The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Bamidbar 6:13 the Torah states "זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַנָּזִ֑יר בְּי֗וֹם מְלֹאת֙ יְמֵ֣י נִזְר֔וֹ יָבִ֣יא אֹת֔וֹ אֶל־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד". R' Frand quoted the Meshech Chachma who asked about the use of the words יָבִ֣יא אֹת֔וֹ. Why does the Torah say that he should bring him? Who else should be brought?
R' Frand answered by first observing that the length of time of Nezirus is undefined in the Torah. Although it can be any period of more than 30 days, it can be 60 or 90 or 300 days long. The reason that the period is undefined according to the Meshech Chachma is that the length of the Nezirus is the length of time that a person needs to extricate himself from his desires. This will differ for each person and this is why the period is not fixed. This explains the use of the words יָבִ֣יא אֹת֔וֹ - because the person needs to make an internal reckoning of how long it will take him to reign in his desires.
R' Frand quoted the Sefer Bei Chiya who in turn cites a Gemara in Nedarim about Shimon HaTzaddik who refused to eat from the Asham of a Nazir Tamei, with the exception of one particular Nazir from the South. The Gemara tells a story about how when this Nazir appeared before Shimon HaTzaddik, he asked the Nazir - you have such beautiful hair - why did you want to be a Nazir. The man responded that he was a shepherd and that one day when he was grazing the flock, he saw his reflection in a pool of water and said to himself - you are so handsome, you could have anyone you wanted. The Nazir became aware of how strong his Yetzer Hara was and he called out to himself - Rasha.
The Bei Chiya explains that this Nazir saw in himself that he was falling prey to the Yetzer Hara and he wanted to do something about it. This is the root of Nezirus, seeing in yourself that you need to change and be a new person, and however long that takes, so be it.
R' Frand said a second vort on the Sotah. He quoted R' Ya'akov Kaminetsky who observed that people think that the Sotah process is simply the punishment of a woman who strayed. But this is a misconception as Hashem could utilize many other ways for her to be punished, as opposed to a public miracle in the Beis HaMikdash where everyone sees what happens after she drinks the Mei HaMarim. Instead, the reason that this takes place in the public way that it does, is because the husband needs to know that she is innocent and to remove all doubts from his head. The only way to do that, is to have the woman drink from the water and ...nothing happens. Now, when they are reunited, the husband knows that nothing improper has occurred.
R' Frand cited the Ramban who notes that this is the only Mitzva in the Torah which is accomplished through miraculous means. This is because Hashem wants the husband to that she is innocent and to remove any doubts from his mind.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment