Introduction to Positive Mitzvot 92 - 93

The "Nazir"

For his birthday, Danny's parents gave him a big set of Lego.

Danny loved constructing different models from his new Lego but his mother had to constantly remind him to collect the pieces and put them away.

One day, Danny said to himself: "I have a great idea! I'm not going to play with my Lego for a while. This way, I won't be tempted to leave a mess and get my mother upset!"

Does this ever happen to you?

Would you consider playing with your toys and games, but trying not to leave a mess?

All the things we do - eat, sleep, dress, play and talk, should be done in the Jewish way.

The Torah teaches us how to do these things and live the way HaShem wants us to.

Desiring to do the correct thing, a Jew may decide not to eat a specific food rather than worry whether he is eating in the proper Jewish way or not. He thinks that by not eating the food, he avoids any possible violation of the Torah's laws.

The Torah describes a person who makes a similar decision.

A Jew may decide to stop drinking wine for a certain amount of time, hoping it will help control his behavior. This man is called a Nazir.

HaShem created a beautiful world with many wonderful things for us to use and enjoy.

Even though the Nazir might have had good intentions, he must atone for not taking advantage of all those wonderful things in HaShem's creation.

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Positive Mitzvah 93: Nazirite Offering
Numbers 5:13 "When the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled"

When his Nazirite period is over, the Nazir is commanded to bring a sacrifice and cut his hair.

He must follow the procedures specified in the Torah for presenting his sacrifice.

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Positive Mitzvah 114: Donating the Value of a Man to HaShem
Leviticus 27:2 "If a man makes a singular vow, to give to the L-rd the estimated value of persons"

If someone wants to make a donation to a holy purpose in the service of HaShem, he may decide that his contribution will be equal to the value of a person.

How can the value of a person be determined?

It is not up to us to decide that one man is worth more than another!

The Torah values all men equally.

Set values are affixed for all men and women according to their age.

This is the amount that the donor is commanded to give

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Between a cold spirit and G-dlessness lies a flimsy partition. Man must serve with a heart of fire.

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com