Parshas Naso: 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 census and then expelling anyone from the camp who has some form of impurity until they are cleansed. This portion includes the account of the wayward wife (the sotah) and the abstemious life of the Nazirite, as well as detailed instructions on how to dedicate the Sanctuary with highly valued items.

These narratives show the importance of self examination, character building, and spiritual restoration to overcome evil tendencies and merit abundant blessings from Heaven. In 6:22-27, Moses tells Aaron how to bless the Israelites. G‑d spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: Thus shall you bless the children of Israel; say to them: “May G‑d bless you and keep you. May G‑d make His face shine upon you, and give you grace. May G‑d 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.

Adultery and idolatry rank very high on the list of proscribed behaviors in Judaism. The sotah ritual appears in this portion to warn against both adultery and idolatry. As Hosea says in last week's Haftorah portion, a wife who breaks her holy covenant of marriage is a metaphor for the nation of Israel who breaks her holy covenant with God. Any sin we commit separates us from Him. The word sotah means foolishness. Foolishness precedes sin. Foolishness enters the mind when the consciousness of God departs the mind. 

The case of a sotah refers to a wife accused of adultery by her husband. If a husband accuses his wife of adultery and she will not confess, she must appear publicly before a priest who mixes a potion to test her fidelity. She drinks the mixture, and the text suggests that if she is guilty of adultery, her ‘belly explodes’ and she dies, as does her paramour. Conversely, if the woman is innocent, she experiences no medical crisis and she conceives a child.

The account of the wayward wife has been misused to justify abortion. This farfetched interpretation describes the medical event as a spontaneous abortion deliberately caused by a priest, legitimizing rabbinical authorization for abortion as a remedy for unwanted pregnancy in Judaism. However, more reality based opinions determine that the event described is not an abortion. It is a fiction. It is an impossible reaction to a benign brew that never happens in order to absolve the wife of guilt and maintain family honor without loss of life.

Torah substitutes the sotah ritual for honor killing to save Jewish women in a time when honor killing is common. If a Jewish man suspects his wife of adultery, he has to have corroborating evidence that she was alone with another man before he can charge her. Biblical Jewish law prohibits him from arbitrarily killing her.

Rabbis officially discontinued the sotah ritual around the time when the second temple was destroyed. However, it lives on in Talmudic literature, making available opinions that can be distorted to justify the destruction of innocent life in the womb.

Torah is based in life affirming morality and ethics. Opinions on the Torah text do not supersede the Torah text. Judaism prohibits abortion and commands us to protect innocent life at all stages of development by supporting intact families, and helping vulnerable women and children find life affirming, life sustaining solutions to worldly problems. 

Legal opinions based on a mistaken application of the rodef principle allowing the destruction of unborn humans even to save the life of the mother do not reflect reality. For example, Former United States Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, stated publicly that in his thirty-eight years as a pediatric surgeon, he was never aware of a single situation in which a freeborn child's life had to be taken in order to save the life of the mother. See Human Life International What Percentage of Abortions Are Medically Necessary?

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. Verses 13:3-5 validate the reality of precious 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.” 

Jews in Israel and the Diaspora face increasing threats to life and limb. We ourselves must safeguard our lives by putting strong security perimeters around our waywardness, our events, our borders and our wombs. In this way, we can each fulfill our Divine destiny and once again receive blessings of peace and prosperity from Almighty God.

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Cecily Routman

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

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. She envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.