MY QUESTION
issue 9 : updated  12 Sivan 5766 (June 8th, 2006)

Please fee free to comment, suggest, criticize, bash, and/or mock in order to make Karf’s Korner serve you better.

In this week’s Parsha, we learn about the Sota woman (the wayward wife) and the Nezir (someone who abstains from wine, among other things). Rashi explains that the reason these laws are back to back is to teach us that whoever saw a Sota woman fall in disgrace, should take a vow to abstain from wine and becoming a Nezir, so that he shouldn’t fall victim to the same lascivious behaviour.

The question is, why would this person choose to become a Nezir over everyone else? This person should be the last one to become a Nezir , having witnessed the downfall of the Sota Woman firsthand. One would think that this in itself would be a deterrent.

I believe that Rashi was telling us something very fundamental about human nature. Even though the Nezir saw the downfall of the Sota, and the fact that the Sota woman was killed because of her inappropriate behaviour, the Nezir did see that there can exist in this world such a thing as a Sota.

For example, if one was brought up in a home where a parent was an abuser, one would think that the offspring would never repeat the patterns. However, having been exposed to these behaviours, one may, in fact, commit the same inappropriate actions. Therefore, it is the child, above all other people, upon whom the laws of Nezir should apply.

However much we frown upon some of the things that go on in our culture and we think that we would never be swayed by them, nonetheless it should be a concern. Therefore, it is our imperative to choose wisely about allowing anything inappropriate in our lives, even if it is on the periphery of our lifestyle.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Elie