Illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
The most famous נָזִיר (nazir) in history was Shimshon, and our haftarah tells the story of his birth.
An angel appears to a woman who was previously unable to have children. The angel tells her that she is going to have a baby, and the baby will be a nazir for his entire life.
The woman tells this to her husband, Manoah. He prays to God asking for the angel to come back and tell him about what they should do when the child is born. The angel returns to the woman, and this time she runs and fetches Manoah. The angel repeats to him what he told her.
Manoah tries to give food to the angel, but angels don’t eat. Manoah asks for the angel’s name, but the angel refuses to say. Manoah makes a sacrifice to God, and the angel rises up to Heaven in the flame of the sacrifice.
Manoah is startled by this experience, and he’s afraid it means they’ll die. But his wife assures him that that’s not God’s intention. Some time later, she gives birth to Shimshon. He grows up, he is blessed with God’s spirit, and he begins to save the Jews from their enemies.
- Why might God want a future savior of the Jewish people to be a nazir? How does this help us understand what a nazir is about?
- Why might the angel keep appearing to Shimshon’s mother, even when it’s Manoah who prayed to see the angel? What might this tell us about her?
Connection to Naso
In our parashah, we hear about how to become a nazir through making a strong promise called a נֶדֶר (neder). A person would decide to take on extra restrictions, such as not drinking wine and not getting a haircut, for a certain period of time.
Our haftarah shows another path to being a nazir. Shimshon was a nazir by birth and not by choice, and his nazir status would last for his whole life.
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