מיין ושכר יזיר. יין הוא הישן, שכר הוא התירוש, ואחרים אמרו כי היין הוא היין החדש ושכר הוא היין הישן שהוא משכר, כאשר כן תרגם אונקלוס מחמר חדת ועתיק, והוא נצטוה שיתרחק מחמשה דברים היוצאים מן הגפן, היין והענבים והצמוקין וחרצן וזג, ועל כל אחד מחמשה אלו עובר בלאו, והבוסר בכלל ענבים הוא, והחומץ בכלל יין הוא לפי שמתחלה היה יין ואסורו לא הופקע בחמוצו, ואמרו במסכת נזיר אכל ענבים לחים ויבשים חרצנים וזגין וסחט אשכול של ענבים ושתה, לוקה חמש.
מיין ושכר יזיר, “he must abstain from wine and alcoholic drink.” In this verse the word יין refers to wine which has aged appropriately, whereas the word שכר refers to new wine which has not yet fermented. According to Onkelos the meaning is exactly the reverse, and it would preclude the need to desist from alcoholic drink which does not originate from grapes.
The Nazirite is forbidden the use of five grape-products: 1) wine; 2) grapes; 3) raisins; 4) the kernel; 5) the skin. Consumption of either of these five items is considered as a separate violation of the commandment legislated here. Unripe grapes are included under the heading “grapes,” whereas vinegar is considered part of the prohibition “wine,” seeing it had been wine before it turned into vinegar. The element causing it to be prohibited is not perceived as having departed from the liquid which deteriorated into vinegar. The Talmud Nazir 38 rules that if a Nazir ate fresh grapes together with dry grapes and kernels and skins and he squeezed out a cluster of grapes, he has violated 5 commandments and is liable for them separately. (to receive 5 times 39 lashes).
וע"ד הקבלה איש כי יפליא לנדור נדר נזיר, כבר בארתי לך בסדר אמור, כהן גדול דוגמת מי הוא, הנה הנזיר למעלה ממנו כי הוא למעלה מן המדות דבק בעצם הרחמים העליונים, ולפי שהוא מוכתר במעלת הנזירות נקרא נזיר מלשון כתר, וזהו כי נזר אלהיו על ראשו, תער לא יעבור על ראשו, גדל פרע שער ראשו, וקדש את ראשו, וזהו כי יפליא מלשון פלאות חכמה, ולנדור נדר מקום הבינה, והוא מוזהר מג' דברים, מן היין ומן התגלחת ומטומאת המת, ועשה הכתוב בזה שלשה חלקים הזכיר בהם שלשה פעמים כל ימי, חלק ראשון כל ימי נזרו מכל אשר יעשה וגו', חלק שני כל ימי נזרו תער לא יעבור על ראשו, חלק שלישי כל ימי הזירו לה' על נפש מת לא יבא. הוזהר מן היין וטומאת המת כדי להתרחק מן השמאל, הוזהר בתגלחת לפי ששערותיו של אדם הם כחו, וכן בשמשון (שופטים ט״ז:י״ז) אם גלחתי וסר ממני כחי, ואין להם סוף והם גדלים כל ימי חיי האדם גם אחר מותו אם יעמוד במקום לח, וכל זה ירמוז לענפי השם ונטיעותיו וכחותיו שהם הויות דקות ופנימיות והן עשויות כעין חוטי שלהביות המתפשטות לכל צד ואין להם סוף ותכלית ואין להם קץ, ועל כן נצטוה לגדלם, הוא שאמר גדל פרע שער ראשו, והוזהר שלא יכרות אותם כי נזר אלהיו על ראשו, ואם יכרות שער ראשו שהוא דוגמת הנטיעות יהיה כמקצץ ומפריד השם מענפיו.
A kabbalistic approach: in connection with the words איש כי יפליא, I have already explained on Leviticus 21,10 what the High Priest represented. Here the Torah teaches that the Nazir is on a spiritually even higher level than the High Priest. The High Priest’s dominating attribute (emanation) is that of חסד, whereas the predominant attribute of the Nazir is בינה, which is ranked higher than חסד in the list of emanations. Seeing he is “crowned” with this attribute the Torah calls such a person נזיר, a reference to the נזר, crown, which is worn by the High Priest. This is the meaning of the words “the crown of his G’d is on his head,” (verse 7). Because of all this “a razor shall not cross his head” (verse 5), “the growth of his hair on his head shall continue growing” (verse 5), ”his head shall be sanctified” (verse 11). All of this is subsumed under the heading כי יפליא, “a display of superior wisdom.” Converting such wisdom into something concrete requires the attribute בינה and this is described in the Torah by the words לנדר נדר. The part of the brain in which vows originate is the part where the attribute בינה is located.
The Nazir is warned concerning three separate matters: 1) consumption of wine; 2) shearing the hair on his head; 3) becoming ritually impure through contact with a corpse directly or indirectly. The Torah divides these prohibitions into three separate ones by writing the words כל ימי נזרו, “all the days his vow is effective,” between each of them. The first time this expression occurs is in verse 4 in connection with the grapes. The second time it occurs in verse 5 in connection with the prohibition to shave or trim his beard. The third time it occurs in verse 6 in connection with observing mourning rites.
