Parashat Nasso
May 19, 2021
Geri Bloch, High School English Teacher
The “Book of Numbers,” במדבר (Bamidbar), in Hebrew means “wilderness”; however, the English name for this Book of Torah is derived from the Greek word, Ἀριθμοί, “Arithmoi,” from which our word arithmetic comes. Parashat Nasso is truly a book filled with numbers. Nasso is the longest parashah in the Torah, having 176 verses, 311 lines in the Torah scroll, 8,632 Hebrew letters, and 2,264 Hebrew words. And it begins with God telling Moshe “to take the census (נשא) of the sons of Gershon as well, by their patrilineal house, by their families.”
The Gershonites, the Kehatites, and the Meraris were tasked with carrying all of the materials that went into the creation of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. There was a division of labor based upon the numbers in each family. This makes sense; each group had a part in the erection and the beautification of the Tabernacle, so they must also service it as the Israelites head into the wilderness toward “the Promised Land.”
After the census (the numbers) and the delineation of tasks, Parashat Nasso discusses those who would, by their actions, bring impurity into the encampment, a serious problem; it then details how to bring restitution and atonement for an individual’s transgressions. Thievery and betrayal are mentioned, but in the case of a woman who is thought to have sinned against her husband (a sotah), there is a mystical ceremony whereby the woman drinks sacred water adulterated by dirt from the Tabernacle floor. The ceremony progresses to where the woman must drink water in which curses written on a scroll have been dissolved. If the woman is guilty, she will presumably suffer ill effects from drinking this water.
Immediately following the pesukim about a wife who might be unfaithful, the Torah affirms the right of some individuals to become Nazirites. Again, this is a serious issue, for these were not people of the priestly caste, but persons who decided to become spiritually and ritually pure. They separated themselves from the community and abstained from intoxicating drink; they refrained from shaving and remained pure by not going near a corpse. Coming into contact with a dead body would mean the Nazir would be defiled. The Nazir took an oath to remain pure and did not become involved in social activities. Moral purity would follow the ritual purity.
With standards of purity and impurity set, the dedication of the Tabernacle and the number of tribal offerings demonstrates the tribes’ devotion to God. By the end of Parashat Nasso, Moshe enters the Tabernacle to speak with God and is able to hear the Lord “above the ark cover that was upon the Ark of Testimony, from between the two cherubs.”
But what about the priestly blessings (6:22-27)? God tells Moshe that Aaron and the priests must convey God’s message that “The Lord shall bless you and keep you. The Lord shall shine His countenance to you and be gracious unto you. The Lord shall lift His countenance to you and grant you peace.” Though Parashat Nasso seems to have a myriad of disparate topics with which it deals, it is actually a verbal tapestry woven together with love, the love of God for the Jewish people. Coming as it does the Shabbat after Shavuot, Parashat Nasso depicts that love. First, on Shavuot, God has us “standing at Sinai” for the revelation of the Torah, and then God shows us the path to purity and holiness through love. Numbers are digits on a page, but through the long text of Parashat Nasso, which contains all of those numbers, we understand how we can count on God.
After the census (the numbers) and the delineation of tasks, Parashat Nasso discusses those who would, by their actions, bring impurity into the encampment, a serious problem; it then details how to bring restitution and atonement for an individual’s transgressions. Thievery and betrayal are mentioned, but in the case of a woman who is thought to have sinned against her husband (a sotah), there is a mystical ceremony whereby the woman drinks sacred water adulterated by dirt from the Tabernacle floor. The ceremony progresses to where the woman must drink water in which curses written on a scroll have been dissolved. If the woman is guilty, she will presumably suffer ill effects from drinking this water.
Immediately following the pesukim about a wife who might be unfaithful, the Torah affirms the right of some individuals to become Nazirites. Again, this is a serious issue, for these were not people of the priestly caste, but persons who decided to become spiritually and ritually pure. They separated themselves from the community and abstained from intoxicating drink; they refrained from shaving and remained pure by not going near a corpse. Coming into contact with a dead body would mean the Nazir would be defiled. The Nazir took an oath to remain pure and did not become involved in social activities. Moral purity would follow the ritual purity.
With standards of purity and impurity set, the dedication of the Tabernacle and the number of tribal offerings demonstrates the tribes’ devotion to God. By the end of Parashat Nasso, Moshe enters the Tabernacle to speak with God and is able to hear the Lord “above the ark cover that was upon the Ark of Testimony, from between the two cherubs.”
But what about the priestly blessings (6:22-27)? God tells Moshe that Aaron and the priests must convey God’s message that “The Lord shall bless you and keep you. The Lord shall shine His countenance to you and be gracious unto you. The Lord shall lift His countenance to you and grant you peace.” Though Parashat Nasso seems to have a myriad of disparate topics with which it deals, it is actually a verbal tapestry woven together with love, the love of God for the Jewish people. Coming as it does the Shabbat after Shavuot, Parashat Nasso depicts that love. First, on Shavuot, God has us “standing at Sinai” for the revelation of the Torah, and then God shows us the path to purity and holiness through love. Numbers are digits on a page, but through the long text of Parashat Nasso, which contains all of those numbers, we understand how we can count on God.
Shabbat Shalom