When people watched the sotah's test, some might have thought, "Maybe that woman drank too much wine, and that's why she did something she was not supposed to do?"
Sometimes, a person might then decide, "If wine leads to doing the wrong thing, I won't ever drink wine! Then I will be truly holy."
If a person makes a promise not to drink wine, this is the first step toward becoming a nazir, which means, "one who separates himself."
(Even though we're using the word "he," a nazir could actually be a man or a woman. A female nazir is called a nezira.)
HaShem taught Moshe special laws for people who wanted to take a vow to become a nazir. Such a person had to keep three promises:
- Not to drink wine or grape juice, or eat anything at all made from grapes. In order to make sure he wouldn't forget his promise, a nazir would not go to parties! By staying home and spending time learning Torah instead, a nazir raised himself to a higher level of holiness.
- Not to cut his hair. A nazir would let his hair grow long, and would not even make it look neat by combing it. Since he was not concerned with his outward appearance, he could concentrate on his inner qualities and work on strengthening his connection to HaShem.
- Not to touch a dead body. Since HaShem considers a nazir to be as holy as the Kohein Gadol, a nazir would not be permitted to become tamay (impure). He could not even bury his close relatives, including his father and mother.
You may have heard the famous story about one well-known nazir named Shimshon (Samson in English). He was unique because it was known that he would be a nazir even before he was born, and he kept the laws of a nazir even as a child. When he grew up, he became a leader of the Jewish people, and was known far and wide for his amazing strength. He fought off whole armies of the enemy Plishtim single-handedly. Not surprisingly, he got quite a reputation and was greatly feared!
One of his wives, Delilah, who was from the Plishtim but converted to Judaism, wasn't really loyal to Shimshon. When she found out that the reason for his incredible power was the fact that he never cut his hair, she sneaked up on him while he was sleeping one night and cut off seven locks of hair from his head!
When he awoke, he felt weak. When he tried to face the Plishtim army in battle, he was injured for the first time ever, blinded in both eyes. The Plishtim had a party and gathered around to make fun of him - at last, the mighty Shimshon was in their hands! But Shimshon prayed to HaShem, and his prayer was answered with one last burst of strength. He gave a great push to the pillars that held up the building where thousands of Plishtim surrounded him? and the whole building collapsed! Shimshon died a hero - and the Plishtim left the Jews in peace.
