Naso: The Centrality of Peace in Judaism

This week’s parsha contains the fascinating laws of the Isha Sotah, literally translated as the ‘wayward woman.’ What these verses describe is the procedure a woman undergoes if she is a suspected adulteress. The woman under suspicion is brought to the Temple where she drinks bitter waters; water in which the Kohen(Priest) dissolved a parchment containing Torah verses. If the woman is innocent, her name is cleared and she is blessed with children. 

There are many questions we could raise about the entire process, but there is one which is so simple. The parchment of Torah verses which the Kohen dissolves into the water contains the name of Hashem. How is the Kohen allowed to do this? The Torah forbids us from erasing the name of Hashem, so why in this process do we see this prohibition suddenly becoming permissible?

The Gemara in Chullin 141a tells us a beautiful answer. Peace between man and wife is so great that Hashem allows His holy name to be dissolved, something that would never be permitted otherwise, in the name of restoring marital harmony. Indeed, the Sforno tells us (5:12) that Hashem loves the holiness of marriage, of a pure Jewish home. He is therefore willing to wipe His name off the parchment in order to ensure the continuity of the special relationship between man and wife. 

Peace is so powerful that Hashem allows His name to be dissolved for the promotion of peace in the home, and He wishes to bless every member of the nation with this elusive gift. We conclude our silent prayer with a plea for peace, and we conclude the Mishna with a statement about the importance of peace.

Later in the parsha, we have the Priestly Blessing, Birchat Kohanim, a blessing that the priests give the nation to this day. The blessing concludes with the powerful words ‘Veyaseim lecha shalom,’ ‘May He place peace upon you.’ Why is it with these words that the blessing concludes? There are a multitude of blessings we allude to here; wealth, grace, favour… why is the climax of all these blessings peace? We observe the same idea at the end of Shemona Esrei (the silent prayer) where we end our prayers with ‘Sim Shalom,’ a prayer to place peace upon us. After we have prayed for wisdom, repentance, healing and redemption, we turn to Hashem and ask for peace. Why is this the ultimate request? And guess the theme of the very last statement of the last Mishna of the last tractate in Shas(an abbreviation for the six orders of the Mishna)? Peace, of course. The Mishna there (Uktzin 3:12) tells us that the only vessel that can contain all Hashem’s blessings for us is peace. 

Peace is so powerful that Hashem allows His name to be dissolved for the promotion of peace in the home, and He wishes to bless every member of the nation with this elusive gift. We conclude our silent prayer with a plea for peace, and we conclude the Mishna with a statement about the importance of peace. What is peace, anyway? In what way is peace the quintessential blessing? 

The Hebrew word for peace is ‘Shalom’ which comes from the root ‘Shaleim,’ complete, whole, total. Shalom always comes last because it is the unity of disparate forces, the connector of all the separate parts. This leads to the wholesomeness and perfection which we call ‘Shleimut.’ A person experiences peace within themself when all the different components of their personality; strengths and weaknesses join together to achieve the greatest potential of that individual. When everything is aligned for a common goal. This is a microcosm of what it looks like when there is peace in the world. When all the different aspects of Creation unite for a common goal and every creation achieves its potential, in one symphony, before its Creator. It is only with peace, the seamless linking of disparate parts, that a person, a society, and indeed a world, can operate perfectly, weaving all the different segments together and achieve all it is intended to. Peace is the difference between a child banging out notes haphazardly on the keyboard, and a masterful musician composing a pleasing tune out of those notes. Peace is the difference between the casual splotches of a paintbrush and an artist majestically blending them into a single beautiful picture. Peace is the difference between the sifted flour and eggs in our recipe, and the gorgeously steaming cake in the oven at the end. Peace comes at the conclusion of everything, because it encompasses all that came before, but it is the only vessel that can hold everything together. 

This is the vision that Hashem has for us, and it is the prayer we plead before Him. Peace is what we desire most in our relationships, it is the vessel for the intimate connection and closeness we crave. We can achieve it by combining our strengths and weaknesses, like the notes of a beautiful song, splashes of colourful paint and bowls of fine flour, and use it to create a masterpiece. There is no better vessel than this. The Gemara tells us that one of Hashem’s names is Shalom, peace, because it is His essence to unify all things and bring about the ultimate perfection. 

It is our job to look inside ourselves and find a way to unify the different aspects of our personality and unite them in the service of Hashem. Take our nosiness and use it to make shidduchim. Take our love of materialism and use it to make someone’s celebration beautiful. It is also our job to look at our relationships; with our parents, siblings, spouse and children. Look at the multiple facets of their personalities and see how we can achieve a beautiful wholesome relationship by combining all the various parts. Look for the puzzle pieces that can combine to form a masterful jigsaw. Peace is always bigger and more beautiful than the sum of its parts.