Concerning the Nazarite vow: The word Nazarite probably comes from the shoresh (root) of the word "Nader" which means "Vow"
There are different resources we can look at to find info on the Nazarites. Starting with the Biblical source in Numbers chapter 6. I'm going to post the chapter as it isn't very long and it'll make it easier to get to then having to look it up.
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk.
5 All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
6 All the days that he separateth himself unto Jehovah he shall not come near to a dead body.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation unto God is upon his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto Jehovah.
9 And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting:
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
12 And he shall separate unto Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a he-lamb a year old for a trespass-offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting:
14 and he shall offer his oblation unto Jehovah, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings.
16 And the priest shall present them before Jehovah, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burnt-offering:
17 and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof.
18 And the Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he hath shaven [the head of] his separation;
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave-breast and heave-thigh: and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the law of the Nazirite who voweth, [and of] his oblation unto Jehovah for his separation, besides that which he is able to get: according to his vow which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his separation.
Here we see that it is a vow that can be taken by either a woman or a man and can be temporary or perpetual. It is to be taken so seriously that you can't even touch a family member if they die. in Judges 13 it tells the story of Shimshon (Samson) another Nazerite and we also find in the Bible that Shmuel (Samuel) had taken the vow. In the NT Shaul (Paul) also took the vow (not sure if this is what Michele was referring to, if so, apologies). And also of course John The Baptist was also a Nazerite. But it isn't only referred to in Biblical accounts. We find the Nazerites in the Apocrypha and also in other writings such as Josephus and in the Mishna (The Oral Law). In the Apocrypha we find it in the book of Maccabees chapter 3 vs 49 and in the Mishna it is found in the order of Nashim (Women). The Mishna was in place during the time of Yeshua and made up the main teachings of the Pharisees. This is important as Yeshua told the Messianic Jews to do as the Pharisees say. Well, what did they say? They said follow the Oral Law (The Mishna). A lot has been added to the Mishna since that time so it would be a difficult task now for us to follow but the vows of the Nazir are still intact. Here's what it says in Josephus...
in Josephus
book 19 "Antiquities" ( you can read Josephus from my site if you like)
CHAPTER 6.
WHAT THINGS WERE DONE BY AGRIPPA AT JERUSALEM WHEN HE WAS RETURNED BACK INTO JUDEA; AND WHAT IT WAS THAT PETRONIUS WROTE TO THE INHABITANTS OF DORIS, IN BEHALF
1. NOW Claudius Caesar, by these decrees of his which were sent to Alexandria, and to all the habitable earth, made known what opinion he had of the Jews. So he soon sent Agrippa away to take his kingdom, now he was advanced to a more illustrious dignity than before, and sent letters to the presidents and procurators of the provinces that they should treat him very kindly. Accordingly, he returned in haste, as was likely he would, now lie returned in much greater prosperity than he had before. He also came to Jerusalem, and offered all the sacrifices that belonged to him, and omitted nothing which the law required; (19) on which account he ordained that many of the Nazarites should have their heads shorn. And for the golden chain which had been given him by Caius, of equal weight with that iron chain wherewith his royal hands had been bound, he hung it up within the limits of the temple, over the treasury, (20) that it might be a memorial of the severe fate he had lain under, and a testimony of his change for the better; that it might be a demonstration how the greatest prosperity may have a fall, and that God sometimes raises up what is fallen down: for this chain thus dedicated afforded a document to all men, that king Agrippa had been once bound in a chain for a small cause, but recovered his former dignity again; and a little while afterward got out of his bonds, and was advanced to be a more illustrious king than he was before. Whence men may understand that all that partake of human nature, how great soever they are, may fall; and that those that fall may gain their former illustrious dignity again.
So we see it was going strong.
So again we see that it was still in place at the time of Yeshua and as I wrote before that Paul helped out in purification rites of other Messianics (Acts 21:24 this is the Scripture I was referring to in an earlier post) so they could become Nazarites. So it's something we should take a serious look at. It was a very special topic to G-d. In fact in Amos 2 vs 11 and 12, the Nazir are mentioned in the same breath as the Prophets. It brought G-d to a point of wrath against Israel cause they were making the Nazarites drink wine. It's pretty incredible how strongly G-d felt about this really. And that just leads me to think that if it was that important to G-d... then it should be important to us.
Shalom,
Rabbi Stanley
