Parsha for Kids: Naso 2023
Below is the transcript for the past week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Naso 2023.
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Season 4 Episode 2:
Hello! My name is Chana and this is Parsha for Kids. The Parsha of the week is Naso. Naso means to “lift up” or “take” and in this case it is referring to God commanding Moshe to take a census, which means to count, the descendants of Gershon. Gershon, you may remember, was one of the Levite families. God wanted Moshe to count all men in that family between the ages of 30-50 because it was during these ages that these individuals would be able to serve God in the Mishkan.
Additionally, Moshe counted the men from the family of Merari, which is another family from the tribe of Levi. Moshe made sure the families of Gershon and Merari understood exactly which objects of the Mishkan they were assigned to transport.
Levites had other jobs as well. For example, they could help kohanim, priests, with the parts of the work in the Mishkan that could be performed by people who were not kohanim, such as slaughtering the korban, cleaning it and cutting it up. Levites could also guard the Mishkan, open and close its gates or sing and play instruments while sacrifices were being offered. The singing would cause people who visited the Mishkan to have a joyful experience while connecting with God.
TRANSITION
One of the topics addressed in this week’s parsha is the laws of being a Nazir. What is a Nazir? It is a person who separates themselves from certain things per Torah law. Any Jewish man or woman can choose to become a Nazir. However, the person must be at least Bar or Bat Mitzvah age in order to make this choice. However, one can only perform the mitzvah of being a Nazir in the land of Israel.
A Nazir, which refers to a male who takes on this role, or Nezirah, if female, cannot eat any grape products. She does not drink wine, grape juice, use vinegar, or eat any part of a grape, including grape seeds or dried grapes, which we know as raisins.
A Nazir may not cut their hair. Typically, we get haircuts so that we can look neat and put together. It is possible that by growing their hair long, a Nazir is showing they do not care about outward appearances- how they look and appear to people based on their physical self. Instead, their focus is on their spiritual self, which is something that is not visible to others.
A Nazir is not allowed to touch a dead body. A Nazir is compared to a Kohen Gadol, or high priest. A Kohen Gadol is not allowed to bury even his seven closest relatives, including his father and mother. The only time a Kohen Gadol is permitted to bury a dead person is if he comes across a meis mitzvah, a dead Jewish person who has been left unburied and there is no one else around to bury them. The same applies to the Nazir- they cannot bury any of their relatives, including their parents, but they are permitted to bury a meis mitzvah.
We had mentioned earlier that there are many roles in Judaism that are inherited. For example, someone is born a Levi or a Kohen. They cannot choose it- they are simply born into it. A well meaning member of Bnei Yisrael might feel upset that they are not able to serve God in as dedicated a way as a Kohen could. They might wonder why it was fair that they were not born a Kohen. God in His kindness made sure that this person could also achieve a spiritual level equivalent to that of a Kohen. Any Jewish man or woman can choose to become a Nazir- it’s a growth opportunity that is open to all.
The word Nazir means to separate. The Nazir separates himself or herself from certain behaviors. Nezirim cannot drink wine or eat grapes. They cannot cut their hair. And they cannot bury the dead. By living in this way, the Nazir becomes closer to and more connected to God.
Although people typically choose to become a Nazir, there are some exceptions. After Moshe passed away, his disciple Yehoshua took over as leader. After Yehoshua died, there were Shoftim, local tribal leaders who were responsible for helping Bnei Yisrael militarily and also judging their disputes. One famous Shofet was named Shimshon. In the case of Shimshon, an angel appeared to his mother while she was pregnant with him and informed her of her son’s great destiny. He also told her that Shimshon needed to be a Nazir from the time he was born, and his mother was not allowed to eat grape products or drink wine while she was pregnant with him.
The minimum amount of time that someone can be a Nazir is thirty days. The maximum amount of time is one’s entire life.
