민수기 30:3의 Chasidut
אִישׁ֩ כִּֽי־יִדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר לַֽיהוָ֗ה אֽוֹ־הִשָּׁ֤בַע שְׁבֻעָה֙ לֶאְסֹ֤ר אִסָּר֙ עַל־נַפְשׁ֔וֹ לֹ֥א יַחֵ֖ל דְּבָר֑וֹ כְּכָל־הַיֹּצֵ֥א מִפִּ֖יו יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃
사람이 여호와께 서원하였거나 마음을 제어하기로 서약하였거든 파약하지 말고 그 입에서 나온 대로 다 행할 것이니라
Flames of Faith
According to the Sages, when God declared in the Ten Command- ments, “Do not take my name in vain [through swearing],” the entire universe shook.38Shevuos 38b. Why did this command frighten the entirety of creation? Perhaps because a shevua summons all sheva, all the seven spiritual roots of creation, and invests them in the cause.39Nachmanides writes, “The secret is that the word shevua is from the word sheva” (commentary to Num. 30:3). See further Emunas Etecha, Parashas Chayei Sarah, pg. 70 s.v. ve-chein matzinu. A human is a miniature universe. Since I parallel the world, whatever I do with my soul causes a corresponding effect on the soul of the world.40See further Lessons Five and Six, where this concept is explained in greater detail. When I swear I arouse all the parts of my heart; the physical world then finds all the sources of its existence aroused as well. A false oath weakens every root of mine, and that causes all the channels through which God pours life down to the world to shake with instability.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 30,3. “when a man utters a vow, etc.;”
In a book called Shaarey Orah, (a kabbalistic volume by Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Giktalia, earliest printing 17th cent.) the word נדר is broken down into נון דר, the letter נ referring to Israel’s faith in G’d, Who in turn supervises our fate in all His Mercy at all times and wherever we are, not abandoning us for even a second. When this letter is found in the Torah written in an inverted form, as in Numbers 10,35 or in Job 38,1, it points to G’d’s supervision of the various parts of His universe. While the letter נ in that verse in Job is not inverted but rather is a final letter in the middle of a word, our sages in Nedarim 8 concluded that a vow applies even to the promise to perform a commandment when it is the result of the person making this vow having experienced proof of G’d’s supervising His universe. On such an occasion the person who has had this religious experience decides to abstain even from matters which-as far as the Torah is concerned- he is within his rights to enjoy.
[In order to understand this, it is necessary to remember that the vows discussed in the Torah and the Talmud involve use of the name of G’d, something severely punished when used in vain, as per the third of the 10 Commandments. Although the Talmud in Nedarim uses a verse from psalms as the justification, our author feels that the remarks by the author of the book שערי אורה reinforce what we have learned in the Talmud. Ed.]
In a book called Shaarey Orah, (a kabbalistic volume by Rabbi Joseph ben Avraham Giktalia, earliest printing 17th cent.) the word נדר is broken down into נון דר, the letter נ referring to Israel’s faith in G’d, Who in turn supervises our fate in all His Mercy at all times and wherever we are, not abandoning us for even a second. When this letter is found in the Torah written in an inverted form, as in Numbers 10,35 or in Job 38,1, it points to G’d’s supervision of the various parts of His universe. While the letter נ in that verse in Job is not inverted but rather is a final letter in the middle of a word, our sages in Nedarim 8 concluded that a vow applies even to the promise to perform a commandment when it is the result of the person making this vow having experienced proof of G’d’s supervising His universe. On such an occasion the person who has had this religious experience decides to abstain even from matters which-as far as the Torah is concerned- he is within his rights to enjoy.
[In order to understand this, it is necessary to remember that the vows discussed in the Torah and the Talmud involve use of the name of G’d, something severely punished when used in vain, as per the third of the 10 Commandments. Although the Talmud in Nedarim uses a verse from psalms as the justification, our author feels that the remarks by the author of the book שערי אורה reinforce what we have learned in the Talmud. Ed.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
“in order to impose a prohibition upon his person.”
From the wording of the Torah it seems clear that permission to utter vows or oaths is granted only if the person doing so did so in order to strengthen his ability to obey certain commandments that he was in danger of violating had he not reinforced his determination by means of a vow or oath. An example of such a vow is found in the Book of Ruth 3,13, where Boaz reinforces his undertaking to be Ruth’s redeemer if a closer relative refuses to marry her, by adding the words: חי ה', “by the Life of Hashem”. He did so in order to bolster his resistance to the evil urge that might advise him not to enter into such an (apparently) inappropriate marriage.
From the wording of the Torah it seems clear that permission to utter vows or oaths is granted only if the person doing so did so in order to strengthen his ability to obey certain commandments that he was in danger of violating had he not reinforced his determination by means of a vow or oath. An example of such a vow is found in the Book of Ruth 3,13, where Boaz reinforces his undertaking to be Ruth’s redeemer if a closer relative refuses to marry her, by adding the words: חי ה', “by the Life of Hashem”. He did so in order to bolster his resistance to the evil urge that might advise him not to enter into such an (apparently) inappropriate marriage.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Noam Elimelech
"Or swears an oath" (Numbers 30:3) - meaning, shevuah (oath) comes from the expression "seven". A person needs to work through 7 levels, just as "six days you will do your labor, and on the seventh it is Shabbat". This is a hint that one needs to fix six corners, and after that one comes to the seventh level which is the holiness of Shabbat, and this is "swears an oath", meaning, the seven levels, each and every one of them made of of another seven.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Noam Elimelech
"To impose a prohibition on his soul" (Numbers 30:3) - this is a hint that, after a tzadik goes through all these levels, they should always see in their mind that they have not fulfilled their obligation regarding their service, and it should always look in their eyes as if their service fell short, and the tzadik should always find in themself lackings and sins and transgressions, so that through their rummaging of their deeds they will connect with the world below, and will tie themself with them so as to continue the great and good Flow to their needs. And this is "to impose a prohibition on his soul", meaning, find something, always, that they did wrong.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 30:3 “he must not profane his word.” “he must act in accordance with all that he said.”
When someone does not profane, dishonor his promises, he assists in perfecting the world we live in with every word he utters. Our verse alludes to this ability of the righteous to govern the universe when instead of שבטים, “tribes,” the Torah used the word מטות, which has a dual meaning, also meaning “להטות,” to incline, i.e. to alter an existing status, to effect change in the celestial court, converting decrees based on the attribute of Justice to decrees based on the attribute of Mercy.
When someone does not profane, dishonor his promises, he assists in perfecting the world we live in with every word he utters. Our verse alludes to this ability of the righteous to govern the universe when instead of שבטים, “tribes,” the Torah used the word מטות, which has a dual meaning, also meaning “להטות,” to incline, i.e. to alter an existing status, to effect change in the celestial court, converting decrees based on the attribute of Justice to decrees based on the attribute of Mercy.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy