Naso: Make an Accounting

Parashat Naso, Numbers 4:21–7:89

Matt Absolon, Beth T'filah Congregation

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.” Numbers 5:5-8

In our reading, God outlines the process of atonement for one who voluntarily realizes his guilt, and furthermore, wishes to make amends towards restitution and to ease his afflicted conscience.

While the Hebrew is slightly ambiguous as to the method of conviction, that is voluntarily or through public coercion, both the Sages and English translators treat the passage as guilt through voluntary admission.

In his exegesis of this passage, thirteenth century Rabbi Hezekiah Ben Manoah, known colloquially as Chizkuni, states:

"A trespass against the Lord": The Torah teaches that . . . the Lord is the One Who considers Himself as having been sinned against. (Chizkuni, Numbers 5:6. Emphasis mine)

What Chizkuni is pointing the reader to can be understood through the doctrine of God’s omnipresence. That is to say, because God is everywhere at all times, and because he is our father, when we sin against our fellow man, by proxy we also sin against God. Yeshua draws on this same idea in Matt 25 when he tells us, “When you do it to the least of these, you do it unto me.” When we are kind to each other, we are showing kindness to the Lord; and when we harm each other, we harm the Lord.

Returning to our opening thoughts; the miracle of this passage is not in the reminder of God’s omnipresence (as wonderful as it is), but in the act of voluntary admission of sin. The miracle of voluntary conviction of guilt stands as one of the premiere goals of the Torah. That we should “self-regulate” and voluntarily humble ourselves before the Lord becomes a sign of the work of the Torah in our hearts and minds. It’s a mysterious work that happens between us and the Lord. Why does one man become convicted of sin, whilst another remains heard-hearted; the timing of it all; the apparent randomness of conviction; it remains a mystery.

It’s important to note, that Yeshua himself was unable to convict a stubborn heart into repentance (Matt 23:37). With all the mystery around the process of conscience and guilt, one thing is for certain; those who feel guilty know that even if no one else saw it, God was watching.

Chizkuni follows on with some sage advice;

"And that soul shall be guilty, and confess": . . . this is a line that can be used universally for all such trespasses, that the first step in rehabilitation of the sinner must be his confession of having committed this trespass. (Chizkuni, Numbers 5:6)

The confession prescribed within the text has a very public face to it. The steps of restitution are condensed as follows; Realization of guilt, Confession of sin, Payment of the debt. Restitution of the trespass often takes the form of monetary value, much like legal damages in modern Tort Law.

Chizkuni concludes;

"And he is to add a fifth of it": (the value of the stolen property); if his confession is not the result of witnesses having accused him of his guilt, but it is simply an expression of his remorse, then he pays only this extra 25%, but if witnesses testified about the theft he is required to add a second 25% as a penalty. (Chizkuni, Numbers 5:7)

In his commentary on the following verse, Chizkuni outlines the contrast between the penalty levied upon voluntary remorse, as opposed to the penalty levied upon guilt by public witness. Chizkuni interprets this passage, in conjunction with the passage from Leviticus 5:16, to say that an added penalty would be meted out by the judges for the one who does not voluntarily admit guilt.

The challenge that we face in this passage is the paradox of humility. The pain of voluntary humility vs the pain of God humiliating us through witnesses and public accusations. Yeshua encourages us to voluntarily humble ourselves, and in return, we will be exalted. “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11 emphasis mine).

This process of self-reflection, self-conviction and self-humbling is at the epicenter of a healthy and functional psyche. The process of humility is an antibody to the slow fragmentation of our minds and eventually the total corruption of our spirits. This work, let’s call it “self-regulating-ethics,” begins with us as individuals, but it ends with us as the building blocks of a family, a community, and a culture. Solomon contrasts the integrity of the righteous with the fragmentation of the crooked: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them” (Prov 11:3).

Eminent Harvard Professor of Business Clayton Christensen, best known for his theory of “Disruptive Innovation,” theorized the importance of self-regulating ethics in the stability of our free market economy, and ultimately, the western way of life. In a 2012 TED talk he explained the greatest challenge in bringing free market economies to cultures that do not have a religious substrate of self-regulating ethics. Prof Christensen explains:

…if you go back 150 or 200 years ago, almost everybody in America on the weekend went to a synagogue or a church and they were taught there by people who they respected that they should voluntarily follow all the rules, because even if the police did not catch them, God will catch them. . . . If you try to put free markets and democracy into a country that doesn’t have that foundation, all you get is chaos. . . .

So my first concern about our system is that if you don’t have an instinct, generally born from a religious tradition, amongst the CEOs to voluntarily follow the rules, capitalism just doesn’t work. There is no way that you can police honesty if it doesn’t come instinctively for you.

Prof Christensen puts his finger on the pulse in diagnosing the breakdown of trust and confidence in the 21st marketplace. But more than that, he inadvertently puts his finger on the pulse of the success of our Jewish communities. Our commitment to Torah includes by implication, our commitment to personal integrity, which results in voluntary humility and self-regulating ethics.

This week’s portion offers the penitent a way to find restitution for their transgressions. It encourages that mysterious work of the heart that leads us to a place of transparency before the Lord and results in outworking of self-regulating ethics and integrity. In the final analysis this voluntary humbling is among the essential elements of a healthy psyche, a successful home, and a cohesive community.

My prayer is that we would all have the courage to follow the words of our master, to humble ourselves, and let God do the exalting.

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right,

and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. (Psalm 25:8 – 10)

Wishing you all a hearty Shabbat Shalom!