Naso and Z'rizut (Enthusiasm) inspired by the Mussar Torah commentary

Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing do it with all your might. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful, and you will accomplish your objective.”

Rabbi Marcia Plumb, "Z'rizut- Alacrity: Doing what ought to be Done" in Block, Rabbi Barry H.. The Mussar Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life (pp. 219-220). CCAR Press.
THE WORD NAZIR (“Nazirite”) derives from the same root as the word z’rizut (זְרִיזוּת). As a middah, the word z’rizut refers to “alacrity,” “enthusiasm,” and “persistence.” It is often seen as a trait to help motivate us to achieve our goals. It is a great middah for procrastinators. When we feel overwhelmed by our to-do lists or want to achieve a goal but find ourselves avoiding it, we need z’rizut. Z’rizut helps us make progress because it reminds us to embrace our dreams and bring them to reality. Z’rizut helps us clear obstacles that keep us from moving forward.

This week we are focusing on the middah (soul trait) of enthusaism. If enthusiasm is, as Ralph Waldo Emerson states, so central to our success and fulfillment, why might it be something that so many of us struggle to employ?

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, https://outorah.org/p/29315/
There are, [David Hume] says, two ways in which religion can go wrong: through superstition, and through enthusiasm. These are quite different phenomena. Superstition is driven by ignorance and fear. We can sometimes have irrational anxieties and terrors, and we deal with them by resorting to equally irrational remedies. Enthusiasm is the opposite. It is the result of over-confidence. The enthusiast, in a state of high religious rapture, comes to believe that he is being inspired by God himself, and is thus empowered to disregard reason and restraint. Enthusiasm “thinks itself sufficiently qualified to approach the Divinity, without any human mediator.” The person in its grip is so full of what he takes to be holy rapture that he feels able to override the rules by which priestly conduct is normally governed. “The fanatic consecrates himself and bestows on his own person a sacred character, much superior to what forms and ceremonious institutions can confer on any other.” Rules and regulations, thinks the enthusiast, are for ordinary people, not for us. We, inspired by God, know better. That, said Hume, can be very dangerous indeed.

In her commentary Rabbi Marcia Plumb points out that there "are three ways to understand z’rizut. One is being quick off the mark to take action. Z’rizut is the joyful and efficient energy that gets us going and enables us to fire up new endeavors." This is displayed by the way that Abraham woke early in the morning to do what God had asked of him.
She then discusses a second form of zerizut:
"At the beginning of the sidrah, God gives each of the tribes a to-do list that will contribute to building the Mishkan. No tribe has to take full responsibility for it, but all have to play a role for it to be built. At the end of the long list of tasks (Numbers 4:21–49), we read, “Each one was given responsibility for his service and porterage at the command of the Eternal through Moses, and each was recorded as the Eternal had commanded Moses” (Numbers 4:49). In other words, each tribe practiced z’rizut by stepping up, embracing its role in the sacred work, and accomplishing it. God rewarded them by recording it. The second possible understanding of z’rizut is “having the persistence to stay with the task through to completion.” It is common to have great new ideas, begin to act on them, and then not to follow through. Maybe we lost our enthusiasm or became afraid of the work needed to bring our ideas to fruition. Z’rizut is the middah we cultivate to keep putting one foot in front of the other, slowly but surely overcoming all obstacles."

How does this change your understanding of zerizut?

Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Nazirites are not distracted by temptations. They keep their eyes on their goals, and they adhere to their paths of self-discipline. Nazirites have the dedication to live by their principles, and they know that they must maintain continuous discipline, not hot passion or quick enthusiasm. They know that they must steadily put one foot in front of the other, being gentle and compassionate with themselves and others, while attempting to walk their paths. They may not always get it right, but they use z’rizut—“determination,” “persistence,” and “endurance”—to live the spiritual lives they seek.
A third way to understand z’rizut is “having the determination to restrain oneself from acting.” Just as we need z’rizut to help us act, z’rizut can help us have the discipline not to act. Z’rizut helps us refrain from overeating, over-drinking, or indulging in other self-destructive behaviour. The Nazirites in our parashah practice this third definition of z’rizut. Nazirites decide to follow a spiritual path built on strict discipline. They must abstain from drinking alcohol and from cutting their hair. They take on obligations that enable them to find holiness and closeness to God. For them, reaching this spiritual closeness is paramount, pursued with passion. Orchot Tzadikim says, “Those who act with zeal demonstrate clearly that they love their Creator, as servants who loves their master and spur themselves to render service and to do God’s will. For zeal depends upon the state of one’s heart. When people free their hearts of all other thoughts that reside in it and seize upon one thought, then they will undoubtedly be zealous in its execution.”

Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers
“Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity.”

Marge Piercy, Circles on the Water: Selected Poems
“The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.”