This week’s Haftorah tells the story of Shimshon. One of the important subjects in our Sedra is that of Nezirus. Becoming a Nazir entails taking on strict additional obligations beyond those incumbent upon every Jew in order to distance oneself from sin. The individual wishing to become a Nazir undertakes to stay away from certain impurities and acts that might in some way cause him to sin. It is for that reason that a Nazir does not drink wine. It is also for that reason that he is not allowed to cut his hair. The Cutting of hair symbolizes caring about one’s looks and when one becomes preoccupied with physical appearance one becomes more susceptible to various inappropriate desires.

In our Sedra Nezirus is juxtaposed to the Parsha of Sota, a Sota being a woman accused of betraying her husband. To deal with the strong albeit circumstantial evidence in the case of the Sota, the Torah prescribed a specific procedure that would determine the guilt or innocence of the woman in question. The Torah also describes the horrible and humiliating death she would suffer in the event of guilt. Chazal tell us that the reason the Torah places Nezirus after the portion dealing with Sota is to tell us that in certain serious circumstances Nezirus may be a way to distance oneself from behavior that could lead to a Sota situation.

The Nezirus Shimshon described in our Haftorah seems to be an entirely different sort of Nezirus. Shimshon was a Nazir from birth and his Nezirus consequently was not geared to a specific situation, but was a way to keep him his entire life far away from sin. While Shimshon did turn out to be a tremendous tzadik, his death was actually due to his wrongful relationship with a Philistine woman.

There are two difficulties with the Haftorah: 1. If Nezirus Shimshon is different from the regular Nezirus discussed in our Parsha, why was it chosen as its Haftorah? And 2. If being a Nazir keeps a person from sinning, how could it be that “sinful” behavior was Shimshon’s downfall?

Chazal tell us אל תאמין בעצמך עד יום מותך – one should not trust oneself not to sin until the day one dies. It would seem from Chazal that no matter what one does in order not to sin, one should never assume that one will not sin. No matter how much of a tzadik a person is, that person can still succumb to sin.

Shimshon lived his life as a tzadik and a savior of Am-Yisroel. Yet, somehow, at the end he ended up sinning. This was so despite the fact that his intentions in his sinful relationship were to benefit Klal-Yisroel). Shimshon was born a Nazir. Being born a Nazir should have afforded him a sin-free life, but it didn’t.

The lesson of the Haftorah is precisely that: even if we do all we can to distance ourselves from sin, it sometimes still isn’t enough. We must always be on guard until the very end.

Our Parsha tells us about becoming a Nazir. Although Chazal describe this as an option, it is not a solution. Becoming a Nazir can help. Our ultimate fate, however, will only be determined by our determination and constant guard.

A very warm Good Shabbos, Rabbi Y. Dov Krakowski