?
The medrash[10] brings the
following story:
There was
a story with Rabbi Meir who was giving a drasha (lecture) in shul
one Shabbos Friday night, and there was a certain woman who was attending. By
the time the drasha ended and she got back home, the Shabbos candles had
already gone out and her husband furiously asked her, “Where were you until
now?” She responded that she was listening to the shiur that Rabbi Meir
was giving in shul. Her husband ordered her to leave the house and
warned her not to return until she spat in the face of Rabbi Meir. In the
meantime, Eliyahu HaNavi came to Rabbi Meir and related the event which
had occurred between this woman and her husband. He told him that ultimately,
because of Rabbi Meir's lecture, this woman was sent away from her house. In
response to Eliyahu's visit, Rabbi Meir went to the beis medrash (study
hall). At the same time, the woman, not knowing what to do, also came to the beis
medrash to daven (pray). When Rabbi Meir saw her, he approached her
and asked if she knew how to heal his eye. She said she did not. Rabbi Meir
then asked her if she could please spit in his eye seven times to help heal it.
The woman did so and went back home after telling her husband, “You only asked
me to spit in Rabbi Meir's face once, but I did so seven times!”
The medrash
continues to relate that the talmidim (students) who witnessed this
story were very unsure of Rabbi Meir's actions. They asked him, “How could you
allow for such bizayon (disgrace) of the Torah by allowing this woman to
spit in your face? You should have asked us to drag her husband into the beis
medrash and we would have whipped him and told him to be nice to his wife.”
Rabbi Meir responded, “My kavod (honor) should by no means be greater
than the honor of Hashem. So, if Hashem allows his name to be erased in the sotah-waters
in order to bring peace between man and his wife and demonstrate that she is
indeed innocent, then certainly I too must give up my honor to achieve peace
between couples.”
This
lesson that Rabbi Meir learned from the parsha of sotah is quite
profound. It is worth to give up even the kavod of Torah and Hashem – so
to speak - in order to bring about peace in a household.
The medrash[11] says that
keeping peace is of utmost importance. As one of many examples, the medrash mentions
that when it came to creating the world, Hashem was very careful to create
everything in balance. On the first day of Beraishis, Hashem created the
Heavens and the Earth – something for the upper realm and something for the
lower realm. On the second day Hashem made the rakiya (firmament) – for
the sky. On the third day, it was earth's turn again and Hashem gathered the
waters so that dry land could appear and grow produce. On the fourth day,
Hashem created the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. On the fifth day, Hashem
created the birds, giant fish, and insects – creatures of the Earth. On the
sixth day, Hashem wanted to create man but was unsure – so to speak – as to
what to do. If Hashem would form man from the upper realms, then it would not
be fair to Earth; and if Hashem would form man from earth alone, it would be
unfair to the Heavens. So, the medrash explains, Hashem formed man from
both Heaven and Earth.[12]
Man is
challenged with bringing peace to the world. Each and every person has the
obligation by doing his part as an individual and forgo his kavod in
order to bring shalom (peace) to others. This is leaned from the parsha
of sotah. If even Hashem is willing to have his name erased in order
to bring peace to a couple, and through a kal v'chomer (fortiori
argument) Rabbi Meir allowed a woman to spit in his eye seven times, then
certainly we must do whatever it takes to bring peace to our own homes, those
of others, and to the world as a whole.
At the
same time, man is challenged with another task of bringing peace; and that is
within oneself. As humans, we consist of a combination of Heaven and Earth.
Part of us is made from dust and wants nothing more than to just lazily lie on
the ground like dust. The other half of us, our neshama, yearns for nothing other than to become close
to Hashem and kedusha (Holiness), where its source is. Our job is to use
the material part of ourselves in order to interact with this world, and then
use the spiritual part of us to channel the physical to be used for spiritual
purposes. This internal peace is what the parsha of Nazir is all about – learning to stay away from
indulging in physical pleasures for its own sake, in order to ultimately be
prepared to use everything in this world for purposes of kedusha.
These are
the two pieces of peace described in our parsha. The topic of Sotah
teaches us the importance of bringing peace to the world as a whole, while the
discussion of Nazir conveys the necessity of internal peace within the
two parts – gashmiyos and ruchniyos – of every human being.
Following
the parshiyos of sotah and nazir, Hashem commands Moshe as
follows:
“Speak to Aharon and to his sons, saying: So shall you
bless the Children of Israel, say to them: 'May Hashem bless you and guard you.
May Hashem illuminate his countenance toward you and endow you with grace. May
Hashem lift his countenance to you and establish peace for you.'”[13]
May Hashem
fulfill his promise of Birkas Kohanim and grant us the siyata
d'shmaya (Heavenly aid) necessary to achieve internal and external peace.
[1] Bamidbar 5:11-29
[2] A tenth-eipha of unsifted barley
flour (without any oil or frankincense).
[3] The water was brought from the Kiyyor.
Rashi (5:17) explains that the reason the water was taken from the Kiyyor
for this purpose was because the kiyyor was what the women of b'nei
Yisroel donated their mirrors for (Shemos 38:8).
[4] See Rashi (5:18) who says that not
only is her hair uncovered, but all braids must be taken out of her hair as
well.
[5] See Rashi (5:18) who writes that the
reason for this was to try to tire her out so that she would just confess
before the process leads to erasing Hashem's name, as we will soon see.
[6] See Rashi 5:27 who writes that if she
refuses, we actually force her unless she admits to being guilty.
[7] See Rashi 5:28
[8] Makkos 22a
[9] The gemara learns it from Devarim 12:3-4
[10] Vayikra Rabbah 9:9 brought in Lev
Eliyahu by Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian (also in Devarim Rabbah 10:15).
[11] Vayikra Rabbah 9:9
[12] Also see Beraishis 2:7 and Rashi there.
[13] Bamidbar 6:23-27
No comments:
Post a Comment