TIforOA

Sanctify yourself through the permissible... Yevamos 20a

Divrei Torah to provide Chizuk in the struggle to balance spiritual and physical needs.

L'Iluei Nishmas Mirkah Bas Yosef




Friday, May 21, 2010

It is a true wonder when the physical and spiritual are both working together.


Why does a Nazir bring a sin offering after he finishes his period of abstinence from Wine? Is it because he did something wrong by abstening from the physical world? No it is because he reached a high level by exercising self-control, and now that he is returning to the physical world he brings a sin offering.

The nazir has a problem, he knows that he can not balance they physical and spiritual world corectly. He knows that he needs extra help to create this balance by putting limits on himself to try to create a place where integration is a reasonable goal. Since there is concerne that he should not fall back into the weakness and overdo the world of desire, he has to create an extra boundry, the sin offering to build him up and prevent a further fall.

This is the reason that the Torah portion Naso talks about the Sota, and the Nazir. They both come from the lopsided relationship between the physical and material world. If a person witnesses a Sota he should take it as a message that he needs to realign the relationship between the physical and the spiritual in his own life.

The Nazir is refered to as a "Pella" (wonder) because he was able to control his desires. The relationship between the Guf (body) and the neshamah (soul) is also considered to be a pella. That is the reason the the blessing of Asher Yatzar says "Mafli Laasot". Becuase it is a true wonder when are physical and spiritual are both working together.

from the Shiur:
Naso: Holiness Through Self-Control # KY 035 A
by Kirzner ztl, Rabbi Yitzchak

The response to seeing an unfaithful woman's punishment was to become a Nazir - abstaining from wine, haircutting, and various other things to preempt him from following the same path. But wouldn't we assume the reaction to witnessing such gruesome consequences would in itself be a deterrent? Rabbi Kirzner discusses the far ranging effects what we see has on us, and the Nazir's underlying lack of appreciation of physical and spiritual synthesis.

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