June 17th, 2000
14 Sivan, 5760
Focus Passage: Numbers 5:1 - 6:21
Maintaining A Holy Community
Already, the Torah has preserved for contemporary persons Israel's concern for a holy community. You will recall that it is large measure concerned with how Israel can relate to G-d, who is holy. Many of the same concerns reappear in chapters 5 and 6 of Numbers.
First, Levitical leadership sought to maintain the holiness of the community by putting every "unclean" person outside the camp. Ritual uncleanness precluded accessibility to G-d, while simultaneously alienating other persons because of its contagious power.
Second, the holy character of the community was maintained through the reconciliation of those who may have wronged another. Not only was confession required, but both restitution and indemnification were necessary. The demand for restitution suggests that in some way the offense was directed against other persons (note vs. 8). This stipulation parallels Leviticus 6:1-7 and is especially significant because of the elements of restitution and indemnification which were required as accompaniments of confession.
Third, in ways consistent with their culture, ancient Israel sought to maintain the fidelity of marital bonds. They did in the present instance (5:11-31) through the ordeal which could be prescribed for wives of suspicious husbands. From a modern perspective, the passage is male dominated and chauvinistic. Yet, the passage affirms the sanctity of marriage. The passage presupposes the reality of a "spirit" that may dominate an individual, in this instance a "spirit of jealousy" that might come upon the husband. In such cases the wife was brought to the priest, who administered a drink, and if the woman became ill, she was guilty. If she was unaffected, she was declared innocent. The objective nature of curses is graphically underscored in the practice of writing the curse, which had a unique way of objectifying the curse. But, more than this, the drink prepared by the priest was pored over the curses so that he might wash the curses "off into the waters of bitterness' [v. 23).
Fourth, the presence of persons uniquely related to G-d such as the Nazirites (6:1-21), was yet another way by which Israel demonstrated the holiness of the community. The Nazirites might be either a man or a woman who had made a special vow to separate hinself/herself to G-d for a specified period of time. Such periods of dedication were usually for a limited period. The word Nazirite is a word which means to dedicate, consecrate, or separate. When one recalls that holiness in Hebrew also meant to separate, one may immediately see the relationship between the Nazirite and the holy life, that is, a life separated to G-d.
Through these stipulations persons in ancient Israel manifested their devotion, their separation from that which stood over against the L-rd. Yet the focus was not so much on the separation, as it was on their dedication to G-d. Their consecration was not an ascetic separation but rather an expression of loyalty to G-d in which such forms of abstinence (as see in 6:1-21), were illustrative of a larger commitment to G-d. The challenge for present day individuals is to discover legitimate lifestyles today which will testify to the nature of our relationship to G-d. There is still a need to maintain a holiness of relationship to G-d, not only as individuals but as communities.
Shalom U'Vracha,
Thomas
