Our Rabbi's Message
June 5th 2009
By Rabbi Aaron KriegelThe Nazir, which we read about in Naso, the Torah portion that we read this week, speaks about a basic fundamental Jewish philosophy. Life is to be enjoyed. While we are not forbidden to deprive permitted pleasures from our day, we are not encouraged in any way to separate ourselves from that which is pleasing. If we have the means, we are not supposed to eat the food of paupers. If we have the good fortune to afford a nice car, we are not supposed to drive around in a clunker. If we can afford a nice vacation, we should allow ourselves the pleasure of that vacation.
Judaism holds that God, the Creator, made the world for the benefit of his creation. God makes all types of fruits and vegetables that we may enjoy all types of fruits and vegetables. God created gold and silver so that we may adorn ourselves with jewelry of gold and silver. God created grapes so that we could enjoy grape juice and wine. To withhold the enjoyment of God's creation is to cause an affront to God. To deny ourselves his blessings is to deny ourselves the goodness that God placed in creation.
In this week's sedra we read about the Nazir, that person who takes an oath not to drink wine for a set period of time. People become nazirs for their own reasons. However, in doing so they withhold from their enjoyment God's blessings, and since they consciously act that way, their vows of abstinence are sinful. They are therefore required to bring a sin offering upon the completion of the vow. (You can read more about the details of the procedure in the Torah reading.)
Indeed, in the Book of Ecclesiastes the author (presumptively King Solomon) maintains that God will hold accountable all who have the opportunity to take God's blessing and reject them. We are mandated to enjoy life to the best of our abilities.
The bottom line is this. We have to make the most of the portion we are granted. God will judge us by the standards that we use to judge the blessings that we do have.
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