Parashat Naso
This Shabbat, we will read Parashat Naso, which is the largest Torah portion in the entire Torah. We could certainly spend hours studying and understanding the numerous concepts that appear in this Parashah. Among other things, Parashat Naso contains the explanation of The Ordeal of The Sotah, the explanation for the Vows of The Nazarites and The Priestly Blessing.
Rather than talking about The Torah Portion for this week, I would like to share some of my thoughts on The Haftarah for Parashat Naso. The Haftarah for this Shabbat tells the story of the remarkable birth of one of our Biblical Heroes — Shimshon (Samson). The reason why we read this particular Haftarah on this Shabbat is due to the link between Shimshon being a Nazarite himself (having taken that vow) and the description of The Vow of The Nazarite contained in Parshat Naso.
Shimshon’s birth is exceptional because once again, we run into the common Biblical motive of a woman who could not conceive. Our Haftarah records only Shimshon’s father’s name — Manoach, but it doesn’t tell us the name of his mother, who was told by none other than an “Angel of God” that she was going to be able to give birth to a child.
The story is an incredibly powerful story, not only because it gives us a window through which to look at the incredible painful experience of not being able to conceive children and the anxiety that comes from it. It also lets us know in no uncertain way that God is not so distant that God cannot feel this pain and anxiety Godself.
One of the important concepts to rescue from the story comes from what does not appear in The Haftarah itself. The Haftarah ends with the birth of Shimshon but his life was as remarkable as his birth. Shimshon was a true Hero in Israel. In a time when our adversaries seemed to be unbeatable, in a time without law or order, Shimshon emerged as a leader who was capable of capturing the imagination of his people.
In every generation, we as Jews seek a hero such as Shimshon. There has never been a time in Jewish History were we have been able to live our lives without a certain element of fear of the unknown. Shimshon gave The B’nei Israel a true reason to be proud. He showed them and those around them that no one could hurt our people and get away with it unharmed. Yes, it’s true! Shimshon had many flaws. He had weaknesses and above all was a human being to the core of his being. Heroes are often flawed; in the history of humankind, it is not very often that we find a flawless hero. If you ask me, Shimshon’s biggest weakness emerges at the end of his life — he literally collapses a structure on top of him to be able to kill his enemies and in the process he kills himself too. One of the most difficult things in life is to understand that no matter how much you feel threatened and how much you feel you need to act, you shouldn’t do it in such a way that it ends your life too.
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend The AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. Now more than ever, we have to understand the importance of standing with Israel and helping our beloved homeland overcome all of the threats that it faces. How do we become heroes? How do we help when we are so far away? One of the most important things to do is to let our elected representatives know how much Israel matters to us, how much Israel matters to the world and how much Israel matters to The United States.
We can all be heroes using our individual power to come together and create an even bigger voice. If we don’t unite our voices and make ourselves be heard, I can assure you that the enemies of Israel will. In using our voices and our power as a community, we need to do so intelligently and positively. I am always surprised by the amount of people who want Israel to get into a fight without first exhausting all diplomatic options. That is why AIPAC is so important. We can really effect changes in foreign policy that will help freeze, for example, Iranian resources around the world. Yes, I understand, eventually Israel WILL defend itself and I hope it does so speedily and swiftly, but we also must ALWAYS remember that in order to defend ourselves, some of Israel’s children will die in that battle too.
We need heroes like Shimshon, we need their strength and we also need their courage. We also need heroes that will think about it twice before bringing the house down on themselves just to show the world that we have the strength to do it and to take our enemies down. If I could compose a new blessing through which to bless us in this difficult time, I would probably say, “May God bless us with the strength of Shimshon, May God bless us with the insight of Joseph and may we always be like Aaron who sought peace and pursued peace.”
Shabbat Shalom
© Rabbi Felipe Goodman, all rights reserved.