Addict Torah: Naso 5783/2023​​​​​​​

(14) יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying: (15) Record the descendants of Levi by ancestral house and by clan; record every male among them from the age of one month up. (16) So Moses recorded them at the command of יהוה, as he was bidden.

(21) יהוה spoke to Moses: (22) Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their ancestral house and by their clans. (23) Record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service in the performance of tasks for the Tent of Meeting. (24) These are the duties of the Gershonite clans as to labor and porterage:

(32) The head chieftain of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, in charge of those attending to the duties of the sanctuary.

(16) So Moses recorded them at the command of יהוה, as he was bidden. (17) These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (18) These were the names of the sons of Gershon by clan: Libni and Shimei. (19) The sons of Kohath by clan: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. (20) The sons of Merari by clan: Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites within their ancestral houses:

(27) All the duties of the Gershonites, all their porterage and all their service, shall be performed on orders from Aaron and his sons; you shall make them responsible for attending to all their porterage. (28) Those are the duties of the Gershonite clans for the Tent of Meeting; they shall attend to them under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Instruct the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse. (3) Remove male and female alike; put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell. (4) The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as יהוה had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.

(7) Now Moses would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, at some distance from the camp. It was called the Tent of Meeting, and whoever sought יהוה would go out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp. (8) Whenever Moses went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand, at the entrance of each tent, and gaze after Moses until he had entered the Tent. (9) And when Moses entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the Tent, while [God] spoke with Moses. (10) When all the people saw the pillar of cloud poised at the entrance of the Tent, all the people would rise and bow low, at the entrance of each tent.

(1) (1)COMMAND the children of Israel to send out from the camp, etc." (Numbers 5:2). "This is what is written: 'Take away the dross from the silver, and a vessel comes out for the refiner'" (Proverbs 25:4). Rabbi Tanchuma bar Rabbi Abba said, "What are 'the dross from the silver'? As long as this impurity is in the silver, its beauty is not visible. It only becomes apparent after the dross has been removed. 'The dross from the silver': afterward, 'a vessel comes out for the refiner.' How is this? When the Israelites left Egypt, all were blemished, because they labored with clay and bricks and ascended to the top of the building. And whoever was a builder would ascend on ladders made of those bricks. Either a stone would fall and cut his hand, or a beam or a piece of clay would enter his eye and blind him. They were all blemished. When they came to the desert of Sinai, God said, 'This is the honor of the Torah that I am giving you to the generation of blemished individuals.' And if I wait until others had arise, then I tarry giving the Torah. What did God do? He said to the angels, 'Descend to Israel and heal them.' And you should know that this is so, as Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Simon, 'From where do we know that they had no lames? As it is said: 'And they stood at the bottom of the mountain' (Exodus 19:17), and there is no standing except on one's feet. From where do we know that they had no blemishes? As it is said: 'All that the Lord has spoken, we will do' (Exodus 24:7). And from where do we know that they had no deaf people? As it is said: 'And they saw the voices' (Exodus 20:15). And from where do we know that they had no mute people? As it is said: 'And all the people answered' (Exodus 19:8). We can deduce from this that they were all healed. And if you do not learn from here, you can learn from another place, as it is said: 'None of the diseases that I placed upon Egypt will be upon you, etc.' (Exodus 15:26). Behold, they were healed. But once they committed the act of the calf, they reverted to being blemished, and they became lepers and those with issues [of impurity], for Moses would see them, as it is said: 'And Moses saw the people, that they were exposed' (Exodus 32:25), and 'exposed' [parua] means nothing other than leprosy, as it is stated: 'And the leper on whom the plague is... his head shall be bare, etc.' (Leviticus 13:45). God said to Moses, 'Until you made the Tabernacle, I would ignore the matters, and the lepers and those with issues would intermingle with you. Now that you have made the Tabernacle and I have bestowed My divine presence among you, separate them from your midst, and send out from the camp every leper, every one with an issue, and every unclean person, for what reason? 'So that they do not defile their camps, in the midst of which I dwell'" (Numbers 5:3).

(5) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (6) Speak to the Israelites: When men or women individually commit any wrong toward a fellow human being, thus breaking faith with יהוה, and they realize their guilt, (7) they shall confess the wrong that they have done. They shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one-fifth to it, giving it to the one who was wronged. (8) If that party [is deceased and] has no kin to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to יהוה for the priest—in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on their behalf.