The reason the Nazir must not drink wine or become ritually impure is to keep his distance from forces which are beholden to the “left side” of the emanations, the part which is perceived of as representing spiritually negative influences. On the other hand, he is warned not to shave as hair represents strength as we know from Samson. The moment Samson agreed to have his hair cut his “spiritual” strength disappeared and he was no better than any other ordinary mortal. He regained his prowess only after his hair had grown back (Judges 16,17 as well as Judges 16,22). As I have mentioned previously, hair grows incessantly and continues to grow even after death if the corpse is in a moist environment. Each single hair is a symbol of the far-flung activities of the Lord, activities which deal with minute details, just as every single hair seems by itself insignificant. Hairs represent continuous develop- ment in all directions of the globe. As a reminder of this concept of G’d the “All-Present,” the Nazir is commanded to give the hair full and unrestrained opportunity to keep growing This is the mystical dimension of the words גדל פרע שער ראשו. The Nazir is cautioned not to destroy any part of his hair by means of a razor seeing that ”it is the crown of G’d on his head” (verse 7). Were he to cut this hair this would be equivalent to heresy practiced by an ordinary Israelite, something which the sages called קצץ הנטיעות “destroying saplings planted by G’d through cutting them (spiritually).” It is similar to separating the holy name of the Lord from His “branches.”
והנה שמשון כשנכרת שער ראשו נחשב לו כמקצץ ומיד סר כחו מעליו, והוא כח ה', וזהו לשון ותאלצהו, שיחזור למדת הדין, קרי ביה ותאצלהו, והוא מניעת האצילות שנסתלקה ממנו רוח נבואה לפי שכח השם סר מעליו בעבור שקצץ. וצותה תורה בנזיר כשיגלח ראשו שיתן שערותיו על האש אשר תחת זבח השלמים, מפני שהם קדש ודוגמא לקדש, והחמיר בו הכתוב יותר מכהן גדול שלא יטמא לאביו ולאמו, והבין כל כי הנזיר בשערותיו הוא דוגמא, ואמרו רז"ל חמשה נבראו מעין דוגמא של מעלה ולקו, אבשלום בשערו שאול בצוארו שמשון בכחו אסא ברגליו צדקיהו בעיניו. ועל ההויות האלו אמר שלמה (שיר השירים ה׳:י״א) קוצותיו תלתלים, וכן דניאל (דניאל ז׳:ט׳) ושער ראשה כעמר נקא, וזה מבואר.
When Samson allowed his hair to be cut his physical strength departed from him immediately and the prophet Samuel (himself a Nazir and author of the Book of Judges) describes what happened to him in these words: ותאלצהו, “she nagged him constantly.” The word has a connotation of the attribute of Justice, i.e. the sages suggest that when reading these words we should reverse the letters ל-צ to read the word as ותאצלהו, as if it meant that Delilah had succeeded in denying Samson the spiritual input which had been the source of his physical prowess.
Once the time arrives for the Nazir to cut his hair at the end of the term of his abstinence, the Torah commanded that he should place his shorn hair “on the fire which is below his peace-offering” (verse 18), seeing that this hair had become sanctified and is a symbol of something holy. Regarding the rule of not being allowed to become ritually defiled, the Torah applied a more stringent ruling to the Nazir than to the High Priest. Though the High Priest must also not participate actively in the funeral of his father or mother, the Torah does not say anything about his hair being burned after it is trimmed, (which occurs frequently). This makes it plain to the people that the Nazir is a model of sanctity.
Our sages (in Sotah 10) say that there are 5 types of people who, though they were created in the Divine image, were nevertheless punished. They were: Avshalom who was punished by being hung and subseqently speared by his hair. King Shaul who was killed by his neck (through the sword). Shimshon was punished by losing his physical prowess. King Assa of Yehudah was punished by being paralyzed in his legs. King Tzidkiyahu was punished by having his eyes gouged out by the Babylonians. Concerning the procedure prescribed for the Nazir, Solomon (Song of Songs 5,11) said קוצותיו תלתלים “his locks are curled.” Also Daniel 7,9 speaks about this hair when he said: “the hair of his head is like clean wool.”
ושכר שהזכיר הכתוב על כל דבר שישתכר האדם ממנו, [והוא יין ושכר האמור באהרן ובניו בבואם לאהל מועד (ויקרא י׳:ט׳)]. ומלת חרצנים אין לה חבר בכל המקרא, וכן מלת זג, והנה חרצן הוא הגרעין וזג הוא הקליפה שהיא מבחוץ. והחכם רבי אברהם פירש בהפך חרצן הוא החיצון וזג הוא הפנימי. The meaning of the word שכר in our verse refers to any agent capable of causing man to become intoxicated. The word חרצנים is unique in the Bible just as is the word זגין. The former refers to the seeds inside the grapes, the latter to the skin on the outside. Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra thinks that it is the other way around.