Nina, a Washington Heights native, attends seventh grade at P.S. 334, the Anderson Program. Prior to this year, she was enrolled at Kinneret Day School in a dual language program, where she became fluent in Hebrew, and also learned a bissel Yiddish once a week. For her Mitzvah project requirement, Nina helped out at the semi-monthly Tot Shabbat gatherings.  Nina will donate part of her gift money to Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross, her favorite tzedakah (charity).

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This week’s Torah reading Parshat Naso is very complex.  It deals with many themes, including leprosy, the Consecration of the Tabernacle, adultery, the priestly blessing, and taking a census of the tribe of Levi.  All of these topics are very interesting (some more than others) and they have been discussed by Rabbis all over the world.

Naso -- what does that mean exactly?  Well, in the New Bantam -- Megido Hebrew and English dictionary, it means count, carry, lift, raise, endure and marry!  Can you believe it?  Six different definitions for such a small word!

Levi, the second son of Jacob, had three sons: Kohath, Gershon and Merari.  Numbers Chapter 4, verse 22, which was the second verse that I chanted, says, “Count the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers’ houses, by their families.”  When Moses counts the Kohatites, Gershonites and Meraris, he does it in a special way.  He lifts each man’s head to count him as a member who is about to work for God.  This illustrates one of the definitions of Naso -- to lift.

Is there another connection from a different definition of Naso?  What if we replace the word “count” with “endure”?  “Make sure the Gershonites can endure…”  Wait.  Can endure what?  The next line states that these men will work in the Ohel Moed, the special tent of God.  But,  isn’t working in God’s tent an honor?  Yes, a big honor, but also one of immense responsibility.  Since this tent is so holy, an ordinary man would have to go through every day making sure he did not make a mistake.  This task must have been challenging and nerve-racking.  You could say these men would have to endure holiness in the Ohel Moed.

In addition to counting the tribe of Levi, God also instructs Moses to tell the men what their jobs will be when the Ohel Moed moves with the Children of Israel through the Sinai Desert.   The Kohatites will carry the holy articles, the Gershonites will carry the tent fabric and curtains, and the Meraris will carry the framework.  So, here’s another definition of Naso: carry!

When he is finished, Moses tallies:  Kohatites: 2,750, Gershonites: 2,630,  Meraris: 3,200.  8,580 all together.  That’s a lot of people carrying on!

Just an aside here: my last name, Gershonowitz, is Americanized Russian for “son of Gershon”.  So does that make me a Gershonite?  Not if I have to schlep curtains through the desert!

The next part of Naso deals with leprosy.  God gets to the point immediately; God tells Moses that every leper has to be put outside the camp, B’nei Yisrael.  The lepers are in complete isolation, and cannot come near anyone who is not a leper.  If you have ever seen the movie Ben Hur, there is a great Hollywood version of the leper colony.  It’s down a very steep hill so no one can enter.

God also talks about atonement and wrongs.  God says that if anyone has committed a crime, he or she must confess and make restitution, plus pay a twenty percent fine.

Then, God talks about adultery.  If a husband accuses, or even just suspects his wife, he must bring a meal offering to a priest or Cohen.  His wife must kneel and hold the offering; then the Cohen will tell her to drink a mixture of ash dust and “holy water”.  This is called the “water of bitterness” in the Torah, but it’s really just mud.  She must take an oath, which the Cohen writes down, and signs with a blot of the muddy water.  Then, if her belly swells and her thighs sag after she drinks this mixture, she is proven guilty.  To me, this sounds like a description of a pregnant woman.  The question is, of course, who is the father?  After this is done, the Priest takes the offering, waves it in the air, puts it on the alter, and burns it.

Census, atonement, leprosy, adultery.  What will be next?  How to be a Nazarite!  A Nazarite is essentially a Jewish monk.  First, God tells Moses that any man or woman can take a vow to be a Nazarite.  Then, God tells Moses all of the requirements:  No wine, not even a grape.  No shaving or cutting hair, and absolutely no proximity to the dead.  Even if someone in your immediate family dies, you have to be a certain distance from the body and the grave.  Your life as a Nazarite is devoted to God’s service, and you are separated from your community.

When you become a Nazarite, you take a vow to serve for a fixed period of time – maybe months or years.  The prohibition about being near a dead body is very severe.  If God forbid, someone dies in front of you, all the time you spent up until that point being a Nazarite doesn’t count.  You have to start all over again!  Imagine taking a seven-year oath and after six years, 11 months and 29 days, your study partner keels over right next to you!

My haftorah is about  the birth of Samson, a very famous Nazarite.  He is such a famous character that an English poet John Milton wrote about him and Camille Saint Saens composed an opera about him.  I am sure that many of you are familiar with the story of how his long hair gave him strength.

