Jeremy Rosen
Making Sense of the Bible: Can its Ancient Text be Relevant Today? Numbers 6, the Nazirite
Summary
Study the text of the Bible weekly with Jeremy Rosen through a combination of traditional, critical, and personal perspectives. No knowledge of Hebrew or the Bible is necessary. You may use any Bible text you may have or you can go to sefaria.org. This week will begin with Numbers 6, the Nazirite.
Jeremy Rosen
Manchester-born Jeremy Rosen was educated at Cambridge University England and Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He has practiced as an orthodox rabbi, as principal of Carmel College in the UK, and as professor at the Faculty for Comparative Religion in Antwerp, Belgium. He has written and lectured extensively in the UK and the US, where he now resides and was the rabbi of the Persian-Jewish community in Manhattan.
That’s a very good point. But in the case of Absalom, it was pure vanity. It wasn’t done for a religious purpose. So the fact is, as with everything, it can be used negatively, it can be used positively.
Because being close to God can sometimes be an expression of religious pride, an expression of religious arrogance. In principle, if you want to be more religious it’s a good idea, but just don’t show off about it.
Because monks used to shave the tonsure at the top of their heads, and they did shave some of them in the Orthodox. They wore beards but others didn’t. But it comes from the difference between rabbis with beards and priests look cleanly shaven.