Nezirus and Self-Discipline

BY Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parashas Naso, we learn about a unique opportunity: becoming a nazir. All it takes is the resolve to abstain for at least one month from wine and all grape products, cutting one’s hair, or becoming impure (metamei) by coming into contact with the dead.

When a Jew takes on a vow of nezirus, the Torah refers to him as kadosh, holy. His overgrown hair is referred to as a nezer, a crown, thus likening a nazir to a king (see Ibn Ezra on Bamidbar 6:7). Moreover, the list of people that a nazir may not be metamei include even close relatives who pass away, a list that is identical with that of the kohein gadol. The B’aal HaTurim adds that he may not be metamei because he is elevated to the status of a navi, (prophet), and people may suspect that his prophecy comes from the power of the dead.

Kadosh, a king, a navi, a kohein gadol? Don’t these titles seem a bit much to attribute to someone who merely resolved not to drink wine, shave or go to cemeteries for thirty days?

Moreover, the Torah credits the nazir with these illustrious titles even at the start of his nezirus. Apparently, a nazir has already done something remarkable even at the outset. Indeed, the Ibn Ezra infers from the verse that by making the vow of nezirus, a nazir becomes a peleh, a wonder. What is the nature of this great peleh, and why does a nazir achieve it at the very beginning of his nezirus?

The peleh is that he is going against his nature. The nazir is taking a concrete step toward overcoming his base instincts, and even the smallest step in this direction is a tremendous accomplishment.

Most of us are literally enslaved to our habits and those of the society around us. Things we could easily do without are viewed as necessities. Our temptation may not be for wine, but for many of us, eating, sleeping, and a long list of modern-day pastimes surely take us away from our service of Hashem at times. We may not feel an urgent need for a haircut, but concerns about fashion and keeping up with the Joneses are ways that the evil inclination may lure us away from our purpose.

If a person succeeds in making a determined step towards breaking away from his habits, no matter how small it may be, it is a tremendous step in the direction of kedushah.

It is important that one take measured steps, and not overdo it. Rav Yehoshua Heller (in Divrei Yehoshua) writes that only rare, exceptional individuals can change themselves overnight. Most people are not on that level, and should therefore work to correct themselves in small increments. After years of consistent effort, they will reach the level of the exceptional individual, facing him as an equal. The Seforno even teaches that drastic steps away from physicality, such as fasting and the like, can end up endangering one’s health. Only small, consistent steps are a guarantee that the progress will last.

After a nazir completes his nezirus, he brings a chatas offering. The Rishonim question this, as a chatas is brought when one sins! The nazir did a mitzvah; why must he bring a chatas?

Rabbeinu Bachaye answers that the chatas is intended to remind the nazir that though he has completed his nezirus, he must be sure to maintain his spiritual growth and separation from physicality. Yes, he may now drink wine, but if he simply goes back to his old ways and negates the growth that he had accomplished as a nazir, it is a sin! The nazir should never imagine that he has already done his part for Hashem, and he may now descend into a life of physical pleasure as before. He must continue to grow.

This is a message for all of us. At times, we experience some sort of spiritual growth. We must maintain and nurture that growth, and not revert to our previous level.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein sadly noted that even among those whose growth had been strong for many years, many stop at some point. What happened? Rav Levenstein explained that either they needed a rest, or the Satan made some other inroad into their character. Of course, rest is essential, and a person must take care of himself, but to put aside living as a man of growth is a sin. One is never finished!

Rav Zundel Kroizer, one of the gedolim of Yerushalayim, was a living example of how to turn the above ideal into reality. Well into his old age, Rav Kroizer remained the same man of growth that he was as a young, energetic yeshivah student. Every night he went to sleep at nine o’clock, and he rose at twelve-thirty. He then learned until Shacharis. After a short breakfast, he continued learning, teaching, and writing his sefarim throughout the day, without a break! His entire life was one uninterrupted ascent. We too are obligated to grow spiritually without ever being finished.

May we be zocheh to grow in self-discipline always!

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