פרשת נשא — חמישי (Aliyah 5)

Parashat Naso | Numbers 6:1–6:27 | Aliyah 5 of 7

קלאוד על הפרשה

The fifth aliyah (chapter 6 in its entirety) covers two theologically dense institutions: the nazir (6:1-21) and Birkat Kohanim (6:22-27). Their juxtaposition is famous — Chazal (Sotah 2a) ask why parashat nazir follows immediately on parashat sotah, and answer: ha-ro’eh sotah be-kilkulah, yazir atzmo min ha-yayin — one who witnesses a sotah in her disgrace should take a nazirite vow to abstain from wine, since wine led to her downfall. The Torah’s structural pairing thus enacts a moral logic: when one sees public failure of self-control, one’s response should be voluntary self-restraint.

The parashat nazir (6:1-21) defines a Torah-instituted form of voluntary holiness. Anyone — man or woman — may take a vow of nezirut, which entails three primary prohibitions for the duration: (1) abstention from wine and any grape product (including grape juice, grapes, raisins, even seeds and skins — Rashi notes the extreme breadth, even charatzanim ve-zagim); (2) refraining from cutting hair; and (3) avoiding corpse-impurity (even for close relatives — the nazir’s restriction here is stricter than that of an ordinary Kohen and matches that of the Kohen Gadol). The default minimum term is thirty days. If a nazir contracts corpse-impurity inadvertently, his nezirut is interrupted: he shaves his head on the seventh day, brings two birds (chatat and olah), and begins counting his term anew from day one — with the previous days not counted. Upon successful completion of the term, the nazir brings three sacrifices (olah, chatat, shelamim), shaves his head at the Mishkan entrance, and burns the hair beneath the shelamim-fire.

The Ramban’s famous question on the nazir’s chatat: what sin did he commit? The Ramban answers (drawing on R’ Elazar HaKappar in Nedarim 10a): the nazir errs by ending his asceticism, by returning to ordinary life with its temptations. He should have stayed a nazir forever. This is a minority view in Chazal — the Rambam in Hilchot De’ot reads nezirut as a middle path between excess and asceticism, and considers excessive nezirut itself a kind of error. The two views capture the deep tension at the heart of Torah’s ascetic option: voluntary self-restriction is valuable, but ordinary life is not contaminated; the nazir who returns is neither sinning nor failing.

Birkat Kohanim (6:22-27) follows immediately. The three-fold blessing — yevarechecha Hashem ve-yishmerecha / ya’eir Hashem panav eilecha vi-chuneka / yisa Hashem panav eilecha ve-yaseim lecha shalom — is one of the briefest and most ancient liturgical texts in Tanakh; archaeological evidence at Ketef Hinnom has uncovered a seventh-century BCE silver amulet bearing nearly the same Hebrew words. Rashi explains each line: the first asks for material blessing and protection (Hashem bless you and guard you); the second asks for divine favor and grace (may His face shine on you and favor you); the third asks for peace (may He lift His face to you and grant you peace). The verses are progressively longer in Hebrew: three, five, seven words. The aliyah closes with Hashem’s seal on the priestly blessing: ve-samu et shemi al Bnei Yisrael, va-ani avarekhem — they shall place My name upon the Children of Israel, and I Myself shall bless them. The Sforno reads this not as a mere formula but as a transfer of divine name — the Kohanim are conduits; the actual blessing flows from Hashem. The juxtaposition with nezirut is theologically elegant: the nazir voluntarily restricts himself for sanctity; the Kohen, by divine appointment, channels sanctity to the people. Both are paths into holiness — one solitary, one communal.

