[Avodah] NASO "HAVE YOU EARNED YOUR RIGHT TO DRINK?"

[Cantor Wolberg]

This is the law of the nazir on the day that the days of his  
abstention are completed... (6:13)

Why does the Torah section dealing with the laws of the nazir follow  
immediately after the section dealing with the laws of the sotah? To  
tell you that whoever sees a sotah's ruin should forswear wine.  (Rashi)

Once, in the early days of Chassidism, a learned Jew happened upon a  
farbrengen. Taking in the sight of half-empty vodka bottles on the  
table, of Jews singing and dancing instead of studying Torah, he  
cried: "Yid'n! The Beis Hamikdash is in ruins, Israel is in exile, and  
you dance and drink?!"
Present at the farbrengen was Rabbi Dovid Ferkus, a senior disciple of  
the Baal Shem Tov. "I have a question for you," said Rabbi Dovid to  
the visitor. "In one place, Rashi writes that a nazir's vow to abstain  
from wine is an appropriate reaction for one who witnesses human  
susceptibility to corruption by physical appetites. But only a few  
verses later, Rashi quotes the Talmudic opinion which regards the  
nazir's abstinence as a sin. Which is it? Is drinking wine a positive  
or a negative thing to do?"

Having stumped the learned Jew, Rabbi Dovid continued: "I will tell  
you the difference between the two cases. The first statement by Rashi  
is addressed to one who 'sees a sotah's ruin.' A person who is capable  
of seeing the negative in a fellow Jew, had better not drink wine.  
Wine will agitate his heart, and he'll probably be roused to discover  
more failings and deficiencies in his fellows. But someone who is  
blessed with the ability to see only the good in his fellow, for him  
to avoid getting together with other Jews for a lechayim is nothing  
less than sinful! An infusion of wine into his heart will stimulate it  
to uncover the hidden good in the hearts of his fellows."  (Reshimat  
Devarim)

rw
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