Later in the Parasha, God tells Moses that he and Aaron should bless the children of Israel with this prayer.  

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

May the Lord lift us His countenance unto you and grant you peace.

This has come to be known as the priestly benediction.  It is used by many parents to bless their children every Friday evening at the beginning of Shabbat.   In my family, my dad puts his hand on my head and my brother’s, and says this ancient prayer.

Naso continues with Moses finishing the setting up of the Tabernacle.  He blesses all of the furniture and everything inside the Tabernacle.  Then, various princes, representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel, bring six wagons filled with gifts and twelve oxen.   Moses then distributes these to the Kohatites, the Gershonites and the Meraris.  The Torah goes into much detail about which prince brought which offering.  One interesting thing is that each prince brings the exact same set of gift items.

I’d like to talk to you today about a few of the many themes in this week’s parasha.  The first one is about being a Nazarite.  God speaks to Moses saying that if anyone wants to take the Nazarite vow, he or she must set himself or herself apart from the community.  Does this separation make them holy?

Various Rabbis have argued that being a Nazarite is in fact NOT holy.  In order to be a holy and pure Jew, you are supposed to practice all 613 commandments or mitzvot in the Torah.  A Nazarite denies him or herself many things, but does he or she honor his or her parents while living apart?  This is an important mitzvah -- so important that it is one of the Ten Commandments.  Just because one avoids temptations does not mean that he or she is any holier than someone else.  God says in the Torah not to deny ourselves any of the joys permitted in the Torah.  Because grapes and wine are prohibited, a Nazarite can’t make Kiddush, so the Nazarites are not fulfilling this mitzvah.

Yet another stumbling block: why would anyone want to be a Nazarite?  Maybe it’s because they felt they were sinful and couldn’t control their temptations.  Maybe it’s because they were anti-social and couldn’t get along in their community.  Maybe they were gay or lesbian and wanted to separate themselves from a community where that was not tolerated.  If someone wanted to go on a diet, would he or she become a Nazarite in order to learn how to deal with the urge to eat sweets?  Would it teach you discipline?  Maybe this is why some people decided to become Nazarites. 

The second theme I would like to talk about is adultery.  The book of Proverbs teaches us about various human behaviors.  It includes some very interesting ones, such as patience and foolishness.  In chapter 14, it says:  “Patience results in much understanding; impatience results in foolishness.  A calm disposition assures physical health, but jealousy rots the bones.”  You may ask, “ How does this relate to my Parasha?”

Well, in Naso, there are two situations where this verse applies.   One, a wife who has sexual relations with another man and doesn’t tell her husband, and another where a husband suspects his wife of adultery, but has no witness.

In various cultures, a women suspected of adultery was in serious trouble.  She could be thrown out of the house, divorced, beaten, publicly humiliated or even killed.  In the Code of Hammurabi, it states that if a wife is suspected of adultery, she must be thrown into a river.  If she survives, she is innocent and if she drowns, she is guilty.  No wonder the Talmud instructs parents to teach children how to swim!

In the Bible, a woman who has cheated is called a “sotah”, but the trial about adultery is also called a “sotah”.   Was this a mere coincidence, or is there real meaning to this?  Is the Sotah woman treated fairly?  Should she be publicly humiliated, drink muck and be denied the right to defend herself through speech?  What fariness is there in that?  Is this justified?

Nowadays, this would not happen in America.  But back then, was it normal for women to hum along and praise their husbands, and do their every heart’s desire?  The ancient society was very different.  Even for a woman to become a Nazarite, she had to have permission from her husband or father.  Clearly, the society was ruled by men.  We may think a sotah should have a trial with a jury, but maybe it was the custom then for a woman to just go along with what her husband told her.   No one knows how the women felt back then, but it seems that they did a great job of grinning and bearing it, since there is no mention of their complaints in the Torah.

The last theme I would like to discuss is the census.  God told Moses to count these Levitical clans so he would know how many men were available for work in the Ohel Moed .  However, God tells Moses to tell Aaron that he and his sons will only be in charge of the Gershonites and Meraris, but not the Kohatites.  

Question:  Why isn’t Aaron in charge of the Kohatites?  The Torah says the Kohatites had the holiest work, while the other clans only had to carry the parts of the Tabernacle.  Why does Aaron have to instruct the Gershonites and Meraris to carry the parts of the tent when he is descended from the Kohatites himself?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to have Aaron in charge of his own clan?

And,  why do the Kohatites have the responsibility of the ark which houses the holy Torah?  Rabbi Abarbanel suggests that the Kohatites were chosen because they were closely related to Moses and Aaron, so they got the holiest work.  However, the Chatam Sofer says that the Kohatites were given the heaviest burden because they had to carry the heavy ark on their shoulders.  The Gershonites and Meraris had oxen to help them carry the fabric and frame of the Ohel Mohel, but all the Kohatites had were their own two legs.

