This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is called Naso which means to raise up or carry.  This is because the parsha begins with haShem telling Moshe (Moses) to raise up the heads of the children of Garshone to count/redeem them.  Specifically, we are talking of those between 30 and 50 who will come to do the work of the tent of meeting.

This is a continuation from the previous parsha, which ended with a count of one of the three families of the tribe of Levi.  Here we continue with the other two families, getting a count and a description of their part in carrying the mishcan (tabernacle).  After we are learn who is counted and what they will carry when the mishcan travels, we get a tally for each of the three families, as well as a total for all the children the tribe of Levi.

Now, that we have finished the census, we get into more practical matters.  God tells Moshe that anyone who has tzaraat, or has had a discharge, or who is tamae (mixed) due to a soul must be sent outside of the camp so they don’t tamae the camp while haShem resides within them.

Before you think of this as a punishment, or that these people are diseased, remember that tamae is a relative term for tahor (purity).  The most pure, the priests can be closest to haShem and what is kodesh (holy/separate) because they have the highest level of purity.  Then comes everybody else who has not touched a soul, or had a discharge or tzaraat.

This last category, those with a lower level of purity, is in a third ring outside the main camp.  I can only imagine that there are a lot of people in this outer ring, and that people are constantly moving back and forth between the camp and that third ring as people bury their dead, or women go in and out of their periods and give birth, or people have sex or pop zits.  The point I am trying to make here is that it is not a punishment to be in this outer ring, it is just a fact of life.  Sometimes you are closer to the truth and sometimes the truth is more distant.  Sometimes you are clean and sometimes you need to take a bath.

Now that I have made my point, let’s move on.  haShem tells Moshe that when a person is found guilty of a sin against man by betraying haShem, they will confess their sin and pay for their sin.  The payment will go to the victim, or the victim’s family.  If the victim has no family, the payment belongs to haShem who then gives it to the cohen (priest).  We are reminded here that there is also a sin offering that needs to be made.  We also are told that trumah (literally something raised up and refers to a particular tithe given the to cohanim/priests) must be given to a priest.  However, before it is given to a cohen, it belongs to the person who has it and hence, that person is the one who decides which cohen to give it to.

The Torah now goes into a process concerning a woman whose husband thinks she has committed adultery, but there are no witnesses.  This process includes the woman being brought before a cohen who makes her swear an oath and drink bitter and cursed water.  If the woman is guilty, her thigh will fall, and her stomach will swell.  If she is innocent however, she will be guaranteed to get pregnant and produce a healthy baby.

If this sounds like a magical fertility ritual, all I will say is that somebody told me that before the prophet Shmuel was born, his mother Hanna said the following to haShem, “If you don’t give me a child, I will force my husband to take me to drink the bitter waters.  I will be innocent and therefore you will have to give me a healthy child.”  Shortly after she wound up pregnant with Shmuel.

After this, we read about a person who becomes a nazir. Now at the root of nazir is the verb that means to abstain.  A person who vows to be a nazir abstains from cutting his hair, consuming any grapes or products made from grapes, and from touching the dead.  We also learn that he is kodesh (holy/separate) for the time of his being a nazir, and what happens if somebody dies right next to him and what he has to do at the end of his period of being a nazir.

When the Torah finishes talking about a nazir, it goes straight into haShem telling Moshe to tell Aharon and his sons how to create a channel so that haShem can bless the people through them.

Next, our parsha tells us that on the day that the mishcan was set up and made kodesh, the leaders of the tribes brought dedication offerings in 6 wagons.  The wagons were given to the Levites to help in carrying the parts of the mishcan, and haShem says that each tribal leader brings his offering on a different day.  We then get a listing of what was brought by which tribe on which day.  Amazingly, each day, the exact same things were brought.  At the end of this listing, we are given a total of what was brought to be the dedication offering.

Our parsha ends with us learning that Moshe would come into the tent of meeting to speak to god and Moshe would hear god’s voice coming from between the cherubim that sat on the cover of the ark of testimony.

