Naso

‎The Torah presents an elaborate introduction to the laws of nazir: 'איש או אשה כי יפלא לנדר נדר נזיר לה  , a man or woman who shall set himself apart by taking a nazirite vow, to set himself apart to Hashem. The Alshich asks why the Torah opened with all these words? It could have just simply stated the laws of nazir?

The Chafetz Chaim used to‎ comment about people who would rationalize using the “if” excuse -  if only I was brought up differently; if I had different desires; if I lived in a different community; if I had different friends; then I would be a better person, if, if, if. 

The Chafetz Chaim chastised those who would use this reasoning. The Torah says specifically:  כי המקום אשר אתה עומד עליו אדמת קודש הוא   because ‎the place where you are standing is holy; the place where you are now, exactly how you are, with these friends & this family & the environment that you are in, with all your individual  trials & tribulations, with all that you did & all that you went through, that itself  is holy. That's your challenge - what you were meant to overcome.

The midrash tells us that whoever makes himself holy down here, Hashem makes him holy up there.  Just as the nazir holds himself back from wine & makes himself stricter obligations in order to get closer to Hashem. Hashem makes his restrictions of impurity similar to those of the Kohen Gadol‎. ,Hashem is, in essence, saying, to Me, you’re just as great as the Kohen Gadol.  

The Gemara brings a story of a nazir who was extremely good looking, with beautiful curly long hair who came to the beis hamikdash to bring his nazir korban & shave his hair. Shimon Hatzadik said, “I said to him, my son why would you want to cut such beautiful hair? He said to me I was a shepherd for my father in my town. Once I went to draw water from the well & I saw my reflection in the water. My evil inclination then tried to get the better of me to cause me to sin. I said to him, why are you trying to get me to glorify in a world that's not mine? In the end, I'll be maggots & worms. I swear that I will shave my head for Hashem. I got up & kissed him on the head & said, there should be more nazirim like you in Klal Yisroel. It's you whom the posuk is talking about.” 

This is what the Alshich answers.  After the separation of the tribe of Levi to be the ones in the service of Hashem, from whom the kohanim & the greatest of all the kohanim gadolim would descend, one could have thought that in order for someone to be holy they had to be born into it. It has nothing to do with man & his choices. So, to counter that, the Torah is telling us that any man or woman that wants to increase his/her own holiness can make his own choices & become holy until a point that they are קדוש יהיה . They would have the same laws as the holiest man in Klal Yisroel, the kohen gadol , which teaches us that no matter who we are or where we have been, each & every one of us has the power to reach the epitome of holiness!