The Chatam Sofer continues by telling us that if Moses had not appointed the Kohatites to carry the ark, he would have been criticized.  The children of Israel might have yelled at Moses for favoring his family by giving the heaviest burden to a different clan.  So it seems like the job with the most honor and responsibility is also the hardest.

Nazarites, adultery and a census.  All together in one parasha.  What does one have to do with another?  What do they have to do with us today?

I did find one connection in this trio after spending time studying with the Rabbi.  All of these situations involve people who are unique or set apart, whether they were born into it, arrived through an accusation, or made the choice themselves.

During the census, Moses counts the sons of Levi who are assigned by God to carry the parts of the Ohel Moed.  They do not have a choice about their work.  They are just born into it.  It is clearly announced that since they are the sons of Levi, they get special privileges and jobs.  And,  special burdens.

Even though the sons of Levi have arduous work, at least that’s better than being in a situation involving adultery.  The Sotah results when someone becomes jealous and makes an accusation.  The trial, the ordeal and the confessions were public and known to all.  This puts the husband and wife in a special position.  It is not a good one; in fact, it is a lose/lose situation for both of them.

Because the Sotah is public, the whole town will be involved in this one couple’s private business.  If it turns out that the wife is guilty, everyone will know that she didn’t like her husband,  and she will be called immoral.  If the wife turns out to be innocent,  their relationship pretty much goes downhill from there.  Everyone will know she has a very jealous husband.  

The last theme that is connected to “uniqueness” is the Nazarites.  Of course, they choose to be special.  They voluntarily make the decision to deny themselves pleasures .  Why do they make this choice?  They might feel the need to be on a higher spiritual level or they might just want the attention.

I found it interesting that in just one hour, the Rabbi and I were able to connect these three random topics.  However, there is yet another question: how do all these topics relate to life today?  Of course there are no Nazarites any more, no one takes a census of people to carry tents around, and women aren’t forced to drink mud to determine their innocence.  However, there are similar situations in our times relating to these topics.

Although there are no Jewish monks today, there are people who deny themselves pleasures of a physical kind.  For example, Hindus abstain from eating meat.  For some people, a Nazarite is a hero because he or she focuses just on God without bonus treats.  Nazarites volunteered to work extra hard, but were not rewarded physically.  

Moses’ census of the Levites is similar to our government’s census.  Every ten years, each household fills out a questionnaire about family members, income, religion, etc.  We can still learn from the Torah and take customs from it and make them our own.  Our government uses an ancient idea described in the Torah to this day.  A census is a very organized way to keep track of how many people exist.

The part about adultery taught me one thing -- the importance of trust.  Many people can relate to the concept of divorce.  Often, this is a result of adultery.  When suspicions arise, if the husband trusts his wife, the relationship will be a lot better.  In my opinion, trust and honesty make a good relationship.  If one spouse loves the other and trusts completely, there won’t be accusations which could result in a trial, and suspicion and gossip by others.

My teachers at Kinneret always told me that we keep reading the Torah every year so we don’t forget how to be Jewish.  Is there another reason we read Torah?  Does the Torah have lessons to help us today?  Does taking a census help us learn to be better people?  

Maybe taking the actual census won’t help us with our daily lives, but something else can.  The reason Moses takes the census in the beginning is to see how many people there are to do God’s holy work.  This shows us that although these people may not have wanted to do the hard work, they pulled together and worked as a group.  They had no choice if they were born into a family where this was your job.  They were essentially forced into this task.  Who knows how they felt?  Did they feel honored?  The point is that they obeyed Moses and achieved great results through the group effort.  Maybe, as humans, we can appreciate our small jobs for the benefit of the group.

I am quite sure that everyone can learn something from the adultery part of Naso.  Even if someone is too young to be in a relationship, he or she can still learn for the future about some key points on how a relationship will thrive.  We can also learn that everyone is entitled to a fair trial, but watch out for some obstacles – such as having to drink mud.

When random people choose to become Nazarites and deny themselves certain joys, what can we learn from this?  Maybe we can get a haircut when we need to, but there are still small things we can deny ourselves to benefit others -- maybe a few cans of tuna fish or a loaf of bread.  Everyone can definitely give up some food or clothes for someone who needs it more.

I would like to thank everyone for joining me here today and everyone who helped me to prepare.  I especially thank the Rabbi, the Cantor, my tutor Connie Heymann, my grandma for making my dress, my mom for worrying over all the details, my dad who will put this speech on the Hebrew Tabernacle website tomorrow, in case you fell asleep or I read it too fast, and my brother who is always over at our neighbor Bert’s place, watching sports on his cable tv, which enabled me to practice in peace. 

Shabbat Shalom.