Weekly Parsha

Naso

Numbers 4:21 - 7:89 

Naso or Nasso (נָשֹׂא‎ — Hebrew for "take a census" or "lift up," the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 35th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the Book of Numbers.

This week's portion includes further job instructions to the Levites, Moshe is instructed to purify the camp in preparation for the dedication of the Mishkan, the Portable Sanctuary.

Then four laws relating to the Cohanim are given: 1) restitution for stolen property where the owner is deceased and has no next of kin -- goes to the Cohanim 2) If a man suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he brings her to the Cohanim for the Sotah clarification ceremony 3) If a person chooses to withdraw from the material world and consecrate himself exclusively to the service of the Almighty by becoming a Nazir (vowing not to drink wine or eat grape products, come in contact with dead bodies or cut his hair), he must come to the Cohen at the completion of the vow 4) the Cohanim were instructed to bless the people with this blessing: "May the Lord bless you and guard over you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you and give you peace."

The Mishkan is erected and dedicated on the first of Nissan in the second year after the Exodus. The leaders of each tribe jointly give wagons and oxen to transport the Mishkan. During each of the twelve days of dedication, successively each tribal prince gives gifts of gold and silver vessels, sacrificial animals and meal offerings. Every prince gives exactly the same gifts as every other prince.

* * *

During the twelve days of the dedication of the Tabernacle the heads of the twelve tribes each brought an offering. Although the offerings of the leaders were the same, the Torah repeats each gift with all of its details. The Torah never uses an extra word or letter unless it is coming to teach us a lesson about life. What lesson can we learn here?

The lesson for us to learn is that we should not try to outdo another person in order to boast or feel superior to him. We should keep our focus on the accomplishment, not on our egos.

The goal in spiritual matters is to serve the Almighty, to grow as a person and not to seek honor or to compete with anyone else. Competition has its motivating factor, but one-upmanship has no place in fulfilling Torah principles. One should fulfill mitzvos with pure intentions.

The thin line between confidence and arrogance ... is humility.

We make provisions for this life as if it will never end and for the next life as if it will never begin...

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Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Ovadiah and Esther Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College of New York where he teaches classes on Talmud, Chassidism, Jewish History, Contemporary Jewish Law and Jewish Music. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern usefulness and meaning in ancient wisdom texts, providing spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming for communities around the world.

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The wise man seizes the opportunity to do mitzvot" (King Solomon). The lazy person says -- someday I'll do it.