Comentario sobre Números 6:2

כי יפלא means, IF HE CLEARLY UTTERS (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 22:21 and Note thereon). — Why is the section dealing with the Nazarite placed in juxtaposition to the section dealing with the סוטה? To tell you that he who has once seen a סוטה in her disgrace should abstain from wine, because it may lead to adultery (Sotah 2a).

כי יפליא, he will separate himself from all the vanities and physical pleasures in life.

דבר אל בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם, "speak to the children of Israel and say to them, etc." Our verse repeated the form of address Moses was to use by calling it both the harsh דבר "speak" as well as the softer ואמרת, "and say." Why is that? Furthermore, why did the Torah switch to indirect speech when discussing the laws pertaining to a Nazirite? Perhaps the Torah wanted to address two kinds of Nazirite, the one kind being superior to the other. We learned in Nedarim 9 that Shimon the Just said that in all his years as High Priest he had only once eaten the guilt-offering of a Nazirite who had become ritually unclean during the term of his Naziriteship whose motivation for becoming a Nazirite he approved of. The Nazirite in question had described to him that he became a Nazirite as a means to fight off his evil urge. Concerning the Naziriteship of people similarly motivated the Torah used the term ואמרת, whereas concerning a Nazir who was motivated by less noble considerations the Torah used the term דבר when detailing the rules he had to observe. This is also why the Torah speaks of נזיר להזיר instead of merely saying להזיר לה׳. The Torah wanted to hint it speaks of two kinds of נזירות. The word נזיר refers to most kinds of Nazir, whereas the expression להזיר לה׳ refers to the Nazirite who is highly motivated such as the Nazirite mentioned by Shimon the Just.

כי יפליא, If someone clearly utters, etc.” He either separates himself from the community or he does something mysteriously different, seeing that most people follow the inclinations of their greedy hearts.

That whoever observes a sotah. Rashi is answering the question: Why was this not been placed next to the passage of Nedarim (vows), which is its fitting place? Re’m explains that there is no association whatsoever to the passage of the sotah, for she transgressed [one of] the Ten Commandments while the Nazirite sanctified himself, abstaining from that which was permitted to him. Therefore Rashi asks why this passage was placed here, even though such a question is not normal for Rashi.

V. 2. כי יפלא, siehe zu Wajikra 22, 21. — נזיר. Die Grundbedeutung von נזר ist ganz entschieden: fernhalten, sondern, und הִנָזֵר (Wajikra 22, 2 und Secharja 7. 3) heißt unzweifelhaft: sich von etwas enthalten. Es läge daher sehr nahe נָזִיר, mit Hinblick auf die im V. 3 gebotene Enthaltsamkeit vom Weine, als den "Enthaltsamen" zu begreifen. Allein schon der Umstand, dass ihm nicht nur Wein und Weintrauben, sondern auch Weinessig, ja sogar Hülsen- und Traubenkerne zu essen verboten sind, deren Richtgenuss nicht eben das Opfer großer Enthaltsamkeit fordern dürfte, lässt schon vermuten, dass die Bedeutung נזיר über den Begriff bloßer Enthaltsamkeit hinübergehen möchte. Der Umstand ferner, dass wohl Leichenberührung und sogar unfreiwillige Leichenberührung (V. 9), nicht aber Weingenuss, eine bereits in Erfüllung des Nasirgelübdes zurückgelegte Zeit völlig aufhebt, dürfte erkennen lassen, dass das "Enthalten vom Weine" gewiss ebenso wie das Nichtberühren einer Leiche und das Wachsenlassen des Haupthaares mit zu den Obliegenheiten des Nasirs gehört, allein keineswegs den Begriff Nasir erschöpft, ja nicht einmal das überwiegende Merkmal eines solchen bilden könne so dass man in "Nasir" zunächst den "Enthaltsamen" zu erkennen hätte. Eine aufmerksame Erwägung der Verse 4 — 6 und dann zusammenfassend V. 8, lässt auch erkennen, dass auch alle drei Aufgaben zusammen den Begriff "נזרו", den Begriff des Nasirtums, nicht erschöpfen, dass sie vielmehr nur äußere Merkmale sind, durch welche und in welchen sich das Nasirtum ankündigen soll, dass dieses selbst aber vielmehr in den V. 8 gegebenen Begriff aufgeht: קדוש הוא לאלקיו und die שלשה מינין האסורין בנזיר: הטומאה והתגלחת והיוצא מן הגפן (Nasir 34 a) erscheinen vielmehr nur als Konsequenzen dieser קדושה. In der Tat sehen wir auch Amos 2, 11 נזירים mit נביאים zusammengestellt und das Vorhandensein beider in Israel als Tatsache besonderer göttlicher Bevorzugung hervorgehoben. Vergleichen wir den Ausdruck נזירים (Wajikra 25, 5 u. 11). für die sich selbst zu überlassenden Weinstöcke des siebenten und des Jobeljahres, so heißt auch ohnehin נָזיר nicht: der sich von andern fern hält, sondern: von dem sich andere fernzuhalten haben, von dem andere geschieden sind. Wie daher נֵזֶר den königlichen Reif bedeutet, der die Person, deren Haupt er umgibt, als für alle andern unnahbar ausgesondert bezeichnet, so bezeichnet hier נֵזֶר ein Lebens- und Strebensregime, das den, der es mit freiem Willensvorsatz übernimmt, aus der Mitte seiner Zeit- und Lebensgenossen heraus- und emporhebt und ihm die Aufgabe setzt, ganz 'קדוש לאלקי zu sein, mit dem ganzen Sein und Wollen seinem Gotte anzugehören. Er will gleichsam einen נֵזֶר, einen Kreis um sich ziehen, in welchem nur Gott gegenwärtig sein soll. Dies Kreisumsichbilden für Gott, dies gleichsam sich mit Gott und für Gott Isolieren heißt: 'הזיר לד, und ein solcher Isolierter: נזיר. Es ist dies aber kein räumliches Isolieren, kein Einsiedeln in der Öde; es ist vielmehr eine Geistes- und Gemütsisolierung mit Gott mitten im vielbewegten Volksleben.

