ON THE PARSHA
          Parshas Naso

          by Dovid Lipman, Jerusalem

The World Of The Supernatural

     "...for the crown of his G-d is upon his head..." Why is the
holiness of the nazir described as a crown of Hashem? We can explain
it using a Yerushalmi on the same pasuk, which says a servant can only
become a nazir if his master agrees, because our pasuk refers to a
person with one master only, so being a nazir must be a contradiction
to having a human master at the same time. Where did the Yerushalmi
find that in this pasuk? The commentators explain that the purpose of
becoming a nazir is to separate from the physical, with wine and
groomed hair chosen as the epitomy of physicality. Beforehand, the
person was ruled by his physical desires, and this interfered with a
total acceptance of Hashem's rule. Now, the "crown of Hashem" can be
seen on his ungroomed head, i.e. his ability to accept Hashem fully as
his king. This shows how our pasuk is a source for the Yerushalmi. What
good is it to leave physicality if a human master still stands in the way=
?

A Time To Laugh

     "...the Kohain shall make her swear the oath of the curse..." Why
does the hebrew word "allah" mean "a curse" (other than possibly
alluding to the future problem of Islam)? Perhaps it's related to
"aileh", meaning "these", which has the same letters. People who group
factions together, somehow always for criticism ("those woman drivers",
"those politicians", "those high-school kids", "those Rabbis", etc.)
are the curse of mankind.

Worthy Of Note

     "On the second day, Nesanel ben Tzu'ar brought..." Why are the same
gifts repeated for each nasi who brought them? To show that Hashem values
each person who brought the gifts equally, and each person's individual
devotion to Hashem is appreciated, and never superfluous.
      (Heard from Avi Lipman)

From the Gemara

     Nedarim 3a - We see that becoming a nazir is called a "neder", a
promise, so the laws of breaking, delaying, and revoking a promise
apply to one who becomes a nazir.
     Makkos 14b - One who enters the Sanctuary while impure, transgressin=
g
the prohibition, "they shall not defile their camps", does not receive
lashes, because he can correct this by leaving, since he would then fulif=
il
the positive mitzvah, "they shall send out...anyone impure".
     Pesachim ~18 - All foods contained by the same vessel are considered
to be in contact for transfer of impurity, as taught by the extra word
"one spoon" ("one" is extra), which hints, "everything in the spoon is =
one".

Rare And Unusual Words

     "Gam" (Count the family of Gershon, "also" them). R' Yaakov Kamenetz=
ky
explains that the extra "also" does not blame or denigrate them ("Yes, =
count
them also"), but uplifts them by comparing them to the previously counted
family of Kehas who carried the holy vessels. They received this honor =
for
recognizing the primariness of Kehas, who carried the Torah-containing =
Ark,
although they themselves (Gershon) were the firstborn family. For yieldin=
g
to the honor of Torah, Gershon was compared to its holy carriers.