Parshat Naso: Superman
I’m more than a bird
I’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
-Five For Fighting*
A new Superman movie will be in the theatres this July…
I recall quite vividly the best Bar Mitzvah gift I received way back in 1973. Late Saturday night, after the party was over, we arrived home and, as I got out of the car into the cold November air, my brother Sid handed me a package. It had been sitting in the garage wrapped in newspaper and rope. Curiously I untied the rope and ripped off the paper. And out spilled a bunch of Superman and Batman comics. They were from Sid’s friend, Rick Charney who knew I loved comics and bequeathed to me his collection of about 75 of them as his gift.
They became an integral cornerstone of my collection of close to 700 comics from the late 60’s and early 70’s whose original price was between ten and fifty cents. Today they sit in plastic bags in my closet. I was quite an organized young man and kept a detailed inventory of how many of each comic title I had. 336 Superman and Action Comics, 178 Batman and Detective Comics and 169 of assorted others – 683 in all. On the same page is an accounting of what I spent on the collection from various stores, totaling a whopping $253.85.
I used to love reading about the adventures of Superman and Batman at the cottage on summer days. They were my heroes even though I knew I would never have Superman’s powers and was fully aware that my parents would never let me stay up at night like Batman to fight crime because it was way past my bedtime. Superman and Batman’s love of justice and fair play was always an attractive quality in every story as they battled the Joker, the Riddler, Lex Luthor, Brainiac and others.
Everyone has their heroes and as one gets older, heroes change. A hero is someone who exemplifies those noble qualities and strengths that one admires and aspires to become. Heroes are those few special individuals in one’s life that serve as a constant inspiration and ideal.
This week’s parsha gives us some insight into hero-worship and the impact heroes have on our lives. Parshat Naso, which follows last week’s Torah portion of census taking, begins with Moshe being told to take a count of the family of Gershon from the tribe of Levi. The Hebrew word, נשא Naso that the Torah uses “to count” is an odd one, as Naso literally means to raise or lift up. Normally we would use the word לספור/lispor or למנות/limnot when speaking of counting something.
The root of Naso reappears later in the parsha as well when we read of the gifts that each of the twelve princes of Israel brought for the inauguration of the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for prince is נשיא Nasi, and shares the same letters as our parsha’s name.
The similarity between both terms is not arbitrary as both words, Naso and Nasi convey a similar notion. A prince or leader are those select and special individuals who, through the simple means of their position, have the ability to lift the people whom they represent. They are examples for others to behold and emulate, and can literally raise people’s sights to something greater than the mundane. The everyday pettiness that so often bogs us down when we forget the bigger picture of what is important in life. The Nasi/Prince can very often Naso/lift and raise another.
People will go to great lengths and strain to get a glimpse of a prince or princess such as whenever there is a wedding of Royals in the UK or elsewhere. Whether camping out in front of Westminster Abby or waking up in the early morning to watch it on TV, we get much pleasure from seeing those unique individuals who, in our mind, live an enchanted life. In a certain sense, just by being within their proximity, they give us a taste of that self-same potential of royalty in our own lives.
When Moshe counted the tribe of Gershon, it was in the very act of counting them that infused a sense of destiny and importance to those whom he was enumerating. He didn’t just Lispor/count them but he Naso/lifted them. And he did this by the simple fact that he was the one doing the counting.
To be counted and noted by someone as great as Moshe is to be regarded as something exceptional; a prince in your own right. Whenever someone great like a Prince or King or Prime Minister takes a moment and makes us their focus, if but for a moment, it changes us. This is what many people would say when they met the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. That brief moment when he looked into your eyes and focused only on you made you feel counted in a very meaningful way that left a life-long impression.
While the princes among us may be few and far between, the truth is that we all have that ability to be a hero to someone and act as their Nasi, their Prince. Whether as a parent or teacher in the eyes of a child, a mentor, or a friend – each of us has the ability to act prince-like and significantly influence the life of another and make another feel unique, extraordinary and princely. Sometimes it is nothing more than taking a moment to notice the deep worth of another and making them feel like they count.
My brother’s friend didn’t attach any fancy Bar Mitzvah card with his gift. It was a short greeting on a piece of folded three-ringed notebook paper which mirrored the simplicity of the rope and newspaper wrapping that held the comics. I have that note to this day. It reads:
Dear Harv,
May your bar mitzvah instill within you the power of righteousness and justice;
A power even greater than that of Superman’s.
Best wishes,
Rick Charney
Wise words indeed. Each and every one of us has the ability to be a Superman or Superwoman to another and make them feel super in their own special way.
I’m just out to find
The better part of me*
*Click here to hear a beautiful rendition of this song by its artist, John Ondrasik from Five For Fighting dedicated to the hostages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llgm4VMP6Sg
