Exploring Nazarites: A Journey of Abstinence

What is a Nazarite?

A Nazarite is a man or woman who has taken a vow of abstinence. The key prohibitions in the Torah regarding Nazarites include refraining from drinking wine or consuming grapes and their products, avoiding haircuts and shaving the hair on the head and beard, and not becoming impure through contact with the dead.

Typically, Nazarite vows are taken for a defined period, but there are also special types, such as the Nazarite of Samson and the lifelong Nazarite, each with slightly different rules. Notable Nazarites in Jewish history include Samson, the Prophet Samuel, and Absalom, the son of King David.

Why become a Nazarite?

In Sefer HaChinuch, commandment 84, it is explained that the purpose of the Nazarite prohibitions is to help a person serve their Creator more fully, without distraction from material desires. A Nazarite therefore abstains from wine, which symbolizes worldly pleasure, and allows their hair to grow, with longer hair representing mastery over lust for beauty and aesthetics.

The abstention from impurity connected to the dead is explained as well. Such impurity is seen as a sign of weakened intellectual clarity, and someone who seeks complete devotion to their Creator is expected to preserve their spiritual purity.

The Torah itself does not explicitly state the motivation for taking a Nazarite vow, saying only, “When a man shall declare a vow,” which implies a reason that remains unstated. The sages, however, address this point. In Masechet Nazir, which deals with the laws of Nazarites, attention is drawn to the proximity in the Torah between the sections on the Sotah (adulteress) and the Nazarite. This teaches that wine is viewed as a primary factor leading to the behavior of the Sotah, and therefore the Nazarite is commanded to abstain from wine. From here comes the teaching: anyone who sees a Sotah in her disgrace should take care to avoid wine, so as not to fall into the same sin.

What is the proper attitude towards a Nazarite?

In the Bible, Nazarites are generally portrayed in a positive light. The prophet Amos, when describing the greatness of Israel, says, “I raised up some of your sons as prophets and some of your young men as Nazarites.” In the Book of Lamentations, when portraying the former splendor of Jerusalem, it praises the Nazarites who lived there: “Their Nazarites were purer than snow, whiter than milk.”

Among the sages, however, there are differing views. The Gemara records an opinion that a Nazarite is considered a sinner for causing themselves unnecessary suffering and forbidding things that are otherwise permitted. By contrast, the Midrash praises the Nazarite and describes them as holy.

These views are not truly contradictory. When a person takes on Nazarite status for the sake of heaven, with the sincere goal of serving the Creator without physical distractions, and when they are spiritually suited to such a path, they are indeed considered holy and praiseworthy. But if the vow exceeds the person’s capabilities, leading only to distress without genuine spiritual growth, or if it is taken for improper motives such as pride, then such a Nazarite is viewed as acting wrongly.

The Gemara relates that Shimon the Just was among those who held that a Nazarite is a sinner, and he therefore avoided eating the sacrificial meat of Nazarites, with one exception:

“Once a man came from the South who was a Nazarite. I saw that he had beautiful eyes and was good looking, with his curls arranged attractively. I said to him: My son, what made you destroy such beautiful hair? He replied: I was a shepherd for my father in my city. I went to draw water from the spring and saw my reflection, and my evil inclination seized me, for I saw my beauty and feared I would sin because of it. I said to myself: Wicked one, why do you take pride in something that is not yours, in something that will one day decay and become worm infested? Therefore, I shall shave you for the sake of heaven. Immediately I stood up and kissed him on his head and said: My son, may many like you arise in Israel.”