Numbers - Cycle One - 0421-0789 - Naso

While the portion BeMidbar is about names, numbers and placement, in Naso we are also being prepared, on practical, emotional and primal levels. What is preparation? My guess is that in Torah, the need for it shows a certain lack in the real world. Imagine. A Gad and a Benjamin are playing a video game. They take a ten minute break to sacrifice that sheep. Then they go back to their video game. The offering becomes meaningless.

In Naso we see that if our offerings are to have meaning, if God is to receive them, we must be able to make them. If we haven’t inherited this ability, we can become a Nazirite. If we are or aren’t a Nazirite, the priests can bless us. So while Naso emphasizes inner work and dedication, we can all prepare to be in the divine no matter our present connection with God. This is the beauty of Naso. The divine offering however is not an end. Preparation is infinite; an ongoing process.

On a practical level, God first wants us to sort out family duties. Then, we are to purify the camp, send out everyone with a leprous mark, a male discharge or contact with the dead. How very mean, one might think. However, let’s look at this more. First, leprosy could go from AIDs, cancer, to mental illness, anger, hatred, to any gunk that collects in our hearts, connects us in darkness. And how true. If the goal of Torah is divine consciousness (and it is) we’re not going to get there with offerings covered in our own dark gunk. Nope, we have to clean ourselves up, clean up the camp. Finally, and still practical, God asks for a confession of sins. So, with family duties doled out, our illnesses sent out, and all past sins paid up, we are now ready to prepare on the deeper level of jealousy and betrayal.

Enter the suspected adulteress. Literally, if a man suspects his wife she has to drink something strange and if she’s guilty, her organs will rupture. If she’s innocent, she’ll come out fine. How horrible. But let’s look at this more. First, we see jealousy, fear, distrust. Then, we see deeper problems, the murky aspect of truth, the impossibility of knowing , the difficulties of absolute connection on a physical level, therefore a need to trust and have faith not only man to woman, woman to man, but God to man and man to God. We see that betrayal and fear of betrayal are equally destructive. As it says in Torah, it is the sin of the man as well as the guilt of the woman; it is the action of not believing, or replacing God with oneself, one’s emotions, one’s ego. Yes, let’s get rid of that before making an offering.

Next, the Nazarite. Yes! A woman can be one too. But be what? The Nazarite separates himself from wine and brandy, from what he likes, from what makes him human. As humans we cut our hair. We deal with the dead. By doing neither, a Nazirite creates a sacred space, becomes holy to God, more holy by the way, than the priests. Priests can go near dead relatives. The Nazirite can not. He is placed on a level equivalent to the high priest, for he, as well is honored by the fact that his dead relatives are talmet (sp). Why is this? The Nazirite does the inner work. He doesn’t inherit it. He is holy because of his own intention. What a sacred journey.

But it’s not one that everyone wants to make. So enter the priests. Now, God will bless us, watch over us, make His presence enlighten us, grant us grace, direct his providence toward us and grant us peace. In this way, God will be linked with the Israelites, with us. Observe how the blessing is written. It’s as if each line is a filament from a web being cast out to connect, getting longer. We can almost see more lines being cast out, more filaments, all of them touching our souls, bringing us to expansion. So many eternal threads connecting us to God, to each other!

Finally, we can make the offerings. We are ready! But each family presents the same items. Family after family enters with the same items. It seems like an endless process. There has to be a reason. The truth is, there is a difference in the offerings. It has to do with us. The purpose therefore is to help us get over our differences, get beyond our human forms. In emphasizing sameness, we are witnessing our shards of light, all of them equal, being handed back to God in that endless process now that He has opened us with His blessing.

What is preparation? It’s the consolidation of our divine selves, this despite family ties, and all physical/emotional connection to this earth. We can do it and/or it can be done for us. What’s important is that we can eternally set free our inner shards, those puzzle pieces of light that we all carry, and offer them to God. And we are not doing this work alone. God helps us by reaching to collect them with the silken lines of His blessing. This is the message of Naso.