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Question: How can taking the vow of a Nazarite lead to extremism in our daily lives?
Answer: The Talmud explains that a Nazirite vow was taken by someone who felt his evil inclination pulling him in an un-G-dly direction. So he vowed not to drink wine or cut his hair as a means of shielding himself from his lustful urges. While wine and looking nice are normally not bad things, for a person who is feeling spiritually vulnerable, this was a proper course of action. This is not extremism, unless one is doing this for no purpose.
All the Best,
Rabbi Meir Goldberg,
Rutgers Jewish Xperience
