{"id":57320,"date":"2019-06-13T10:10:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T07:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=57320"},"modified":"2022-07-23T23:47:02","modified_gmt":"2022-07-23T20:47:02","slug":"naso-confession-is-a-mitzvah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/naso-confession-is-a-mitzvah\/","title":{"rendered":"Naso: Confession Is A Mitzvah"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[799,798,368],"acf":{"old_id":"57320","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36663,"related_cahpter":"1048","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The first step to changing behavior is using language","content":"<p>Many of the Torah portions are known by their \u201cgreatest hits,\u201d the high moments they contain. When we think of Naso we usually think of the perplexing case of the ordeal of the <em>sotah <\/em>ritual (Numbers 5: 11-31) where a woman suspected of adultery must undergo an ordeal meant to ascertain whether the suspicions of her spouse are warranted or not, the only ritual of its kind in the Torah, and of the priestly blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), the oldest part of the Bible known to us in writing, found by archaeologists in amulets at Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem next to the Menachem Begin Heritage Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I want to examine another section in this portion of 176 verses whose \u201ccode word,\u201d the word whose Hebrew letters have the numerical value of 176, is \u201cAmminadav,\u201d meaning: &#8220;my people is generous&#8221; or &#8220;volunteered.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The section before the <em>sotah <\/em>ritual, Numbers 5: 5-10 is about thievery and has been explicated already in a similar section in Leviticus 5:20-26. However, what is new here is the mitzvah to confess, listed by the medieval Sefer Hachinuch as one of the 613 mitzvot. The explanation given is that \u201cWe are commanded to confess before God our sins that we have sinned, at such time that we feel remorse for them.&#8221; The lengthy explanation here is \u201cthat confession is an independent commandment and that it is practiced in all places.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So why is this commandment to confess sin here in this portion? Naso is concerned with bringing out publicly things that may have been private by the use of language. The Nazirite who takes vows is publicly declaring his or her desire to lead an abstemious religious life. The possibly adulterous woman is bringing out publicly her status as to whether or not she is guilty. The priests blessing the nation, are expressing the feelings of God for the people, later adapted by parents to voice their love for a child and desire to protect him or her. When Moses speaks from the Tent of Meeting to God in the last verse of Naso, he only hears God. Unlike at the Sinai theophany, he does not see him. It is the hearing of the words that informs his relationship.<\/p>\n<p>Central to all these rites and rituals is language. It makes sense then that the mitzvah of verbal confession should be here since verbal confession makes change possible. When language is used in a generous way, as the \u201ccode word\u201d for this portion expresses, it is possible to reflect on one\u2019s actions that the world around us can be different, whether it is by expressing love in a blessing or conveying regret for past action.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>None of us hopes to sin, but we learn from Naso that confession is the first step to atonement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":106637,"id":106637,"title":"-62dc5e374a737--62dc5e374a739num5-words have 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