כי יפלא, this is one of the words which occur in different contexts, having opposite meanings, such as “building” or “demolishing.” For instance, we find the phrase (Deut. 17,8) כי יפלא ממך דבר, where it means: “if something is too baffling for you, etc;” (the reference is to litigation between two parties) In our situation, our sages presume that the subject of the vow of Nazirite was not inserted here haphazardly, but that it teaches a valuable lesson in how to preserve one’s sinfree status. Our sages surmise that the reason that this subject follows on the heels of that of the wayward wife, is that man falling victim to sinning is related to imbibing too much wine or alcoholic drink, something that loosens not only one’s tongue, but also other restraints that would have served as protection against committing certain sins.[The reader may recall that Lot having been given too much wine by his daughters, resulted in the first instance of incest, so that the founder of the people of Moav’s founding father was at the same time also his grandfather through his mother. Eventually, 24000 Israelites were killed by a plague for having made an obeisance to a Moabite idol, BaalPeor, after having drunk too much wine and slept with Moabite women who had been told by Bileam to find a way to seduce them. Ed.] According to our author, a woman who has not coiffed her hair properly is not in demand for sexual intercourse. (Based on Ibn Ezra)

נדר נזיר — The term נזר wherever it occurs denotes “keeping aloof from something” (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 22:2). Here, too, it means that he keeps away from wine (Sifrei Bamidbar 22).

לנדור נדר נזיר, to become a Nazirite and the life of self denial which comes with this.

נדר נזזיר, “a vow of abstinence.” Generally this is a vow to abstain from wine, alcoholic drink. Some commentators relate the words נזר to ”crown,” i.e. the Nazirite adorned himself with a spiritual crown. He placed G’d’s “crown” on his head, so to speak.

In her decadence. Meaning how they degraded her, as it writes, “and expose her hair” (5:18).

נדר נדר להזיר, “has uttered a vow to become a Nazirite.” The reason why the Torah chose such a cumbersome way of saying this is that it wanted to incorporate the three main aspects of the Nazirite’s vow: abstention from wine, etc; not shaving his hair, and avoiding contact with ritual impurity.

להזיר לה׳ means, TO KEEP HIMSELF ALOOF from wine FOR THE SAKE OF HEAVEN (God).

'להזיר לה, to separate himself from all the pleasures in order to devote himself exclusively to the service of the Lord, to study His Torah and practice walking in His ways.

Another instance where we have encountered this expression is Exodus 29,6 in connection with Aaron’s headgear. It is described as נזר הקדש — a sort of crown which set Aaron apart from the other Priests. Crowns are worn by Royalty, i.e. people in authority. A Nazir is so called because he is like a king in that he rules over his desires, unlike the majority of mankind who are slaves to temptation.

להזיר לה', ”to abstain for the sake of the Lord.” The vow of abstinence is dedicated to the Lord whom one cannot serve to the full if one’s brain is befuddled by strong drink.