Long Haired Men: A Jewish Perspective

The inner strength it takes to resist temptation and to control one’s passion is far greater than the strength it takes to conquer a city.

Samson and Delilah

Who is not familiar with the story of Samson and Delilah? Which child is not aware of the secret behind Samson’s super-human strength? We all know that it was his hair; his long hair that provided him with unnatural physical abilities. And when his Philistine wife Delilah had his hair cut, Samson’s strength was no more. Only during the final tragic moments of Samson’s life, when he asked G-d for one final burst of energy so that he can bring down the structure he was in together with thousands of Philistines, did his strength return.

What is the connection between Samson’s long hair and his extraordinary physical power?

This week’s prophetic reading (Haftorah) discusses the incident of the angel who visited Manoach and his wife – Samson’s parents. The angel informed them that they will bear a son who will save the Jewish people from their enemies, but that he had to be a nazir all his life. A nazir (the laws of which are discussed in this week’s Torah portion) is one who may not drink wine and who cannot cut his hair.

The Power of Long Hair

Our sages explain that the purpose of and the benefit in making such a vow to become a nazir was to fortify one’s inner strength. When a person was likely to go astray and follow his eyes and heart’s desires, the Torah gave a person an unconventional method to assist him to not succumb to temptation.

The growing of the hair, Kabballah teaches us, enables the nazir to elicit extraordinary spiritual energies from a most transcendent aspect of G-d. This, in turn, provides him with greater inner strength to overcome any temptation.

Samson’s physical power was not a product of some magical force the angel of G-d gave him. His strength was directly linked to his ability to respond to the extra spiritual powers he was given to resist temptation. His external strength, in other words, was a manifestation of and commensurate with his inner strength.

In truth, the inner strength it takes to resist temptation and to control one’s passion is far greater than the strength it takes to conquer a city. Our sages have so stated in the famous Mishnah (Ethics of the Fathers) “Who is a strong person? One who conquers his evil inclination.”

In the pursuit of his G-dly mission to protect the Jews from their “external” enemies, Samson, had to mingle with the Philistines. His marriage to Philistine women (after conversion, Maimonides writes) was a tactic to better know his enemy. When this association proved to be a more formidable challenge than he was able to meet, and his inner strength did not prevail, he no longer possessed the secret to his outer physical strength as well.

We will all Be Samsons

The Messianic Age is described by our prophets as a time when a nazir will be a common occurrence. This is to be understood as a reference to the inner strength that emanates from G-d’s energy, we will possess.

Accordingly, we will be free from all temptations and we will be able to devote ourselves to the “higher” aspects of life, without the distractions that our so prevalent today in exile.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Naso by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.