Numbers 6:1–6:27 · במדבר ו:א–ו:כז

פסוק ו:א · 6:1

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

English:

יהוה spoke to Moses, saying:

פסוק ו:ב · 6:2

Hebrew:

דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֣ישׁ אֽוֹ־אִשָּׁ֗ה כִּ֤י יַפְלִא֙ לִנְדֹּר֙ נֶ֣דֶר נָזִ֔יר לְהַזִּ֖יר לַֽיהֹוָֽה׃

English:

Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any men or womenany men or women Lit. “a participant or a (specifically) womanly participant whose involvement defines the depicted situation.” Co-references are likewise rendered in the plural, per the explicitly gender-inclusive intent. explicitlyexplicitly See note at Lev. 22.21. utter a nazirite’s vow, to set themselves apart for יהוה,

פסוק ו:ג · 6:3

Hebrew:

מִיַּ֤יִן וְשֵׁכָר֙ יַזִּ֔יר חֹ֥מֶץ יַ֛יִן וְחֹ֥מֶץ שֵׁכָ֖ר לֹ֣א יִשְׁתֶּ֑ה וְכׇל־מִשְׁרַ֤ת עֲנָבִים֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁתֶּ֔ה וַעֲנָבִ֛ים לַחִ֥ים וִיבֵשִׁ֖ים לֹ֥א יֹאכֵֽל׃

English:

they shall abstain from wine and any other intoxicant; they shall not drink vinegar of wine or of any other intoxicant, neither shall they drink anything in which grapes have been steeped, nor eat grapes fresh or dried.

פסוק ו:ד · 6:4

Hebrew:

כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י נִזְר֑וֹ מִכֹּל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֵעָשֶׂ֜ה מִגֶּ֣פֶן הַיַּ֗יִן מֵחַרְצַנִּ֛ים וְעַד־זָ֖ג לֹ֥א יֹאכֵֽל׃

English:

Throughout their term as nazirite, they may not eat anything that is obtained from the grapevine, even seeds or skin.*seeds or skin Meaning of Heb. ḥarṣannim and zag uncertain.

פסוק ו:ה · 6:5

Hebrew:

כׇּל־יְמֵי֙ נֶ֣דֶר נִזְר֔וֹ תַּ֖עַר לֹא־יַעֲבֹ֣ר עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ עַד־מְלֹ֨את הַיָּמִ֜ם אֲשֶׁר־יַזִּ֤יר לַיהֹוָה֙ קָדֹ֣שׁ יִהְיֶ֔ה גַּדֵּ֥ל פֶּ֖רַע שְׂעַ֥ר רֹאשֽׁוֹ׃

English:

Throughout the term of their vow as nazirite, no razor shall touch their head; it shall remain consecrated until the completion of their term as nazirite of יהוה, the hair of their head being left to grow untrimmed.

פסוק ו:ו · 6:6

Hebrew:

כׇּל־יְמֵ֥י הַזִּיר֖וֹ לַיהֹוָ֑ה עַל־נֶ֥פֶשׁ מֵ֖ת לֹ֥א יָבֹֽא׃

English:

Throughout the term that they have set apart for יהוה, they shall not go in where there is a dead person.

פסוק ו:ז · 6:7

Hebrew:

לְאָבִ֣יו וּלְאִמּ֗וֹ לְאָחִיו֙ וּלְאַ֣חֹת֔וֹ לֹא־יִטַּמָּ֥א לָהֶ֖ם בְּמֹתָ֑ם כִּ֛י נֵ֥זֶר אֱלֹהָ֖יו עַל־רֹאשֽׁוֹ׃

English:

Even if their father or mother, or their brother or sister should die, they must not become defiled for any of them, since hair set apart for their God*hair set apart for their God Others “his consecration unto God.” is upon their head:

פסוק ו:ח · 6:8

Hebrew:

כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י נִזְר֑וֹ קָדֹ֥שׁ ה֖וּא לַֽיהֹוָֽה׃

English:

throughout their term as nazirite they are consecrated to יהוה.

פסוק ו:ט · 6:9

Hebrew:

וְכִֽי־יָמ֨וּת מֵ֤ת עָלָיו֙ בְּפֶ֣תַע פִּתְאֹ֔ם וְטִמֵּ֖א רֹ֣אשׁ נִזְר֑וֹ וְגִלַּ֤ח רֹאשׁוֹ֙ בְּי֣וֹם טׇהֳרָת֔וֹ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֖י יְגַלְּחֶֽנּוּ׃

English:

If someone dies suddenly nearby,*nearby Cf. Num. 19.14–16. defiling the consecrated hair, the [nazirite] shall shave the head at the time of becoming pure, shaving it on the seventh day.

