Parashat Naso 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

At 176 verses, Naso is the longest parashah in the Torah. It begins with another census of the Leviim, including a delineation of their specific jobs.

Next there is the strange and disturbing ritual of a woman whose husband suspects her of adultery. She is brought to the priest and forced to drink bitter water mixed with dirt from the tabernacle’s floor; if she is guilty, the water causes her belly to distend and her thigh to sag; if she is innocent, she will be able to have a child. Either way, her husband is declared free of guilt.

This is followed by the laws of Nazirite vows: anyone who chooses to set him/herself aside for God must abstain from wine and alcohol; they may not cut their hair or defile him/herself through contact with the dead. When the vow is completed, they must bring a sacrifice, shave their head, and burn their hair.

Next, God gives Moses the words of the now familiar Priestly blessing, through which the cohenim bless the nation.

The concluding lengthy section recounts the offerings brought to the completed Tabernacle by the Chieftains of Israel on behalf of their tribes, one each day for 12 consecutive days; they all brought the identical list of gifts. 

The haftarah tells the story of the unnamed barren wife of a man named Manoah; she was visited by an angel, who announced that she would have a son. Her child would be a Nazirite from birth; therefore, she was instructed to abstain from wine, and her son would not be permitted to cut his hair. A midrash says that Manoah, like the jealous husband of the parashah, was suspicious because his wife had a male visitor; therefore, he prayed to speak with the angel himself; instead, his wife received a second visitation. She fetched her husband, but the angel simply repeated to him the same instructions he had given to his wife. Manoah asked the angel for his name, but he refused to answer. It is only when their visitor rose in the flames of the altar on which Manoah had made an offering that they realized he was not human. Subsequently, the woman conceived and gave birth to the promised son; he was named Samson and was blessed by God, just as the cohenim, priest, bless the people of Israel to this day.