NUM38 A nazir shall let his hair [and beard] grow. Introduction: Were our minds not in a physical body that lusts and desires sin, there is no doubt that each of us would use his intelligence exclusively in the service of his Maker. Each human being would stand before the Holy One, always ready to fulfill His Will, like one of the angels. In truth, however, our minds reside in a mundane physical body. Hashem made each of us to be a partnership of mind and matter. Accordingly, so that each person can fittingly afford honor to his Maker, it is suiting and necessary that his mind shall have the ability to know the Creator and recognize Him. Still, since our minds must dwell in a physical body, they must sometimes divert their attention from service of the Creator and tend to the needs of the mind’s dwelling place--the body—for unless man concerns himself with the needs of his body he will not survive. Clearly, however, whenever possible, one should minimize the time that the mind spends on the need of its “house,” so that it is free to apply itself to serving Hashem. Such is the best way, as long as one does not completely ignore his body and let it go to ruin, which would be sinful, for the King of kings created man to be a soul and body--a partnership of mind and matter. This concept lies at the basis of the holiness and greatness of the nazir. He sets his body to the side and tries to break its lusts and desires, by means that will not bring complete ruined to the body. For example, he lets his hair grow and abstains from wine and other products of the grapevine. In this way he subdues his lust and evil inclination, without causing the body to crumble. He diverts his mind to almost total devotion to service of its Maker, and thereby, the Holy One’s sanctity comes to rest upon him. Also, to help him subdue his evil inclination, the Torah commands that when he completes his term as a nazir, he must shave off all the hair on his head. Not a trace of hair can remain, so that his evil inclination will not return to plague him as before. Without question, when a man lets his hair grow wild, and also when he shaves his entire head, he loses the appearance of a normal human being, so in both situations he is better able to subdue his evil inclination.