Let’s say a person took a vow that they would be a Nazir for thirty days. Then, on the twenty ninth day, someone died in the room where they were standing. Thus, the Nazir accidentally ended up in a position where they were touching a dead body. What happens now? Well, there are certain korbanot, offerings, that the Nazir needed to bring. They then needed to start their count of thirty days all over again. The twenty nine days they had already served did not count.
When a Nazir successfully completed their Nezirut, there was a special ceremony they underwent in order to exit that elevated status. Among other korbanot, they brought a korban chatat, or sin offering. Additionally, they shaved off all the hair on their head and threw it into the fire of one of the korbanot.
There is a debate regarding why a Nazir needed to bring a korban chatat. Some, like the Ramban, believe that being a Nazir is such a holy and elevated status that it would behoove the person who chose it to continue it as a long-term lifestyle. The fact that the individual is leaving their Nezirut behind is like a step down, which is why they must bring the chatat. Other commentaries argue that being a Nazir is not ideal. After all, God made the world in such a way that we are meant to enjoy it. The Torah already includes many restrictions; we are not supposed to add to them. Based on this point of view, the Nazir brings a korban chatat to demonstrate that they sinned against themselves and their soul by denying themselves pleasures that God had permitted- such as wine, grape juice and raisins.
This debate has wider implications regarding whether becoming a Nazir is the ideal or merely an option that exists for people who need help with self control. It could be that two totally different kinds of people might become a Nazir. One person might choose to become a Nazir out of a sincere desire to grow closer to God and to attain a spiritual status similar to that of a Kohen. In contrast, another person might realize that they have a problem where they are drinking too much wine. Since they are drinking wine all the time, they are not available to their family and have become an unreliable friend. In an effort to stop themselves from making these negative choices, they choose to become a Nazir, since one of the rules is that one can no longer drink wine.
The amazing thing about this is that God safeguarded the person’s dignity. Since there are different equally legitimate paths towards becoming a Nazir, no one would ever know the real reason behind why someone chose to become one. That meant that the person who needed help with self control had a high status, dignified method of improving their life and a person who simply wanted to build their spirituality and connect to God also had a pathway towards improvement.
We do not practice Nezirut anymore because we would have no way of ending the status- we don’t have the third Beit Hamikdash and thus don’t have a way of offering korbanot, which is part of how we stop being a Nazir. However, the idea of safeguarding people’s dignity and giving them healthy, non-embarrassing avenues to improve their lives is one we can apply even in modern times.
TRANSITION
Have you ever been to a synagogue during a holiday - like Sukkot, Pesach or Shavuot? Or perhaps you’ve prayed in synagogue in Israel, or at a Sephardic shul- any day of the week? If you have, you may have experienced giving or receiving the Birkat Kohanim, or priestly blessing. This is when the kohanim, priests, are called up to the front of the synagogue. They lift their hands, leaving spaces- like windows- between their fingers. God’s Shechina shines through these windows and rests upon the people they are blessing.
There are three verses in the Birkat Kohanim.
Yevarechecha Hashem v’Yishmarecha-may the Lord bless you and guard you
Ya’eir Hashem panav eilecha vichuneka- May the Lord shine His face on you and may He let you find favor (another way of saying this is ‘May the Lord give you grace, or be gracious to you’)
Yisa Hashem Panav Elecha v’yasem lecha shalom- May the Lord lift his face to you and give you peace.
The Midrash explains these verses in the following way.
May the Lord bless you refers to your possessions. This is about God making sure that you have enough of whatever you need- especially food and money. May the Lord guard you refers to making sure that your belongings remain safe and are not stolen, damaged or otherwise taken from you.
May the lord shine his face on you means that God should listen to your prayers and give you understanding when you study Torah. May He give you favor means He should do these things for you even when you don’t deserve it.
May the Lord lift his face to you means that God should give you His full attention wherever you are. He should watch over you. May God give you peace means that you should not be attacked - either internally, by the yetzer hara, evil inclination, or externally, where others might cause you harm.