פסוק ו:י · 6:10

Hebrew:

וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֗י יָבִא֙ שְׁתֵּ֣י תֹרִ֔ים א֥וֹ שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יוֹנָ֑ה אֶ֨ל־הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֶל־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃

English:

On the eighth day that person shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

פסוק ו:יא · 6:11

Hebrew:

וְעָשָׂ֣ה הַכֹּהֵ֗ן אֶחָ֤ד לְחַטָּאת֙ וְאֶחָ֣ד לְעֹלָ֔ה וְכִפֶּ֣ר עָלָ֔יו מֵאֲשֶׁ֥ר חָטָ֖א עַל־הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ וְקִדַּ֥שׁ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֖וֹ בַּיּ֥וֹם הַהֽוּא׃

English:

The priest shall offer one as a sin offering*sin offering So traditionally; more precisely, “offering of purgation.” and the other as a burnt offering, and make expiation on the person’s behalf for the guilt incurred through the corpse. That same day the head shall be reconsecrated;

פסוק ו:יב · 6:12

Hebrew:

וְהִזִּ֤יר לַֽיהֹוָה֙ אֶת־יְמֵ֣י נִזְר֔וֹ וְהֵבִ֛יא כֶּ֥בֶשׂ בֶּן־שְׁנָת֖וֹ לְאָשָׁ֑ם וְהַיָּמִ֤ים הָרִאשֹׁנִים֙ יִפְּל֔וּ כִּ֥י טָמֵ֖א נִזְרֽוֹ׃

English:

and that person shall rededicate to יהוה the term as nazirite, bringing a lamb in its first year as a penalty offering. The previous period shall be void, since the consecrated hair was defiled.

פסוק ו:יג · 6:13

Hebrew:

וְזֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַנָּזִ֑יר בְּי֗וֹם מְלֹאת֙ יְמֵ֣י נִזְר֔וֹ יָבִ֣יא אֹת֔וֹ אֶל־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃

English:

This is the ritual for the nazirite: On the day that the term as nazirite is completed, the person*the person Or “it,” i.e., the consecrated hair; cf. v. 19. shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

פסוק ו:יד · 6:14

Hebrew:

וְהִקְרִ֣יב אֶת־קׇרְבָּנ֣וֹ לַיהֹוָ֡ה כֶּ֩בֶשׂ֩ בֶּן־שְׁנָת֨וֹ תָמִ֤ים אֶחָד֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה וְכַבְשָׂ֨ה אַחַ֧ת בַּת־שְׁנָתָ֛הּ תְּמִימָ֖ה לְחַטָּ֑את וְאַֽיִל־אֶחָ֥ד תָּמִ֖ים לִשְׁלָמִֽים׃

English:

As an offering to יהוה that person shall present: one male lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a burnt offering; one ewe lamb in its first year, without blemish, for a sin offering; one ram without blemish for an offering of well-being;

פסוק ו:טו · 6:15

Hebrew:

וְסַ֣ל מַצּ֗וֹת סֹ֤לֶת חַלֹּת֙ בְּלוּלֹ֣ת בַּשֶּׁ֔מֶן וּרְקִיקֵ֥י מַצּ֖וֹת מְשֻׁחִ֣ים בַּשָּׁ֑מֶן וּמִנְחָתָ֖ם וְנִסְכֵּיהֶֽם׃

English:

a basket of unleavened cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; and the proper meal offerings and libations.

פסוק ו:טז · 6:16

Hebrew:

וְהִקְרִ֥יב הַכֹּהֵ֖ן לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה וְעָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־חַטָּאת֖וֹ וְאֶת־עֹלָתֽוֹ׃

English:

The priest shall present them before יהוה and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering.

פסוק ו:יז · 6:17

Hebrew:

וְאֶת־הָאַ֜יִל יַעֲשֶׂ֨ה זֶ֤בַח שְׁלָמִים֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה עַ֖ל סַ֣ל הַמַּצּ֑וֹת וְעָשָׂה֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֶת־מִנְחָת֖וֹ וְאֶת־נִסְכּֽוֹ׃

English:

He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of well-being to יהוה, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall also offer the meal offerings and the libations.

