Toras Chesed

In Eishes Chayil Shlomo HaMelech refers to תורת חסד, the Torah of kindness that is on her tongue. The Talmud is curious about this term Toras Chesed. What is the distinction between Torah of Chesed and Torah sans Chesed? It offers two answers. One is to distinguish between Torah studied for its own sake and Torah that is studied for ulterior motives. The second is to distinguish between one who studies with the intent to teach, and one who studies without the intent to teach.

The Maharal offers two approaches to understand what the Talmud's answers mean. God created the world in order to do infinite kindness (Chesed) for His creations. The Torah, serving as the blueprint of that creation, is therefore a document that is replete with Chesed. Proper study of Torah requires one to connect to the Chesed within. In the first answer, the Talmud is teaching us that one who studies Torah for its own sake has the ability to connect to the Chesed within. If one studies for ulterior motives he will be unable to connect to the Chesed. Alternatively the Talmud is answering that when one connects to the Chesed he should become an embodiment of that Chesed himself. Chesed from God is an infinite outpouring of goodness. Therefore, one who learns Torah in order to share his learning with others is embodying the Chesed of Hashem that is found within the Torah. One who studies without intent to learn is lacking that Chesed.

In his second approach, the Maharal explains that Torah, being the wisdom of Hashem, is infinite. If one learns Torah for ulterior motives he is forcing the Torah into his own, worldly, motives. He is taking it away from its state of infinity and constricting it within his self-constructed limitations. If someone learns Torah for its own sake he is connecting it to the infinite Chesed of Hashem. In the second answer of the Gemara if someone is learning Torah and intending to keep his knowledge to himself then he is constraining the infinite Torah within himself. If, on the other hand, he is learning it in order to share his knowledge with others, then he is treating the Torah as boundless in the manner of infinite Chesed.

Long Hair etc.

Yesterday's Torah portion discussed the idea of Nazir, a person who makes a vow and is thereby forbidden to cut his hair, drink wine, or defile himself by contact with the dead (e.g. attending funerals, or visiting cemeteries) for at least thirty days. Such a person is referred to as Kadosh (holy) by the Torah.
Why are these three elements needed to complete the profile of the Nazir. What do they signify? Kabbalistic thought teaches us that in the uppermost spiritual worlds all that can be seen is the infinite and unbounded kindness of God which is referred to as Chesed. In the process of creation, in order to leave room for Creation to exist, as well as to allow for free will and the ability to do wrong, this Chesed was subject to limitations and boundaries. The trait of binding and limiting is referred to as Din. We therefore live in world that is a mix of Chesed and Din and spend our lifetimes navigating the waters between them.
The Nazir, by contrast, is attempting by means of his vow and subsequent abstinence to raise himself up as much as possible to the spiritual worlds in which there is only Chesed and Din is completely absent.
It is for this reason that he is instructed to refrain from wine and all grape products. The redness of wine is a symbol of bloodshed, surely an act of Din. Death and all that is associated with it is also a product of Din. The Nazir has no place associating with either of these phenomena.
Kabbalsitic thought also teaches us that in the uppermost spiritual realms, hair represents the media through which God's Chesed is received and then transmitted to others. As that is the realm in which the Nazir wishes to temporarily repose, he should maximize his Chesed transmitting hair as much as possible.
Another way to understand the prohibition against drinking wine and shaving is that people often drink wine in order to enhance their spirit. Living in this world of a mix of Chesed and Din it can often be difficult to get in touch with one's Chesed side without the aid of some wine. The Nazir, inhabiting a world of Chesed at all times, should have no need for a boost to achieve that consciousness. Additionally, by inhabiting that upper world of the spiritual he is bringing himself to a point where Adam was prior to his sin. That is a world in which death has no part, therefore he should have no part of death.
These explanations can open our eyes to a better understanding of the most famous of all Nizirim, Shimshon (Samson). That will wait for the next post.