The pasuk (Bamidbar 5:15) talks about the Sotah who was brought to the Beis Hamikdash in order to determine whether she was guilty or innocent of unfaithfulness to her husband, and the pasuk says specifically, “Lo yatzuk alav shemen.. levonah.”  You should not put oil or levona, frankincense, on her mincha.

Her Actions

Ramban brings down, based on Chazal that why don’t we use oil in her sacrifice, and we say, remember, this woman certainly secluded herself with another man. We don’t know what happened, whether she was guilty or innocent, but we do know that she acted inappropriately.

Oil brings light, and oil is always referred to as light, and she acted in darkness and sin. Therefore, this korban doesn’t have any oil in it. Chazal say that the juxtaposition between nazir and sotah is that when a person sees what the sotah did, he recognizes the damage that wine and holilus, frivolity, could bring to, and he, therefore, makes himself a nazir in order to take that inspiration with him.

Her korban too was meant for us to notice the omission of oil, to remind us that sin is darkness, and when a person recognizes that sin is darkness, and doing what is wrong only causes pain, then it takes away some of the motivation for the sin, and it helps us put up safeguards to stay away from it because it’s not worth it.

Worthwhile Endeavors

One of the most powerful words that we say in vidui, on Yom Kippur is “Hashem we rebelled against you, “v’lo shava lanu”, it wasn’t worth it!”  Sins are not worth anything.  The gemara says: Gehenom, purgatory is called so because it comes from the word “chinam”. People go there for nothing. That doesn’t mean nothing as in innocent people go there; you have to be guilty to go there, but it means that the sins that people do are really nothing.  They commit sins of passion that cause a person to live a life that is not in line with avodas Hashem.

“V’lo shava lanu.” Let us take a moment to think about the worthless things that we’re doing.  Focus our efforts into pursuits that are shava lanu, worthwhile, our Torah, our chesed, our middos, our personal development, our relationships, the things that we’re investing our time and energy into, that’s what carries us so far in life.

2) Like The Imahos

Ramban also brings down that there was no levonah, frankincense, in the Sotah’s korbon because the Imahos were called levonah.  Levonah is a beautiful smelling spice.  The Imahos middos and emes and Torah that they inspired the Jewish people with carries on from generation to generation. We bless our daughters that they should be like Sarah, Rivkah, Rochel and Leah. The sotah, once again made poor life choices in her actions.  Whether fully guilty or slightly innocent from the actual act, nevertheless, poor life choices, and we try to teach her to, instead, think about, can I do actions that are like the Imahos that will smell good and promote avodas Hashem in this world.

3) The Nazir’s Sin

A nazir who completely his days of nezirus has a whole process of how he becomes tahor, and the pasuk says that he brings a chatas, a sin offering (Bamidbar 6:11). The question is, what did he do wrong.  So, Chazal explain thatone of the sins was that he took on the nezirus in the first place. It’s a machlokes in the gemara as to whether he’s called a chotei or not.

Life Change

Ramban goes with a different angel. He explains “Al derech hap’shat,” this man’s nezirus is ending now. Over the last thirty days, at least, which is a standard nezirus, he was holy, he stayed away from tumah, he stayed away from wine and he didn’t cut his hair.  He lived a more elevated life, and so the fact that he’s going back, b’shuvo, he’s returning, says the Ramban, “L’hitamei b’tayvos ha’olam,” to go back to Olam Hazeh, that’s why he needs to bring a chatas.

According to the opinion that says that he’s a chotei for taking on Nezirus in the first place, it’s very interesting because it sounds like it’s a double standard. He shouldn’t have pushed himself away from these things, Hashem wanted him to enjoy the world. But now you are telling me he’s a sinner for going back?! Ramban is saying something deeper.

Take It With You

Ramban is saying that if you’re living in an elevated state, make sure to take it with you.  Make sure to recognize that, yes, it might not be sustainable, and maybe Hashem doesn’t even want me to live on that elevated state where I’m totally separated from it, but just know that there is a downgrade happening, and even the word nazir itself means neizer.  He’s a crown, like we find that Yosef HaTzaddik is called n’zir echav, the crown of his brothers.  What that means is that when a person elevates himself a level in Olam Hazeh, he has a crown on his head because he’s using the world for its purpose and he’s focusing on full avodas Hashem. What an amazing lesson!

4) Nesiim’s Korbonos

Ramban (Bamidbar 7:2) says something very interesting. The pasuk tells us about all the gifts that the nesiim donated to the Beis Hamikdash, and it says that they brought their korban before Hashem, but the problem is that there weren’t sacrificial offerings that were brought.  There wasn’t a korban. They didn’t bring any animals that were brought. They brought objects that were used for carrying the mishkan and transporting? Ramban explains, that’s true, but since the wagons that they donated were for the korbanos, they’re called a korban.

Things that Help Avodas Hashem

So many things in life we think, okay, my eating, my sleeping, it’s not, what am I doing?  I’m not serving Hashem. But, that’s a mistake! All the things that we do that are hechsher mitzvah, that help us be more functional, help us be healthy, help us serve Hashem, they could all be considered part of a sacrifice in itself. The nissiim didn’t bring any animals, it’s true. At that juncture they didn’t bring things to be offered up, but nonetheless, their contribution is called a korban, it’s called a sacrifice and Hashem accepted it because it was something that helped avodas Hashem.

Mikadesh Our Lives

So many opportunities in life that we have that we can be mekadeish what we do, and turn it into a mitzvah.  One of my favorite p’shatim is from a sefer HaBayis V’HaMenucha, which is a sefer by Rav Moshe Aharon Morgenstern. He was a very wise mashgiach who knew a lot about human nature and how to get along with other people.

He quotes the famous gemara in Eruvin that says, “Hi alma,” this world is like a wedding, a person should grab and take whatever he can.”  Referring to the opportunities to do mitzvos, a person should grab every opportunity that he has. He says: What’s the p’shat? If you go to a wedding, so there’s good food, there’s good music, there’s dancing.  There’s all types of great things, but the one thing that matters is did they actually get married or not? Did he say: Harei at mekudeshes li, you are married to me! That’s the make or break of the wedding that makes it a celebration. So too, this world is like a wedding. A person could take whatever food, drink, sleep or enjoyment he needs, but he has to make sure that it’s “Harei at mekudeshes li”, that you’re mekadeish it for Hashem. You say: I’m doing this for the right reason. That is what makes the entire wedding, the entire world worthwhile.

Life is an opportunity to take the things in our life that we do and say: Hashem, I’m doing this to serve you. When we take care of ourselves, whether that means eating, sleeping, relaxing, taking care of our mental health, these are all mitzvos. “U’shemartem m’od l’nafshoseichem.”  It says, “nefesh”.  Your body, but it’s also your soul. When we do these things this helps promote well being, and it also helps us serve Hashem. Of course, when we’re learning, davening and doing chesed we know that we’re doing avodas Hashem directly, but even the hechsher mitzvah is also a big part of the mitzvah because we’re mekadeish the world to serve Hashem and to recognize Hashem’s presence and to bring out the greatest kiddush Hashem in what we do

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Rabbi Yosef Tropper is a rav and psychotherapist. Learn more and subscribe at ParshaThemes.com