פסוק ו:יח · 6:18

Hebrew:

וְגִלַּ֣ח הַנָּזִ֗יר פֶּ֛תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד אֶת־רֹ֣אשׁ נִזְר֑וֹ וְלָקַ֗ח אֶת־שְׂעַר֙ רֹ֣אשׁ נִזְר֔וֹ וְנָתַן֙ עַל־הָאֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁר־תַּ֖חַת זֶ֥בַח הַשְּׁלָמִֽים׃

English:

The nazirite shall then shave the consecrated hair, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and take those locks of consecrated hair and put them on the fire that is under the sacrifice of well-being.

פסוק ו:יט · 6:19

Hebrew:

וְלָקַ֨ח הַכֹּהֵ֜ן אֶת־הַזְּרֹ֣עַ בְּשֵׁלָה֮ מִן־הָאַ֒יִל֒ וְֽחַלַּ֨ת מַצָּ֤ה אַחַת֙ מִן־הַסַּ֔ל וּרְקִ֥יק מַצָּ֖ה אֶחָ֑ד וְנָתַן֙ עַל־כַּפֵּ֣י הַנָּזִ֔יר אַחַ֖ר הִֽתְגַּלְּח֥וֹ אֶת־נִזְרֽוֹ׃

English:

The priest shall take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them on the hands of the nazirite after the consecrated hair has been shaved.

פסוק ו:כ · 6:20

Hebrew:

וְהֵנִיף֩ אוֹתָ֨ם הַכֹּהֵ֥ן ׀ תְּנוּפָה֮ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָה֒ קֹ֤דֶשׁ הוּא֙ לַכֹּהֵ֔ן עַ֚ל חֲזֵ֣ה הַתְּנוּפָ֔ה וְעַ֖ל שׁ֣וֹק הַתְּרוּמָ֑ה וְאַחַ֛ר יִשְׁתֶּ֥ה הַנָּזִ֖יר יָֽיִן׃

English:

The priest shall elevate them as an elevation offering before יהוה; and this shall be a sacred donation for the priest, in addition to the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of gift offering. After that the nazirite may drink wine.

פסוק ו:כא · 6:21

Hebrew:

זֹ֣את תּוֹרַ֣ת הַנָּזִיר֮ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדֹּר֒ קׇרְבָּנ֤וֹ לַֽיהֹוָה֙ עַל־נִזְר֔וֹ מִלְּבַ֖ד אֲשֶׁר־תַּשִּׂ֣יג יָד֑וֹ כְּפִ֤י נִדְרוֹ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדֹּ֔ר כֵּ֣ן יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה עַ֖ל תּוֹרַ֥ת נִזְרֽוֹ׃ {פ}

English:

Such is the obligation of a nazirite; except that those who vow an offering to יהוה of what they can afford, beyond their nazirite requirements, must do exactly according to the vow that they have made beyond their obligation as nazirites.

פסוק ו:כב · 6:22

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

English:

יהוה spoke to Moses:

פסוק ו:כג · 6:23

Hebrew:

דַּבֵּ֤ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶל־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר כֹּ֥ה תְבָרְכ֖וּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אָמ֖וֹר לָהֶֽם׃ {ס}        

English:

Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

פסוק ו:כד · 6:24

Hebrew:

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ {ס}        

English:

יהוה bless you and protect you!

פסוק ו:כה · 6:25

Hebrew:

יָאֵ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ {ס}        

English:

יהוה deal kindly and graciously with you!*deal kindly and graciously with you Others “make His face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee.”

פסוק ו:כו · 6:26

Hebrew:

יִשָּׂ֨א יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ {ס}        

English:

יהוה bestow [divine] favor*bestow [divine] favor Others “lift up His countenance.” upon you and grant you peace!*peace Or “friendship.”

פסוק ו:כז · 6:27

Hebrew:

וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲבָרְכֵֽם׃ {ס}        

English:

Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.

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