Kind of a choppy parsha.  It almost has a feel of trying to wrap up some loose ends.  Now, two years ago, I tied of few pieces of the parsha together.  This year, like last year, I just want to focus on one very small part of the parsha.

Specifically I want to focus on the priestly blessing.  It is found in the book of Bmeedbar/Numbers in chapter 6, verses 22-27.  The verses read: “(22) And haShem spoke to Moshe saying (23) speak to Aharon and to his sons saying thus you-all will bless the children of Yisrael saying to them (24) haShem will bless you and guard you (25) haShem will light his face to you and show grace to you. (26) HaShem will raise his face to you and he will put to you shalom (peace/wholeness) (27) and you will put my name on the children of Yisrael and I will bless them.”

One thing I do wish to point out.  In Hebrew you can conjugate you as singular or as plural.  In these blessings, it is done in the singular.  In other words the blessings are to each and every individual, not to the community.

One of the nice things about living is Israel, is that the descendents of Aharon bless the people every day during the morning services.  Kind of a nice way to start the day, don’t you think?

Getting back to the blessing itself, the first thing that struck me was that Aharon and his sons are blessing that haShem will raise his face to each person.  I found this very strange at first because up to this point, every time haShem raises his face towards somebody, it is because they did something really bad and haShem was going to cut them off from the rest of the people.  So, how then, is this a blessing?

The best way I can explain this is by analogy.  HaShem is like our parents.  Now, if we are sneaking a cookie out of the cookie jar, the last thing we want is for our mom to come in and see us doing it.  That might result in us getting sent to our room (being cut off from the family).  This is what we have had up to this point.

Here, the Torah wants us to know that it doesn’t have to be like that.  The only time we don’t want haShem watching us is when we are doing bad.

Suppose we are doing good.  Suppose we are bringing a picture that we painted in school home for our parents.  Wouldn’t we want them to see it?  Would we not want them looking at us when we clean our rooms and set or clear the table or mow the lawn?

This is the blessing we are getting.  The blessing is a double blessing in the sense that it is not only blessing us to do good, but also that haShem should be watching over us.  Since we are doing good, we want haShem’s attention.  If we find ourselves hoping haShem is not watching, we should look at what we are doing, for deep down we know we shouldn’t be doing it.

As I was thinking about all of this, another verse floated into my head.  The verse is in parsha Kedushim (Vayikra/Leviticus 19:18) and it reads, “Love your neighbor as yourself, I am haShem.”

Now, I mentioned in my Torah thoughts of Kedushim last year that the Baal Shem Tov punctuated it to read, “Love your neighbor! As yourself, I am haShem.”

This punctuation has some interesting connotations, one of which related to what we have been talking about.  The blessing is to have haShem watch over us, and I have just said that means we need to be doing things that haShem wants us to do.  What kinds of things are those?  According to this verse, it would be to love your neighbor.  If you love your neighbor, then haShem will be like you, and love your neighbor.

I then went back to the typical reading which is to love your neighbor as yourself; I am haShem.  Putting the two ideas together… if I love my neighbor as myself, and I love my neighbor, and haShem is like me, then haShem will treat me like I treat my neighbor and love me.  Taking this back into our blessings, if we look upon our neighbors like a loving parent, encouraging them and putting shalom on them, and showing them grace and favor and lighting their way with our beaming face, protecting them and blessing them, then haShem will act the same way to us.

In other words, this blessing is not only that haShem will do these things for us, but that we will do them for each other.

As a descendent of Aharon the cohen, I feel like it is my place to bless you with this blessing:   Not only may haShem bless you and guard you and look on you with favor and shine his face towards you (to light your way) and raise his face towards you and put shalom on you, may you be a blessing for your neighbors, may you guard them and look on them favorably, and shine your face towards them and raise your face towards them and put shalom on them. (may we all say, “Amen. Selah”)

If you care to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.

About the Author

Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.