“I didn’t realize that live mekubalim still walked the streets of Yerushalayim until I encountered the Nazir”
Having grown up into a Lithuanian rabbinic family, Rav David Cohen (1887–1972), later known as the “Rav Hanazir,” studied in the great yeshivos of Volozhin, Radin, and Slabodka. While in Radin, he enjoyed a close relationship with the Chofetz Chaim. When a young David Cohen decided to go study at the University of Freiburg in Germany, he went to take leave of the Chofetz Chaim, who imparted some sage advice.
“Very soon, Mashiach will arrive, and rabbis — especially those who are Kohanim — will need to be proficient in the intricate halachos of Kodashim. It’s incumbent upon you to study these laws in depth in order to be competent to render halachic decisions in this area when the time arrives. Promise me that you’ll study one page of Kodashim every day while you’re in Germany. That practice should bring you merit in your endeavors.”
Not only did young Rav Cohen keep his promise, he delivered regular Gemara shiurim during his time in Freiburg as well.
His restless soul found solace in a dramatic meeting with his fellow Kohein, Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where he had been stranded due to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Rav Cohen later adopted the practices of nezirus by not cutting his hair or drinking wine, and would come to be known as “the Nazir.” Immigrating to Palestine in 1921, he assumed further ascetic practices, such as vegetarianism; long silences on Shabbos, on Yom Tov, and from Rosh Chodesh Elul until after Yom Kippur; and wanderings in the Judean Hills, in anticipation of achieving a level of prophecy.
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