Parashat Naso – 5785

Parashat Naso

6 June 2025

Week of 1 – 7 June 2025

Torah portion : Num. 4 :21-7 :89    Haftarah portion : Judges 13 :2-25

Theme: The value of repetition in daily life

The three and a half chapters of Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, Parashat Naso (from the Hebrew verb ‘to take up, carry, lift, count’) happens to be the longest parashah in the annual reading cycle, containing an unlikely grouping of the Laws of Holiness with the well-known and poetic Priestly Blessing. While the detailed laws described in this parashah seem to have little relation to each other, one wonders why they are here, and not with the others back in the Book of Leviticus which concluded just two weeks ago.

The situations being described here are those of everyday living, and the thread that connects the laws is the awareness of G-d’s all-pervasive presence, which demands purity and holiness from all in the Israelite camp while restoring the transgressor to the community and assuring the stability of family relationships. The sacred is never divorced from the ordinary because the people constantly stand before their G-d. [Plaut].

For writings that are millennia old, it is fascinating to see how relevant these teachings are to today’s social issues in the areas of substance abuse, marital disloyalty and sexual harassment, among others. One thing can lead to another; getting too close to danger, even while not actually committing a sin, is dangerous; we are only human, and should be kept aware of our weaknesses and lack of self-control.

It is Chapter 7 that contains those 12 honeymoon days in the wilderness: the dedication of the altar in the Tent of Meeting, and finally Moses hearing Yah’s voice from above the two tablets of the Decalogue (7:89). That two-week-long procession of peoples with animals, carrying silver basins, and golden ladles with incense, one day after the next: literally the same words, precisely the same gifts, exactly the same ritual. Why this most extraordinary repetition? Unvarying repetition! The same words, the same gifts, the same sequence!

We know that repetition and restatements in the Torah have an especially significant meaning. And perhaps the reader has surely had the experience of ritual, of liturgy, of the repetition of words or acts. We may have wondered if the repetition wasn’t boring, but probably never asked if the Beloved ever tires of hearing the Lover constantly repeat, “I Love you.” And yet, no two expressions of love are ever the same, each one always with a fresh and unique sentiment of affection for the Beloved. Liturgies, processions, ceremonies, litanies, and a lover’s repeated recitation with countless renewals of Eucharistic gratitude. Certainly, G-d must have been moved to the depths of the Divine heart.

For Reflection and Discussion:

1. What is your experience of the value of repetition in liturgy, or ceremony, or other rituals in your daily life?

2. Is there some common, everyday ritual in your life to which you might assign some new meaning or intention?

3. In Num 6:22-27 we have the magnificent Priestly blessing. It is the oldest passage of scripture currently known. Maybe sit and pray with it. How can you be a blessing and let your face shine on another?

Bibliography:  Etz Hayim, Torah and Commentary (New York, 2001), Plaut, The Torah, Modern Commentary (New York, 1981), Brother Jack Driscoll’s Mimeographed class notes from Bat Kol Jerusalem study sessions

This week’s Parasha commentary was prepared by

Roy da Silva, MTh [Biblical Theology],

Chandigarh, India. Bat Kol alumnus, 2002 – 2006, 2015

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