Parshas Naso: A Life Worth Living

Our Torah portion this week, Naso: Bamidbar (Numbers) 4:21–7:89, focuses on lifting up our minds and hearts to the loving guidance of HaShem. It opens by completing the Levite census and then expelling anyone from the camp who has some form of spiritual impurity until they are cleansed.

This portion includes the account of the wayward wife (the sotah), the abstemious life of the Nazirite, and the priestly blessing,

The Wayward Wife

The word sotah means foolishness. The sotah ritual is meant to restore marital trust when either the husband foolishly accuses his wife of adultery or a wife foolishly provokes her husband's jealousy.

For accusations of adultery in biblical times, Torah introduces the sotah ritual as a pragmatic, life saving alternative to the socially acceptable right of a husband to murder his wife without corroborating evidence.

If the wife denies the accusation, she appears in public and drinks a peculiar potion prepared by a priest. The mixture is harmless, producing no physical signs of the adultery as described in the text, thus saving her life, regardless of her innocence or guilt.

The text says that a guilty woman will drink the potion and die from a swollen belly that ruptures. Abortion activists regard this as a spontaneous abortion deliberately caused by a priest, legitimizing rabbinical authorization for abortion as a remedy for unwanted pregnancy in Judaism.

We regard those who distort Torah in this way as suffering from a spiritual disconnection due to contact with countless dead bodies of aborted babies. They need a healing from abortion activism and a redemptive spiritual experience that reconnects them to God's presence. Our Tikvat Rachel Healing Program offers this experience.

The Nazarite Vow

Nazirs so deeply desire a connection with HaShem that they take a vow to abstain from actions that disrupt this connection, namely drinking alcohol, cutting their hair, and having contact with a dead body. The vow can be time limited or last a lifetime. 

The Priestly Blessing

The content in Parshas Naso highlights the importance of self examination, character building, and spiritual restoration to overcome negative tendencies and merit abundant blessings from Heaven. In Numbers 6:22-27, Moses tells Aaron how to bless the Israelites.

God spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: Thus shall you bless the children of Israel; say to them: “May God bless you and keep you. May God make His face shine upon you, and give you grace. May God lift up His face to you and give you peace.” They shall set My name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

Holiness Saves Israel

The opening verse of our Haftorah portion this week, Shoftim (Judges) 13:2-25, reminds us of the correlation between unholiness in Israel and enemy invasion. And the children of Israel continued to do that which displeased the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. The Haftorah then relates the story of Sampson, a lifelong Nazarite who spends his life battling the Philistines.

Sampson is a miracle baby born of a barren woman. Clearly, his conception and birth are Divinely inspired. Verses 13:3-5 validate the Creator's gift of precious human life in the womb.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to the woman, and said to her, "Behold now, you are barren, and have not borne; and you shall conceive and bear a son. Consequently, beware now, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any unclean thing. Because you shall conceive, and bear a son; and a razor shall not come upon his head, for a Nazirite to God shall the lad be from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” 

Today, Jews in Israel and the Diaspora face increasing threats from hostile forces meant to destroy our lives and our future. We can guarantee our survival if we assume a degree of holiness sufficient to equip us with Divine protection and mercy.

We can avoid foolish actions that break our holy covenant with the Almighty. First, we can oppose abortion homicide and stop putting ourselves in proximity to countless dead bodies of innocent babies. Then, we can vow to cultivate holiness in our daily lives. Finally, we can receive God's blessings for life, for grace and for peace.

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May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. Cecily envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.

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