JUNE 9 • 2022 | 47

To be sure, this is not the 
only metaphor for our relation-
ship with God. He is also our 
Sovereign, and we are His ser-
vants. He is our Shepherd, and 
we are His sheep. These evoke 
more humility than the image 
of parent-and-child. What is 
more, when God saw the first 
human without a partner, He 
said, “It is not good for man to 
be alone.
”

JUDAISM = ‘I’ + ‘WE’
The Torah is thus signaling 
one of the defining ten-
sions of all human life: we 
are independent but we are 
also interdependent. Our 
thoughts and feelings belong 
to the “I,” but much of our 
existence depends on being 
part of a “We.” Despite its 
unprecedented estimate of 
the individual, Judaism is at 
the same time an irreducibly 
communal faith. There is no 
“I” without the “we.”
The Chassidic master Rabbi 
Simcha Bunim of Przysucha 
nicely summed up the Jewish 
approach to the value of a life. 
He said that we should each 
have two pockets. In one we 
should place a piece of paper 
with the words: “For my sake 
was the world created.” In the 
other should be the words: “I 
am but dust and ashes.”
We are unique. We each have 
non-negotiable dignity and 
inalienable rights. But in and 
of ourselves we are nothing. 
Our greatness comes not from 
us but from God. That is the 
dialectic of life in the conscious 
presence of our mortality and 
God’s eternity.
The point being made by 
the Torah, though, is that what 
matters is not how we see our-
selves but how we see, and treat, 
and behave toward others. The 
world is not short of self-im-
portant people. What it is short 
of is those who make other peo-
ple feel important — who “lift 
their heads.
”

I will never forget the occa-
sion when Prince Charles, at 
a banquet given by the Jewish 
community, spent as much time 
talking to the young school-
children who came to sing in 
a choir as he did to the great 
and good among the guests, or 
when he came to a Jewish pri-
mary school and lit Chanukah 
candles with the children, giv-
ing each the chance to tell him 
who they were and what the 
festival meant to them.
That, at least in Britain, 
is what royalty is and does. 
Members of the royal family 
make other people feel import-
ant. That is their work, their 
service, their role. It is the true 
meaning of royalty. Watching 
them, you understand Rabbi 
Yochanan’s fine insight that 
“greatness is humility.
” You 
understand also Ben Zoma’s 
axiom: “Who is honored? One 
who honors others.
”
The challenge that emerg-
es from the way the Torah 
describes taking a census is that 
we must “lift people’s heads.
” 
Never let them feel merely a 
number. Make those you meet 
feel important, especially the 
people whom others tend to 
take for granted: the waiters at 
a communal meal; the woman 
who takes your coat in a cloak-
room; the shammas in the 
synagogue; the people doing 
security duty; the caretaker; 
the most junior member of the 
office team and so on.
Make eye contact. Smile. Let 
them know you do not take 
them for granted. You appreci-
ate them. They matter as indi-
viduals.
For this is the life-changing 
idea: We are as important as we 
make other people feel. 

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 

served as the chief rabbi of the 

United Hebrew Congregations of the 

Commonwealth, 1991-2013. His teach-

ings have been made available to all at 

rabbisacks.org. This essay was written 

in 2018.

Against Extremism
T

here are many reli-
gious traditions — 
Buddhism, Christianity, 
Daoism — with a positive 
monastic tradition. This week’s 
Torah portion introduces the 
concept of the nazir, the 
closest thing Judaism 
has to monks; yet the 
rabbis were decidedly 
negative about this tra-
dition. (Numbers 6:1-21)
Nazirite vows include 
swearing off attending 
funerals, drinking wine 
and getting haircuts. 
Most of these vows are 
temporary; the most 
famous nazir of the 
Bible, Samson, was 
endowed with super-
natural strength as long 
as his hair was never 
trimmed. Overconfidence and 
a sense of invulnerability led to 
his fall. He let down his guard 
and was betrayed by Delilah.
Upon completion of the vow, 
the nazir is told to present three 
sacrifices to the priests: a burnt 
offering, an offering of thanks-
giving and a sin offering. One 
might ask, why a sin offering? 
For what must he atone? 
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon 
writes, “Our sages command-
ed man to deny himself only 
the things denied him by the 
Torah. He should not inflict on 
himself vows to abstain from 
permitted things.
” 
Thus, our sages retort: “‘Is all 
that the Torah forbids not suf-
ficient for you? Must you for-
bid from yourself other things 
too!?’” (Mishnah Torah De’ot 
3:1) Similarly, Simon the Just 
rejected the Nazirite offerings 
as the related vows originate in 
extreme guilt or enthusiasm. 
More texts chastise the nazir 
for excessive asceticism. From 
these views comes the message 
that Judaism rejects extremism.
So strong is our opposition 

to extremism that the rabbis of 
the Talmud teach that should 
the nazir exceed the vow by 
even a single day, the atone-
ment he would have earned is 
rendered null and void. 
For a variety of reasons, 
extreme positions have 
received increasing and 
dangerous attention in 
our society. Extreme 
positions blind adherents 
to the validity in their 
opposition’s arguments. 
Adherents embrace 
hypocrisies: i.e. The life of 
an unborn fetus is valued 
higher than the victims of 
gun violence. They cling 
to their views in fear of 
being challenged, rather 
than in the confidence 
of their position. Their 
behavior is antithetical 
to the healthy functioning of a 
vibrant democracy.
Extremism is not a 
praiseworthy adherence to 
principles as the extremist 
would like you to believe. 
Extremism is an insistence 
on principles which 
are exaggerated or not 
praiseworthy in the first place. 
Extremists blind themselves 
and seek to blind others from 
reality. Neither the liberal nor 
conservative extremist leaves 
room for disagreements. 
 Like the Biblical nazir, the 
extremists divide themselves 
from their community, and 
schisms are to be avoided. 
An alternative principal is 
al tifrosh min hatzibur, do not 
separate yourself from public 
life! (Avot 2:5) Engage with 
the world’s complexities. Act 
through careful and deliberate 
reasoning. Argue over what 
you think is right but, in the 
end, be a part of the world. 
Embrace its contradictions. 

Rabbi Brent Gutmann is rabbi at 

Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Brent 
Gutmann

Parshat 

Naso: 

Numbers 

4:21-7:89; 

Judges 13:2-

25.

