Parashat Naso – 5784
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
In this week’s parasha, Parashat Naso, we read two consecutive halachic units. One deals with the Sotah – a married woman who cheated on her husband and had an intimate relationship with another man. The second deals with a topic that is probably the most distant from its predecessor; the laws of the monk – a person who wishes to rise to the level of a quasi-priest and undertakes to follow laws similar to the laws of the priest, for a limited period of time, i.e. avoiding drinking wine, shaving one’s hair and having any proximity to the dead.
Many biblical scholars and commentators over the generations have questioned the juxtaposition of these two topics, and the Talmud offers an answer in the name of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi:
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: Why is the portion of a nazirite (Numbers, chapter 6) placed adjacent to the portion of a sota (Numbers, chapter 5)? This was done to tell you that anyone who sees a sota in her disgrace, should renounce wine.
(Babylonian Talmud, Sotah, Page 2; Rashi ibid)
In other words, the monk who undertakes to ascend to a high level of holiness, does so after being exposed to an inappropriate situation, and it can be assumed that even though it was unintentional that he was exposed to the ugly actions of the sotah, he felt the need to undertake the level of nazir, which includes ceasing from drinking wine and engaging in the pleasures of this world.
There lies a great truth in this explanation, which we often try to escape from: being exposed to any kind of behavior, whether positive or negative, has an effect on us!
When we are exposed to negative actions, rude talk, cheap behavior – all these affect us and seep into our consciousness, which we want to keep clean and pure. On the other hand, when we are exposed to noble deeds and honorable behavior – we are positively influenced and become better people.
This is true for each and every one of us, but especially true, and sometimes critical, when we talk about children and teenagers. Exposing children and teenagers to various contents not only affects them, but actually shapes their worldview, way of thinking and outlook on life.
Sometimes we parents do the stupidest thing a parent can do. We educate our children with our values, virtues, faith, and yet we allow them to be exposed to opposite influences, which are frequently more powerful than the education we provide.
What can we do? Have we got a way to deal with the flood of information? With a culture that has broken down all boundaries and accepts everything as appropriate? Our role as parents and teachers is to learn and teach the young how to cope, set limits, overcome temptations, block access to inappropriate content. It seems that the rule “anyone who sees a sota in her disgrace, should renounce wine” has never been more relevant. Inevitably, we are exposed to ideas that the pure soul hates, and we can only face these and deal with them by increasing and strengthening the good and the holy.
We have a responsibility to educate our children to live in the world as is, while, at the same time, learn to set essential boundaries, both for their mental health and for the values of Judaism and morality that we seek to instill in them. One part of this responsibility deals with issues of exposure – what we want to expose our children to and what we don’t. Another part of the responsibility deals with instilling positive coping strategies, increasing positive forces, to ensure that that they build up sufficient internal strength to shape a healthy, balanced and mature soul.
