Wine, Women and Willpower
When I got to the fifth chapter of The Power of Habit, I was struck my its relevance to the dual view of the Nazir who grows his hair and abstains from wine while avoiding contact with tuma for the period of his vow.
The impetus for such radical action is seeing the sotah, as the the smichus haparshiyos is explained by Chazal in Sotah 2a: Shekol haroeh sota bekilkula yazir atzmo min hayayin. Anyone who sees the sotah in her disgrace will abstain from wine [which leads to temptations of the flesh]
.
That makes it seem to be a very positive thing -- acting on the inspiration of seeing the wages of sin in taking on something extra to distance oneself from temptation. However, the sages are split on the actual status of the Nazir, as we see in Nedarim 10a (text from Sefaria):
So why you should he be called a sinner for denying himself, especially when he took the vow with the intention of abstaining from sin? It all comes down to the dual-nature of willpower Duhigg discusses. It functions as a muscle, which, on the one hand gets stronger the more it is used, but on the other hand can tap one's inner resources to the extent that it actually makes the person more likely to err.
Some of the research on willpower revealed that the habit of exercising it can build it up, as when children who demonstrate the ability to delay gratification meet with greater success. But other research also showed that being forced to exercise willpower, as in experiments that required subjects to not eat tempting cookies laid out in front them, impaired their ability to concentrate on tasks and made them more irritable.
Duhigg (p. 137). quotes a researcher named Mark Muraven who said, "Willpower isn't just a skill. It's a muscle, like the muscles in your arm or legs, and it get tired as it works harder, so there's less power left over for other things."
That is why Rambam observed in Deios 31:1: “Our sages directed man to abstain only from those things which the Torah denies him and not to forbid himself permitted things by vows and oaths. Thus our sages (Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:1.) asked: ‘Are not the things which the Torah has prohibited sufficient for you? [Why] must you add further prohibitions?’ ”
Duhigg mentions that researchers have extrapolated from such findings why people tend to make mistakes or even "succumb to extramarital affairs (which are most likely to start late at night after a long day of using willpower at work)"
Given the function of willpower in that way, it is possible to understand the two points of view on the Nazir as a kodesh or a sinner. On the one hand, does in fact build up his willpower in taking on an extra restriction, while, on the other hand, he could be considered a sinner because exercising that kind of willpower on something beyond the preset Torah bounds could prove exhausting.
Related post: https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/06/force-of-habit.html
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The impetus for such radical action is seeing the sotah, as the the smichus haparshiyos is explained by Chazal in Sotah 2a: Shekol haroeh sota bekilkula yazir atzmo min hayayin. Anyone who sees the sotah in her disgrace will abstain from wine [which leads to temptations of the flesh]
.
That makes it seem to be a very positive thing -- acting on the inspiration of seeing the wages of sin in taking on something extra to distance oneself from temptation. However, the sages are split on the actual status of the Nazir, as we see in Nedarim 10a (text from Sefaria):
רבי שמעון אומר לא נדרו בנזיר אלא הרוצה להביא עולה מתנדב ומביא שלמים מתנדב ומביא תודה וארבעה מיני לחמה מתנדב ומביא אבל בנזירות לא התנדבו כדי שלא יקראו חוטאין שנאמר וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש
Rabbi Shimon says: They did not take a vow of naziriteship. Rather, one who would want to bring a burnt-offering would volunteer and bring it; one who would want to bring a peace-offering would volunteer and bring it; and one who would want to bring a thanks-offering and its four types of bread would volunteer and bring them. However, they did not volunteer naziriteship in order that they not be called sinners. According to Rabbi Shimon, naziriteship involves some element of sin, as it is stated: “And he shall make atonement for him, for that he sinned against the soul”(Numbers 6:11).
אמר אביי שמעון הצדיק ורבי שמעון ורבי אלעזר הקפר כולן שיטה אחת הן דנזיר חוטא הוי שמעון הצדיק ורבי שמעון הא דאמרן
§ Abaye said: Shimon HaTzaddik, Rabbi Shimon, and Rabbi Elazar HaKappar are all of the same opinion, that a nazirite is a sinner. The statements of Shimon HaTzaddik and Rabbi Shimon in this regard are that which we already said.
ורבי אלעזר הקפר ברבי דתניא רבי אלעזר הקפר ברבי אומר וכפר עליו מאשר חטא על הנפש וכי באיזו נפש חטא זה אלא שציער עצמו מן היין והלא דברים קל וחומר ומה זה שלא ציער עצמו אלא מן היין נקרא חוטא המצער עצמו מכל דבר, על אחת כמה וכמה מכאן כל היושב בתענית נקרא חוטא
And Rabbi Elazar HaKappar the Distinguished agrees, as it is taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Elazar HaKappar the Distinguished says: It is written with regard to the priest who sacrificed the offering of a nazirite: “And he shall make atonement for him, for that he sinned against the soul.” Against which soul did the nazirite sin? Rather, his sin is that he caused himself suffering by refraining from wine. Are these matters not inferred a fortiori: Just as this nazirite, who causes himself suffering only by refraining from wine, is called a sinner, one who causes himself suffering by refraining from everything is all the more so to be considered a sinner. From here it can be derived that whoever fasts unnecessarily is called a sinner.
So why you should he be called a sinner for denying himself, especially when he took the vow with the intention of abstaining from sin? It all comes down to the dual-nature of willpower Duhigg discusses. It functions as a muscle, which, on the one hand gets stronger the more it is used, but on the other hand can tap one's inner resources to the extent that it actually makes the person more likely to err.
Some of the research on willpower revealed that the habit of exercising it can build it up, as when children who demonstrate the ability to delay gratification meet with greater success. But other research also showed that being forced to exercise willpower, as in experiments that required subjects to not eat tempting cookies laid out in front them, impaired their ability to concentrate on tasks and made them more irritable.
Duhigg (p. 137). quotes a researcher named Mark Muraven who said, "Willpower isn't just a skill. It's a muscle, like the muscles in your arm or legs, and it get tired as it works harder, so there's less power left over for other things."
That is why Rambam observed in Deios 31:1: “Our sages directed man to abstain only from those things which the Torah denies him and not to forbid himself permitted things by vows and oaths. Thus our sages (Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:1.) asked: ‘Are not the things which the Torah has prohibited sufficient for you? [Why] must you add further prohibitions?’ ”
Duhigg mentions that researchers have extrapolated from such findings why people tend to make mistakes or even "succumb to extramarital affairs (which are most likely to start late at night after a long day of using willpower at work)"
Given the function of willpower in that way, it is possible to understand the two points of view on the Nazir as a kodesh or a sinner. On the one hand, does in fact build up his willpower in taking on an extra restriction, while, on the other hand, he could be considered a sinner because exercising that kind of willpower on something beyond the preset Torah bounds could prove exhausting.
Related post: https://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2019/06/force-of-habit.html
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