Nazir: Sometimes this way, sometimes that

Nazir: Sometimes this way, sometimes that

Is there always a right way to do something?

A right way to ride a bicycle? A right way to drive? A right way to live your life?

Is there a right way to speak or talk or write?

That is one question that Tractate Nazir starts with. The section dedicated to the Nazarites, the holy people of the Torah, begins by asking the question: Why does the Mishnah begin this way? Why does it say that all substitutes for the language of nazirite vows are considered nazirite vows, but then explains intimations and provides examples? Why not go into substitutes for the vows before jumping into intimations?

It may seem silly to ask this question. The form of writing isn't something we usually think about. If someone says, "It's going to sour to your stomach but sweet to your mouth." And we respond, "It was sweet to my mouth, but sour to my stomach." We don't think anything about the change. But what is the right way to write and to speak? Is there a right way to enter a discussion?

The Talmud spends some time on this topic, giving examples on both sides. But then it comes to this conclusion before moving on:
Rather, the Mishna actually teaches in this manner at times, and it teaches in that manner at other times. (M. Nazir Perk 1:2B)

This is an important concept.

We can get so convinced that our way or teaching or learning or understanding is the right, the only way to approach the topic. When actually, the Talmud says, there are many ways of approaching the topic and no real right way. Sometimes we say things one way. Sometimes another. It's not about being right.

This need to be right can sadly filter into other parts of our lives. We like being right. It makes us happy. We like having the right answer and saying the right thing. But sometimes what is right one moment isn't right the next. Sometimes rightness is sensitive to context. Who are we speaking to? What is happening for them? Sometimes we must say something in this manner at one time and in that manner in other.

As a Christian pastor I find this concept incredibly freeing. Having to be right can be incredibly exhausting. Always insisting that your way is the only way, the right way, the best way to handle something drains you of life itself. (I've found that true on Facebook where conversations about what is right reign supreme!).

Instead of holding rightness up as the ultimate value, perhaps we should see rightness in context. Sometimes we will teach this way. Sometimes we will teach that way. Is one more right than another? Not really. Because in the end, it doesn't matter if one is better or not. What matters is: did it work?