Birkat Kohanim was codified in this section so that it would be a blessing for all generations. Whether in the time of Aharon or now, in 2023, the kohanim utter the same words and wish us the same good fortune. The next time you hear this blessing, you may want to reflect on how ancient it is!
TRANSITION
Our parsha now focuses on the gifts the Nesiim, or leaders of the twelve tribes, gave to the Mishkan. Back in Sefer Shemot, you may remember that Bnei Yisrael were so generous in donating to the Mishkan that Moshe actually had to tell them not to bring any more contributions- a remarkable request. At the time, per Midrash, the Nesiim had said that first Bnei Yisrael should contribute, and afterwards they, the twelve leaders, would provide whatever was missing. However, this approach did not work out since Bnei Yisrael ended up donating so much!
Despite this, the Nesiim did come up with ideas of what to contribute. In the end, the Nesiim donated the twelve gems for the Choshen, or breastplate, and the two gems for the Kohen Gadol’s shoulder straps.
The Nesiim also decided to donate six wagons and twelve oxen for the Mishkan. The wagons would be used to pull the items of the Mishkan that did not need to be carried directly on the Leviim’s shoulders. The Nesiim also donated animals for korbanot, sacrifices. They also donated ketoret, good smelling spices, flour for a mincha offering, and containers to hold the ketoret and flour.
In the end, each Nasi donated:
A silver dish filled with flour mixed with oil as a korban mincha
A thin silver bowl also filled with flour mixed with oil as a korban mincha
A golden spoon filled with ketoret
An olah offering made up of a bull, a ram and a lamb
A chatat offering made up of a male goat
A shelamim offering made up of two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five lambs
If you listen carerfully to the parsha being read out loud in synagogue, or read it yourself, you will notice that each Nasi’s contribution is listed separately. This is the case even though each one of them gave the exact same gift! You might wonder why the Torah couldn't have saved space and just written, “And then the twelve Nesiim each brought…” and then list the items they brought.
Based on the fact that each Nasi’s gift is written out in full, we learn an important lesson. Our sages explain that God saw each gift as equally valuable, distinct and meaningful. That’s why God- and the Torah- did not lump all of them together but instead listed each one separately.
Consider a mother. This mother has triplets, which means three children who were born from the same pregnancy. Now these triplets are in second grade, and each of them is doing the same project with their teacher for Mother’s Day. They are each planting a marigold in a brown pot and designing a card, then bringing this home to give as a gift for their mother. Their mother now has two choices of how to react. She can say, “Adam, Nancy and Kate, thanks for the marigolds and cards,” lumping all of their projects together. Alternatively, she can turn to Adam and say, “Adam, thank you so much for the marigold and your card.” Then she can turn to Nancy and say, “Nancy, thank YOU so much for the marigold and your card.” And the same for Kate. The difference between the two approaches is that the second one makes each of the children feel valued and seen as individuals, and that’s exactly what God did in our parsha as well.
TRANSITION
At the end of our parsha, we learn that when Moshe entered the Mishkan, he would hear God’s voice emanating from between the two keruvim on the Aron, Ark. To refresh your memory, the Keruvim were the two golden winged children that rested on top of the Ark. The Aron was typically housed in the Kodesh Kedoshim, or Holy of Holies, but Moshe was still able to hear God even though he was not actually in that room.
TRANSITION
So here's what we learned this week!
There is a debate as to whether being a Nazir is an ideal or simply a means to achieve self control. Either way, the institution of Nezirut helps people connect with God and better their lives in a dignified way. We should also strive to help people to connect with God and improve their lives in a manner that allows them to keep their dignity.
Birkat Kohanim, the special priestly blessing, is codified in this week’s parsha. The next time you attend synagogue on a holiday if you live outside of Israel, or any day in Israel, or a Sephardic prayer service anywhere in the world, pay attention and look out for this special blessing!
We learn from God to acknowledge and appreciate the gifts each individual may give to us, even if those gifts are actually the same exact thing. Each person’s efforts deserve to be recognized.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos!