ב”ה

The Nazir in New York 

Josh Rosenfeld

I. Mishnat ha-Nazir

הוצאת נזר דוד שע”י מכון
אריאל

ירושלים, 2005

קכ’+36 עמודים

הראל כהן וידידיה כהן,
עורכים

A few years ago, during his daily shiur, R. Herschel Schachter related
that he and his wife had met someone called ‘the Nazir’ during a trip to Israel. R. Schachter quoted the Nazir’s
regarding the difficulty Moshe had with the division of the land in the matter
the daughters of Zelophehad and the Talmudic assertion (Baba Batra 158b) that
“the air of the Land of Israel enlightens”. Although the gist of the connection
I have by now unfortunately forgotten, what I do remember is R. Schachter
citing the hiddush of a modern-day
Nazir, and how much of a curio it was at the time.

‘The Nazir’, or R. David Cohen (1887-1972)
probably would have been quite satisfied with that. Towards the end of Mishnat ha-Nazir (Jerusalem, 2005) – to
my knowledge, the most extensive excerpting of the Nazir’s diaries since the
the three-volume gedenkschrift Nezir Ehav
(Jerusalem, 1978), and the selections printed in Prof. Dov Schwartz’ “Religious
Zionism: Between Messianism and Rationalism” (Tel Aviv, 1999) – we see the
Nazir himself fully conscious of the hiddush
of his personal status (עמ’ ע):

נזיר הנני, שם זה הנני
נושא בהדר קודש. אלמלא לא באתי אלא בשביל זה, לפרסם שם זה, להיות בלבות זרע קודש
ישראל, צעירי הצאן, זכרונות קודשי עברם הגדול, בגילוי שכינה, טהרה וקדושה, להכות
בלבם הרך גלי געגועים לעבר זה שיקום ויהיה לעתיד, חידוש ימינו כקדם, גם בשביל זה
כדאי לשאת ולסבול

and
similarly (p. 22, זכרונות מבית אבא מארי):

 נזיר הנני, מדרגה לנבואה. אילו זכיתי לבוא לעולם רק לשם כך, לפרסם
מחדש שם זה, נזיר, כעובדת חיים בימינו, כדי להזכיר שאנחנו עומדים ערב תחיית הנבואה
בישראל, דייני

_________

The basic outline of the Nazir’s life[1]
finds a Yeshiva student from an esteemed Rabbinic family near Lithuania
shuttling from place to place in interwar Europe, meeting with R. Abraham Isaac
ha-Kohen Kook during his stay in Switzerland, and studying Western Philosophy
in the University of Basel,[2]
only to be consumed by a desire to reconnect with his spiritual master in the
Land of Israel, which he was able to do some years later. Upon reaching Israel,
R. David Cohen increasingly adopted ascetic practices[3], crowned by a
Nazirite vow – a lifelong abstention from all grape products and from cutting
his hair. The Nazir, as he would thereupon be known, was also a vegetarian,[4]
did not wear leather shoes, and maintained a ta’anit dibbur, refraining from speech for forty days from the
beginning of the month of Elul to
after Yom Kippur.[5] His
best-known published work was the systematic presentation of his understanding
of the development of Jewish spiritual experience, or ha-higayyon ha-shim’i ha-Ivri, in Kol ha-Nevuah (Jerusalem, 1969). While beyond the scope of this
short review, in that work, the Nazir set out to present the gamut of
philosophy and Jewish mysticism, showing two contrasting and sometimes
complementary systems with the main thrust of the Jewish system being the
achievement of prophecy.

___________

            This short book contains an
introduction by the Nazir’s only son, R. She’ar Yashuv, followed by an even
shorter introduction, entitled דבר המשנה, penned by the editors, Har’el and
Yedidyah Cohen. Following this are two separate introductory pieces, אבא מארי and בית אמי, again
authored by R. She’ar Yashuv, in which much foreshadowing of the diary excerpts
themselves is interspersed with his general memories and impressions of his
father and mother. Afterward, the diary selections begin with Hebrew
pagination. There is evidence in this section of a heavy amount of editing,
censoring, and ‘cleaning-up’ of the relatively small amount of material
published here.[6]
I say ‘relatively’ because we are told by the editors that the content is
culled from over five large notebooks of personal writing by the Nazir, which
were graced with the handwritten title: מגילת סתרים –
זכרונות נזיר אלוקים (p.
15). 

