Sota and Nazir: the Lesson of Moderation

The following is taken from my father’s writings.

            Following the census of the Levi’im, the Parasha presents two seemingly unrelated laws. One is the law of Sota, the wife suspected by her husband of being unfaithful. Immediately following , the Torah presents the laws of the Nazir.  If one takes Nazirite vows, he must abstain from drinking wine, eating any grape products or becoming ritually impure by a corpse during the period of the vow.

          These two laws seem totally unrelated. The Sota laws deal with suspicion of adultery, one of the gravest sins. On the other hand, the Nazir is referred to as holy.

         Yet the Rabbis tell us that these two laws are closely connected. Our Sages tell us that the reason one chooses to take the Nazirite vows is seeing the results of drinking. The Sota likely participated in drinking parties and while drunk, she may have committed adultery. The individual who took the vows of a Nazir did so because he realized the evils of getting drunk. Therefore, he went to the other extreme, making a vow to completely abstain from drinking. In one case, the individual went to the extreme of sin, in the other the person chooses the opposite extreme and prohibits upon himself something the Torah permits.

         Although the Torah refers to the Nazir as holy, the Rabbis tell us that he sinned by prohibiting wine to himself.

         What the Rabbis want to tell us is that extremism is not the way of Torah. There is no mitzva to drink wine (kiddush can be recited over bread as well), yet it is not proper to completely prohibit the use of wine. Everything that God created is for man’s benefit. Things must be used in moderation and one must know the limitations. As Maimonides taught, one must always seek the “golden path” of moderation. Going to extremes, either to the right or to the left, can be a great curse for society.

         The laws of Nazir are followed immediately by the Priestly blessing, which concludes with the ultimate blessing of peace. When people avoid extremes, they will try to understand one another, to accept that others are entitled to their own point of view, even when it differs. Then the blessings of peace will come forth.