Shabbat Afternoon Teaching Nasso 5783

Jewish asceticism, unlike many other forms of asceticism, does not seek to separate mind or soul from body, focusing instead on the mind itself, without the trappings of physical pain or deprivation. The Talmud specifically questioned why a nazarite did not abstain from food instead of wine and answered that not having food would weaken him. The goal of abstention is not to weaken the body’s constitution, but to free the mind from distraction or distortion such as would be caused by alcohol consumption. In the words of the sixteenth-century Italian exegete, Rabbi Obadiah Sephorno, the nazarite consecrated himself to God to “engage in His Torah, follow His ways and cling to Him.” The idea is neither to punish nor to weaken the body, but rather to enhance one’s capacity for transcendence.

The most curious aspect of the sacrifice is not how one explains its purpose, but how one explains its details. The traditional sacrificial elements are present: two lambs and a ram, unleavened cakes of choice flour, and unleavened wafers in oil, all of which are presented to the priest. However, in an often-neglected detail, the nazarite then himself contributes to the presentation of the offering: “The nazarite shall then shave his consecrated hair at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and take the locks of his consecrated hair and put them on the fire that is under the sacrifice of well-being” (Num. 6:18). An integral part of transitioning the nazarite back to ordinary life was not only the cutting of his hair, but also the offering of his hair on the altar as part of the sacrifice itself. He had to watch his own hair, the most prominent aspect of his ascetic commitment, go up in heavenly smoke, creating the mental readiness to rejoin the world of distraction and mental static. Watching his hair burn created total recognition that his break from the often-banal world of human engagement was over. Similarly, God commanded Ezekiel to take a razor and cut the hair on his head and beard and then divide the hair into sections to mimic the takeover of Jerusalem which was to be segmented after a conquest: “Take also a few [hairs] from there and tie them up in your skirts. And take some more of them and cast them into the fire. From this a fire shall go out upon the whole House of Israel” (Ezek. 5:1–4). Like the nazarite, the prophet must burn his own hair to place himself in the drama of a moment. He set fire to part of himself. Burning hair creates an unpleasant stench. In the talmudic Tractate Shabbat, in a discussion of material that can serve as wicks for Shabbat lights, the use of hair is prohibited because it does not burn; it scorches. Thus, in sight and smell, the hair offering must have given the nazarite pause.