(11) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (12) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: Any party whose wife has gone astray and broken faith with him, (13) in that another man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her, (14) but a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself—or if a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself— (15) that party shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing. (16) The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before יהוה. (17) The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water. (18) After he has made the woman stand before יהוה, the priest shall bare the woman’s head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell. (19) The priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, “If no other party has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while living in your husband’s household, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell. (20) But if you have gone astray while living in your husband’s household and have defiled yourself, if any party other than your husband has had carnal relations with you”— (21) here the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman, as the priest goes on to say to the woman—“may יהוה make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as יהוה causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend; (22) may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!” (23) The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. (24) He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness. (25) Then the priest shall take from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, elevate the meal offering before יהוה, and present it on the altar. (26) The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. Last, he shall make the woman drink the water. (27) Once he has made her drink the water—if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband, the spell-inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness, so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the wife shall become a curse among her people. (28) But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed. (29) This is the ritual in cases of jealousy, when a woman goes astray while living in her husband’s household, and defiles herself, (30) or when a fit of jealousy comes over a husband and he is wrought up over his wife: the woman shall be made to stand before יהוה and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her. (31) The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.

(19) As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. (20) He took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and strewed it upon the water and so made the Israelites drink it.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any men or women explicitly utter a nazirite’s vow, to set themselves apart for יהוה, (3) they shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant; they shall not drink vinegar of wine or of any other intoxicant, neither shall they drink anything in which grapes have been steeped, nor eat grapes fresh or dried. (4) Throughout their term as nazirite, they may not eat anything that is obtained from the grapevine, even seeds or skin. (5) Throughout the term of their vow as nazirite, no razor shall touch their head; it shall remain consecrated until the completion of their term as nazirite of יהוה, the hair of their head being left to grow untrimmed. (6) Throughout the term that they have set apart for יהוה, they shall not go in where there is a dead person. (7) Even if their father or mother, or their brother or sister should die, they must not become defiled for any of them, since hair set apart for their God is upon their head: (8) throughout their term as nazirite they are consecrated to יהוה. (9) If someone dies suddenly nearby, defiling the consecrated hair, the [nazirite] shall shave the head at the time of becoming pure, shaving it on the seventh day. (10) On the eighth day that person shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (11) The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, and make expiation on the person’s behalf for the guilt incurred through the corpse. That same day the head shall be reconsecrated; (12) and that person shall rededicate to יהוה the term as nazirite, bringing a lamb in its first year as a penalty offering. The previous period shall be void, since the consecrated hair was defiled. (13) This is the ritual for the nazirite: On the day that the term as nazirite is completed, the person shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (14) As an offering to יהוה that person shall present: one male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; one ewe lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a sin offering; one ram without blemish for an offering of well-being; (15) a basket of unleavened cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; and the proper meal offerings and libations. (16) The priest shall present them before יהוה and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering. (17) He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to יהוה, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall also offer the meal offerings and the libations. (18) The nazirite shall then shave the consecrated hair, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and take those locks of consecrated hair and put them on the fire that is under the sacrifice of well-being. (19) The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them on the hands of the nazirite after the consecrated hair has been shaved. (20) The priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before יהוה; and this shall be a sacred donation for the priest, in addition to the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of gift offering. After that the nazirite may drink wine. (21) Such is the obligation of a nazirite; except that those who vow an offering to יהוה of what they can afford, beyond their nazirite requirements, must do exactly according to the vow that they have made beyond their obligation as nazirites.

(10) The priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the vestments, shall not bare his head or rend his vestments. (11) He shall not go in where there is any dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. (12) He shall not go outside the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his God, for upon him is the distinction of the anointing oil of his God, Mine יהוה’s.

(1) FOR HIS FATHER, OR FOR HIS MOTHER. And certainly not for his wife, his daughter, and others. Some say that the word nazir (Nazirite) is related to the word nezer (crown). Because his consecration (nezer) unto God is upon his head is proof of this. This interpretation is not farfetched. Note that most people are slaves to worldly lusts. The true king, the one who has a crown, the one who wears the royal diadem, is the person who is free from this lust.

And are these matters not inferred a fortiori? And if this nazirite, who distressed himself by abstaining only from wine, is nevertheless called a sinner and requires atonement, then with regard to one who distresses himself by abstaining from each and every matter of food and drink when he fasts, all the more so should he be considered a sinner. Conversely, Rabbi Elazar says: One who accepts a fast upon himself is called sacred, as it is stated with regard to the nazirite: “He shall be sacred, he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long” (Numbers 6:5). Here too, one can apply an a fortiori inference: And if this nazirite, who distressed himself by abstaining from only one matter, wine, is nevertheless called sacred, then with regard to one who distresses himself by abstaining from every matter, all the more so should he be considered sacred. The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of Shmuel, the nazirite is indeed called sacred, as stated by Rabbi Elazar. The Gemara answers: That verse is referring to the sanctity of the growth of the locks, as the nazirite’s hair does possess an element of sanctity, but it does not refer to the nazirite himself. The Gemara reverses the question: And according to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, the nazirite is called a sinner. The Gemara answers: That verse refers specifically to a nazirite who rendered himself ritually impure by coming into contact with a dead body, an act that is prohibited for him. This particular nazirite must bring an offering to atone “for that he sinned by the soul.” The Gemara asks: And did Rabbi Elazar actually say this, that fasting is a virtuous act? But didn’t Rabbi Elazar say: A person should always consider himself

