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Parashat Naso (5726-1966)
Chapter 7
The Princes

The problems of this parashah, especially those in its first part, were discussed in several of the Gilyonot from previous years (especially those of 5715-1955, 5716-1956, 5717-1957). The lesson should be opened with a short explanation of the death of the two sons of Aaron, especially regarding the question which posed difficulties for the Tannaim and Amoraim, the midrashim, and both the early and later commentators: what was their sin? (See also the Study Guides for 5715-1955 and 5716-1956.)

After this, the teacher should turn to the commands given by Moses to Aaron and his sons relating to their conduct after the tragedy (verses 3-15). Emphasis should be placed here - especially in verses 6-7 and 12-15 - on the tendency to reject mourning, to push aside any matter of private sorrow in favor of the service of the Tabernacle. The continuation of the service - despite all that has happened - is explained by Sefer ha-Hinukh on the commandment "You shall not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting" (Lev. 8:33)(Commandment 157):
At the root of the commandment [that is, the reason for this prohibition] lies the foundation built for us, regarding the aggrandizement of the Temple and the services performed there. Consequently, it is proper, in any case, not to go forth and abandon the precious service, not for anything in the world. For truly, if it were to be abandoned, this would be demeaning for it, and people would thereby show that there is something in the world greater than the service of the L-rd, may He be blessed, since it could be set aside, even for a moment, for anything else.

The passage that we are examining is difficult to understand as the continuation of what precedes it. The manner in which the early authorities sought to connect the two is what led the author of Akedat Yitzhak (and many others, both before and after him) to raise his question.

We will also add the answer of Abarbanel (which we quoted in the Gilayon of Shemini 5709-1949):

Abarbanel:
And behold, He commanded after this, "Drink no wine or other intoxicant," because the heart of Aaron and his sons was as the heart of a woman, grieving for the burning of his sons, but because of the injunction by Moses, they could not weep and eulogize properly. In consequence they might possibly drink wine in order to forget their sorrows, as it says, "Give strong drink to the hapless and wine to the embittered. Let them drink and forget their poverty" (Prov. 31:6-7); because of this, the Divine pronouncement was issued to Aaron and his sons: "Drink no wine or other intoxicant." This contains two reasons preventing their drinking it: the first, by his saying, "when you enter the Tent of Meeting," with the meaning of "because," as "There Israel served as a wife" (Hos. 12:13); "It was a wicked thing for you to do" (Gen. 44:5); "Will You destroy for want of five" (Gen. 18:28), and many similar examples. That is to say: it is not proper for you to drink wine or other intoxicant because you must enter the Tent of Meeting, to perform the services in the San. For if you were to be intoxicated, you would sin in your service there and die, and this matter is an eternal law for all your generations....

The second reason why it is not proper for you to drink wine or other intoxicant is because you instruct the people in the Torah, and by your word will the distinction be drawn between the sacred and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean. And also regarding all the other precepts, you will instruct the Israelites in all the laws, and as it is said: "For the lips of a kohen guard knowledge" (Mal. 2:7).

It should be noted, regarding the aggadah cited in question I.2, that when Bialik and Rawnitzki brought it in Sefer ha-Aggadah, they shortened it by ending the story with the question of the old man, "in which wine shop did he imbibe the wine that intoxicated him." They thereby changed the threatening and horrifying story into ... a joke. This latter ending brings the listener, by the element of surprise, to engage in boisterous laughter. The tragic ending of the original version ("I have no pleasure or Paradise except this,") in stark contrast, illuminates, as in a flash of lighting, the entire plague of alcoholism with all its terrors.

In order to understand question II we must first see the syntactical difficulties: are verses 10-11 secondary clauses dependent upon a main clause (verse 9), or are they themselves main clauses? If they are time-related secondary clauses, then why were they not stated in a form parallel to the first secondary clause at the end of verse 9, that is, why was it not stated: "when you distinguish ... and when you teach," as it is said: "when you enter the Tent of Meeting"? And if they are purpose-related secondary clauses, why did it not say: "So that you will distinguish ... and so that you will teach," or simply "Le-havdil [to distinguish]," without the letter vav? If they are main clauses, they are lacking a subject, and they should have been written "Ve-hivdilu [And they will distinguish]" and "e-horu [And they will teach]." There is also an additional difficulty: if this is a commandment for all time that the role of the kohanim is to teach ("For the lips of a kohen guard knowledge"; "They shall teach Your laws to Jacob" - Deut. 33:10), then of what relevance is this to our passage? The commentaries cited in the Gilayon contain the various syntactical conceptions. According to Rashi, verses 10-11 are purpose-related secondary clauses, and the vav of ule-havdil he explains like the vav of "he shall not keep many horses or [ve-lo] send back ..." (Deut. 17:16); "And he shall not have many wives ... lest [ve-lo] his heart go astray ..." (Deut. 17:17). The commentary of Samuel David Luzzato seemingly appears to be the simple meaning of the text, but he does not explain the lack of parallelism between "when you enter the Tent of Meeting" and "For you must distinguish," "And you must teach."

Nehama Leibowitz

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