Jewish Rapper Superstar Ari Lesser on Taking the Nazarite Vow

We have a special treat for our audience. Our guest is musical artist Ari Lesser. He is a Jewish American rapper, singer and songwriter. He is known for his advocacy for the State of Israel and Jewish religious life and lifestyle. He studied political science, has performed with Gad Elbaz and Lipa Schmeltzer. He has spoken and performed at hundreds of events for Jewish communities around the world, and done shows with Moshav Band and Nissim Black. In 2008 Mr. Lesser became religious and took a Nazirite vow in 2009, the hebrew term for this tradition is Nazir.In the past year we have been discussing the sectarian group of the Jewish followers of Jesus. In our research the Apostle Paul, John The Baptist and James brother of Jesus are discussed as either taking a Nazarite vow or being nazarites. "Nazarite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated"(Numbers 6:1–21) or "separated", and may be ultimately derived from a root meaning "to vow", similar to Hebrew nadar.  The word nazir is also sometimes used to refer to a prince, who fills a special position of secular power, and the cognate word nezer can refer to either the state of being a nazirite, or else to a physical crown.Abstain from wine and all other grape products, such as vinegar and grapes[3]Refrain from cutting the hair on his head.Not to become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even those of family members.the nazirite would offer a specific animal sacrifice; along with it, the nazirite's hair was to be shorn and burned. On March 30 Mr. Lesser posted on facebook the article “It’s not easy being a Nazir in the 21st century.” discussing his experience with a modern orthodox high school that decided to not have him visit their students due to their religious outlook which seems to be against this tradition.  "Earlier this year a Modern Orthodox high school reached out to me. They were planning a Shabbaton, and invited me to be the keynote speaker for the weekend, writing in their initial email, “I'm sure our students would find you inspiring and would benefit from having you join us!”  They were offering a nice honorarium and I love a good Shabbaton, so I excitedly began planning the trip. I reached out to many of my contacts in the area, letting them know when I’d be coming to town, while simultaneously working with the school to hammer out all the details of the program. Then, several weeks into the process, I received a surprising message from an administrator at the school: “I realize this is a strange question, but do you still have long hair? (in some of the videos it looks like you have shorter hair but I can't tell what's more recent)” I replied openly, “Yes, I took on Nazirus 12 years ago, and I haven't cut my hair since. I initially took the vow for one year, but then I learned Tractate #Nazir in Yeshiva and realized that to finish the process, I would first need Para Adumah and then I’d have to bring an offering to the Beis HaMikdash, so until then, my hair just keeps growing. My Rosh Yeshiva is fully aware of the situation and I'd be happy to put you in touch with him if you have any other questions.” The administrator immediately responded: “I'm so sorry to say this won't work for a number of reasons. I really eMystic-Skeptic Radio produces programs such as Uncensored & Raiders of the Unknown. Some of the ongoing series are: Anti-Semitism Rising & Jesus The Israelite (all available on our YouTube channels). In the past 10 seasons we have featured academics (Amy Jill Levine) , presidential candidates( Howie Hawkins), Commentators (Jay Michaelson) , Advocates (Vanessa Guillen), Scholars(John Dominic Crossan) and Holistic Healers (Rosemary Gladstar). We have taken deep dives on the topics of human trafficking, ancient civilizations, demonology and the occult, social movements, controversial topics and many of the current affairs affecting our society. Join us as as we explore the mystic-skeptic mind space…