Parashat Nassoפָּרָשַׁת נָשׂא

Nasso (“Take A Census”), the longest portion in the Torah, opens by detailing responsibilities of the Levites. It also describes laws of a woman suspected of adultery (sotah), the Nazirite, and the priestly blessing. The portion ends by listing the gifts that heads of tribes bring to the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Nasso is held together by a single organizing idea: how holiness and order are structured in the community camped around the Mishkan. It continues the work begun in Bamidbar by completing the Levite census and assigning the Gershonite and Merarite clans their specific roles in carrying the sanctuary's components. From there it moves through a series of cases about purity and integrity in the camp, including removing those who are ritually impure and making restitution for wrongs done to others. The sotah, Nazirite, and Priestly Blessing sections then explore the boundaries of personal devotion: who is set apart for service, how suspicion and impurity are addressed, and how both leaders and ordinary individuals can consecrate themselves to God.

In most Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities the haftarah for Nasso is Judges 13:2-25, the angel's annunciation to Manoah and his wife of the birth of Samson. The thematic link is the Nazirite: just as the portion lays out the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6, Samson is designated a lifelong Nazirite from before birth. Both texts share the defining markers of abstaining from wine and strong drink (Numbers 6:3; Judges 13:4) and forbidding a razor to touch the head (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5), while contrasting a voluntary, self-imposed vow with one imposed by divine mandate.

Nasso's most famous passage is the Priestly Blessing, Birkat Kohanim (Numbers 6:24-26): "May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His face toward you and grant you peace." It is among the most widely recited texts in Judaism, used in synagogue worship and in the home, such as blessing children on Shabbat. An ancient version of these words was found inscribed on the silver Ketef Hinnom amulets, among the oldest known biblical texts (a detail drawn from general scholarship rather than a fresh source check). Nasso also holds the distinction of being the single longest weekly Torah portion, with 176 verses, and sections of its account of the tribal chieftains' gifts (Numbers 7) are read during Hanukkah.