(22) יהוה spoke to Moses: (23) Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: (24) יהוה bless you and protect you! (25) יהוה deal kindly and graciously with you! (26) יהוה bestow [divine] favor upon you and grant you peace! (27) Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

The Gemara clarifies: What is this, i.e., where does Rabbi Yishmael help the priests? As it is taught in a baraita: The verse states with regard to the priestly benediction: “So you shall bless the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:23). Rabbi Yishmael says: We learn from this verse about a blessing for Israel from the mouth of the priests, but we have not learned about a blessing for the priests themselves. When it says afterward with regard to the priests: “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27), you must say: The priests bless Israel, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, blesses the priests. Rabbi Akiva says a different interpretation: We learned from the verse about a blessing for Israel from the mouth of the priests, but we have not learned about a blessing for Israel from the mouth of the Almighty. When it says afterward: “And they shall put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them,” you must say: The priests bless Israel, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, affirms their blessing. The word “them” is referring to Israel. The Gemara asks: But then from where does Rabbi Akiva learn about a blessing for the priests? Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: He learns it from God’s promise to Abraham: “And I will bless them that bless you” (Genesis 12:3). All who bless the Jewish people are blessed themselves. The Gemara asks: And in what sense does only Rabbi Yishmael help the priests, given that Rabbi Akiva concedes that the priests are also blessed? The Gemara responds: He helps the priests in the sense that he establishes the blessing for the priests in the same place, the same verse, that one finds the blessing of Israel, indicating that they receive the same blessing.

(1) On the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it and all its furnishings, as well as the altar and its utensils. When he had anointed and consecrated them, (2) the chieftains of Israel, the heads of ancestral houses, namely, the chieftains of the tribes, those who were in charge of enrollment, drew near

(6) Moses took the carts and the oxen and gave them to the Levites. (7) Two carts and four oxen he gave to the Gershonites, as required for their service, (8) and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the Merarites, as required for their service—under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. (9) But to the Kohathites he did not give any; since theirs was the service of the [most] sacred objects, their porterage was by shoulder.

With regard to this matter, Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Joseph hid three treasures in Egypt. One of them was revealed to Korah, one was revealed to Antoninos ben Asveiros, king of Rome, and one is hidden for the righteous in the future. With regard to Korah’s wealth, the Gemara cites the verse: “Riches kept by his owner to his hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:12). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This is the wealth of Korah, which caused him to grow arrogant and lead to his destruction. As it is stated: “And what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben; how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the sustenance that was at their feet” (Deuteronomy 11:6). Rabbi Elazar said: This is referring to a person’s money that stands him upon his own two feet. Rabbi Levi said: The keys to Korah’s treasuries were a load of three hundred strong white mules, and they were all keys [aklidei] and locks made of leather.

§ With regard to the verse: “Wealth is kept for the owner to his detriment” (Ecclesiastes 5:12), Reish Lakish says: This is referring to the wealth of Korah, which was of no use to him. The fact that Korah was wealthy is derived from the verse: “And all the substance that was at their feet” (Deuteronomy 11:6), as Rabbi Elazar says: This is referring to a person’s property, which stands him on his feet. And Rabbi Levi says: The keys alone to Korah’s treasury were a burden requiring three hundred white mules to transport them, and moreover, all the keys [aklidei] and locks were of leather. This conveys the vastness of his wealth. Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: Joseph concealed three buried treasures in Egypt that he accumulated from the sale of grain during the years of famine. The location of one was revealed to Korah, and the location of one was revealed to Antoninus, son of Asveirus, emperor of Rome, and one remains hidden for the righteous in the future, i.e., in the messianic era.

(84) This was the dedication offering for the altar from the chieftains of Israel upon its being anointed: silver bowls, 12; silver basins, 12; gold ladles, 12. (85) Silver per bowl, 130; per basin, 70. Total silver of vessels, 2,400 sanctuary shekels. (86) The 12 gold ladles filled with incense—10 sanctuary shekels per ladle—total gold of the ladles, 120. (87) Total of herd animals for burnt offerings, 12 bulls; of rams, 12; of yearling lambs, 12—with their proper meal offerings; of goats for sin offerings, 12. (88) Total of herd animals for sacrifices of well-being, 24 bulls; of rams, 60; of he-goats, 60; of yearling lambs, 60. That was the dedication offering for the altar after its anointing.

(89) When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with [God], he would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim; thus [God] spoke to him.