Naso (parsha)

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Naso or Nasso (נשא – Hebrew for "lift up,” the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 35th weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 4:21–7:89. Jews in the Diaspora generally read it in late May or June.

1 Summary
2 Commandments
3 Haftarah
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Summary

[edit] Preistly duties

God told Moses to take a census of the Gershonites between 30 and 50 years old, who were subject to service for the Tabernacle. (Num. 4:21–23.) The Gershonites had the duty, under the direction of Aaron’s son Ithamar, to carry the cloths of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of tachash skin on top of it, the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate of the enclosure surrounding the Tabernacle, the cords thereof, the altar, and all their service equipment and accessories. (Num. 4:24–28.)

Moses was also to take a census of the Merarites between 30 and 50 years old. (Num. 4:29–30.) The Merarites had responsibility, under the direction of Ithamar, for the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Tabernacle, and the posts around the enclosure and their sockets, pegs, and cords. (Num. 4:31–33.)

Moses, Aaron, and the chieftains thus recorded the Levites age 30 to 50 as follows:

Kohathites: 2,750,
Gershonites: 2,630, and
Merarites: 3,200,

for a total of 8,580. (Num. 4:34–39.)

[edit] Purifying the camp

God directed the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge and anyone defiled by a corpse, so that they would not defile the camp. (Num. 5:1–4.)

God told Moses to direct the Israelites that when one wronged a fellow Israelite, thus breaking faith with God, and realized his guilt, he was to confess the wrong and make restitution to the one wronged in the principal amount plus one-fifth. (Num. 5:5–7.) If the one wronged had no kinsman to whom restitution could be made, the amount repaid was to go to the priest, along with a ram of expiation. (Num. 5:8.) Similarly, any gift among the sacred donations that the Israelites offered was to be the priest's to keep. (Num. 5:9–10.)

[edit] The wife accused of unfaithfulness

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites about the test where a husband, in a fit of jealousy, accused his wife of being unfaithful – the ritual of the sotah. (Num. 5:11–14.) The man was to bring his wife to the priest, along with barley flour as a meal offering of jealousy. (Num. 5:15.) The priest was to dissolve some earth from the floor of the Tabernacle into some sacral water in an earthen vessel. (Num. 5:17.) The priest was to bare the woman’s head, place the meal offering on her hands, and adjure the woman: if innocent, to be immune to harm from the water of bitterness, but if guilty, to be cursed to have her thigh sag and belly distend. (Num. 5:18–21.) And the woman was to say, “Amen, amen!” (Num. 5:22.) The priest was to write these curses down, rub the writing off into the water of bitterness, and make the woman drink the water. (Num. 5:23–24.) The priest was to elevate the meal offering, present it on the altar, and burn a token part of it on the altar. (Num. 5:25–26.) If she had broken faith with her husband, the water would cause her belly to distend and her thigh to sag, and the woman was to become a curse among her people, but if the woman was innocent, she would remain unharmed and be able to bare children. (Num. 5:27–29.)

grapes, forbidden to the nazirite

[edit] The nazirite

God told Moses to instruct the Israelites about the vows of a nazirite, should one wish to set himself or herself apart for God. (Num. 6:1–2.) The nazirite was to abstain from wine, intoxicants, vinegar, grapes, raisins, or anything obtained from the grapevine. (Num. 6:3–4.) No razor was to touch the nazirite’s head until the completion of the nazirite term. (Num. 6:5.) And the nazirite was not to go near a dead person, even a father, mother, brother, or sister. (Num. 6:6–8.)

turtledove

If a person died suddenly near a nazirite, the nazirite was to shave his or her head on the seventh day. (Num. 6:9.) On the eighth day, the nazirite was to bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, who was to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. (Num. 6:10–11.) That same day, the nazirite was to reconsecrate his or her head, rededicate the Nazirite term, and bring a lamb in its first year as a penalty offering. (Num. 6:11–12.)

On the day that a nazirite completed his or her term, the nazirite was to be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and present a male lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, a ewe lamb in its first year for a sin offering, a ram for an offering of well-being, a basket of unleavened cakes, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and meal offerings. (Num. 6:13–15.) The priest was to present the offerings, and the nazirite was to shave his or her consecrated hair and put the hair on the fire under the sacrifice of well-being. (Num. 6:16–18.)

the positioning of the fingers of the Kohanim during the Priestly Blessing

[edit] The priestly blessing

God told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons that they should bless the Israelites with this blessing: “The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow His favor upon you and grant you peace!” (Num. 6:22–27.)

[edit] Consecrating the Tabernacle

Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, and anointed and consecrated it, its furnishings, the altar, and its utensils. (Num. 7:1.) The chieftains of the tribes then brought their offerings – 6 draught carts and 12 oxen – and God told Moses to accept them for use by the Levites in the service of the Tent of Meeting. (Num. 7:2–5.) The chieftains then each on successive days brought the same dedication offerings for the altar: a silver bowl and silver basin filled with flour mixed with oil, a gold ladle filled with incense, a bull, 2 oxen, 6 rams, 6 goats, and 6 lambs. (Num. 7:10–88.)

When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with God, Moses would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the ark between the two cherubim, and thus God spoke to him. (Num. 7:88.)

[edit] Commandments

Numbers 6:3–10 in Hebrew alternating with the Aramaic Targum Onkelos in a 12th century manuscript from the British Library

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 7 positive and 11 negative commandments in the parshah.

To send the impure from the Temple (Num. 5:2)
Impure people must not enter the Temple (Num. 5:3)
To repent and confess wrongdoings (Num. 5:7)
To fulfill the laws of the sotah (Num. 5:11–15)
Not to put oil on the sotah’s meal offering (Num. 5:15)
Not to put frankincense on the sotah’s meal offering (Num. 5:15)
The nazarite must not drink wine, wine mixtures, or wine vinegar (Num. 6:3)
The nazarite must not eat fresh grapes (Num. 6:3)
The nazarite must not eat raisins (Num. 6:3)
The nazarite must not eat grape seeds (Num. 6:4)
The nazarite must not eat grape skins (Num. 6:4)
The nazarite must not cut his or her hair (Num. 6:5)
The nazarite must let his or her hair grow (Num. 6:5)
The nazarite must not be under the same roof as a corpse (Num. 6:6)
The nazarite must not come into contact with the dead (Num. 6:7)
The nazarite must shave after bringing sacrifices upon completion of the Nazirite period (Num. 6:9)
The Kohanim must bless the Jewish nation daily (Num. 6:23)
The Levites must transport the ark on their shoulders (Num. 7:9)

The Offer of Manoah (painting by Rembrandt)

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is Judges 13:2–25.

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these classical sources:

Mishnah: Challah 1:6, 4:11; Orlah 1:7–8; Megillah 3:6, 4:10; Moed Katan 3:1; Nazir 1:1–9:5; Sotah 1:1–7:1, 7:6; Bava Kamma 9:11–12; Makkot 3:7–10; Avodah Zarah 5:9; Menachot 3:5–6, 5:3, 5:6, 6:1, 6:5; Chullin 13:10; Meilah 3:2; Tamid 7:2; Middot 2:5; Negaim 14:4; Parah 1:4.
Numbers Rabbah 6:1–14:22.
Zohar 3:121a–148b.