In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Naso, it states: "col Yamy haziro lahashem al nefesh mayt lo yavo. laviv ulaemo lachiv ulachto lo yetamy lahem bmotam ci nazir elokav al rosho." (6:67) "All the days of his abstinence for the sake of Hashem he shall not come near a dead person...". A cohen and a nazir who take vows may not become tamay through contact with a dead person. There is a difference between a nazir and a cohen. A cohen may come in contact with the dead if it is one of his designated 7 close relatives and a nazir may not. Shouldn’t it be the opposite because a cohen is born a cohen and a nazir is taking it upon himself to be one.

I heard a funny story about a man who went to a Rabbi and said: “Rabbi I want to be a cohen.” The Rabbi said: “ I can't help you with that.” The man replied: “I’ll pay you 1,000 dollars to make me a cohen.” The Rabbi replied he couldn’t do that. The man then offered $100,000 and the Rabbi still refused. The man was persistent and offered the Rabbi 1 million dollars to make him a cohen. This gave the Rabbi pause and he said to the man that he would consider it if the man would tell him why he was so eager to become a cohen. The man replied: “Well my father was cohen, his father was a cohen, so I want to be a cohen.” The reason a cohen can become tamay with the body of a close relative is that the cohen didn't make any effort to acquire his status as a cohen because it derives from his father. A nazir, on the other hand, takes it upon himself to raise the level of commitment and sanctity and his status changes from an ordinary Jew. Since he and his family members are on different levels, he can't contaminate himself.

I would like to end by saying that the entire Jewish nation is considered "Mamlechet Cohanim" (Shemot 19:6), we have to thank God for the kedusha we receive from our fathers as the cohanim receive their kedusha from their fathers. BUT we shouldn't only rely on the kedusha we receive from our fathers. We should strive to be like a nazir and reach a higher level of kedusha in klal Yisrael.


Chag Sameach and Shabbat shalom