            As one begins the section that is
purportedly the diary excerpts proper, the narrative quality of the writing is
striking. The Nazir definitely experienced the same trials as many Jews during
the interwar period, and one cannot help but share in his elation at finally
reaching Israel. Throughout, in between expressions of deeply personal
religious yearning are some very unique, unexpected stories. To wit, there are
four pages of riveting narrative about a desert trip gone awry, reaching a
breathless account of the Nazir prepared to die, lying down wrapped in a tallit and tefillin aside Wadi al-Kelt (עמ’ פה).[7]

We also get glimpses of the Nazir practicing his
religious path, the telos of which he ostensibly saw as a realization of
prophecy.[8]
The Nazir advocates his hitbodedut in
the hills surrounding Jerusalem, stating his goal as emulating the spiritual
wanderings of the biblical prophets in the following outstanding passage (עמ’ נב-נג):

הנביאים ובני הנביאים
התבודדו בהרים ובגבעות, מסביב למראה פני שדות וטוהר שמים, ורוח צח חרישת נושבת,
מחיה הנפש ומשיב הרוח במראה קודש …ספרים רבים לא היו הרי לא היו זקוקים לאוצרות
ספרים, כמו ספרי ש”ס והפוסקים ונושאי כליהם. כל זה המשא של ספרים וניירות,
המלעיטים את הנפש בנייר, והמסיחים את הדעת מן המרומם והנעלה טהר שמי ד’, לא בזה
יתגלה ותחיה רוח הנבואה, אלא בתורה שבעל פה, בלימודים בהרים וגבעות, על פני שדות
קודש, למראה טוהר שמי ד’, במקומות הקודש, בהתבודדות…כ 

What is especially fascinating here is the
Nazir’s dismal view of the culture of the book and written word that in his
mind had defined Judaism in exile from the Land, and the placement * of the
spiritual connection to the land, or artsiut
as a binary to it. To the Nazir, the text-less hitbodedut in nature reflects the return to the prophetic culture
of Israel, a level closer to God than the ‘obfuscating’ medium of books and
papers. There is a certain anomian bent to the Nazir’s statements above,
expressing a desire to circumvent the traditional path of maintaining closeness
to God through the study of shas and
the commentaries.[9]
Additionally, with regards to the anomian practice of the Nazir, even in the
spare amount of material collected here, we see numerous indications that the
Nazir was not embarrassed in overlooking tefillah
b’tzibbur.[10]

Already in his days as a young student, the
Nazir expresses the tension that he feels between adhering to the standard
Yeshiva curriculum, and that which his inner self desires to study. From an
early age, the Nazir is drawn to texts that lay outside the purview of the
Yeshiva, some even forbidden outright. The Nazir describes how one attempt to
resolve this tension went slightly awry (עמ’ יג), although he remained steadfast in his
commitment to traditional modes of study:

הייתי חוזר על תלמודי
ומשנן הרבה, לפי סימני ושיטת ספר המזכיר, להרה מיעלאק, שמצאתי בבית דודי הרב ר’
ישעיה, שהיה חברו וידידו, מה”ברודסקאים” בוואלאזין. אך דודי הרב ר’ אברהם החביא את
ספר המזכיר, ויאמר, כי שינון זה מפריע להבנת ודעת התלמוד.כ

מעט מספרי “השכלה” התחלתי
לקרוא בבוריסובקא, המושבה… למדני לקרוא ולתרגם אחד מצעירי המושבה שהתמשכל… משך את
לבי, וישאני על כנפי רוח לשדות הקציר במושבות בארץ ישראל… נודע לי ממציאות זרם השכלה,
גם בין אבריכי הישיבה, אבל לא פגע בי ובתלמודי. כ

The struggle in reconciling a skill for, and
proclivity towards serious western thought and on the other hand, a depth of talmud Torah and ruhniyyut is a narrative thread that runs throughout the Nazir’s
life.[11]
One particularly powerful entry records the Nazir’s sincere resolution to stop
apologizing and being nervous for this tension, but rather to transcend it
entirely (עמ’ מז):

ופה נכרתה ברית ביני ובין
הא-ם, א’ ישראל. אין מילה בפי להביע, מה נהיה בעומק רוחי. כל השאלות העיוניות [12]והפילוסופיות,
חלפו, עברו, וקרוב קרוב לי אלהי ישראל…כ

_______________

            Although we could continue with
citations of the fascinating and singular material found in Mishnat ha-Nazir, with space limits in
mind, I want to briefly make two final points. Firstly, the paucity of
translated material from the Nazir’s writings (something I too have failed to
do here), and the lack of much meaningful study of his work and life in English
give one pause. Aside from Schwartz’ article in Tradition, short references
here and there in his translated work mentioned above, and some of Garb’s work,
there is real room for English-language studies and translations of the Nazir’s
writings. I have tried here to include in this review a short precis of the
most accessible of the Nazir’s published writings in Mishnat ha-Nazir, and some of the extant literature on the Nazir as
well.[13]

Finally, a closer reading and analysis of the
Nazir’s life and writings might yield an organic, spiritually-minded, and
transcendent approach to many of the issues of science and faith, authority and
autonomy that lie at the root of many debates within American Orthodoxy. For
those wishing to find a different way, rather than the tired apologetic and
name-calling that characterizes some of the current popular discourse, the
Nazir’s writings and their popularization may serve as a model and guide for
alternative modes of thinking about Jewish religious expression and mindset.