Parashat Nasso begins with the words:
“Nasso et rosh benei Gershon gam hem.”
“Lift up the head of the sons of Gershon also.”
On the simple level, the Torah is commanding Moshe to count the family of Gershon from the tribe of Levi. But the Torah does not simply say, “count them.” It says, “lift up the head.”
This language is precise. A Jew is not counted like an object. To count a Jew properly is to raise him. It is to reveal his dignity, his purpose, his root, and his responsibility before HaShem.
The word nasso comes from nasa, which means to lift, carry, raise, or bear. In certain contexts, it can also relate to bearing sin or forgiveness, as in carrying something away. This teaches a deep point: to be lifted does not mean to escape responsibility. It means to become elevated enough to carry responsibility correctly.
The word rosh means head, but it also means source, beginning, direction, and leadership. The head leads the body. Where the head turns, the person follows. So when the Torah says “lift the head,” it is also saying: lift the part of you that leads.
This is the avodah, the spiritual work, of Parashat Nasso.
A person can be led by what is lower: anger, fear, ego, desire, resentment, jealousy, confusion, or social pressure. In such a state, the person may still be intelligent, religious, and capable, but the lower self is driving. He reacts before thinking. He speaks before weighing. He judges before understanding. He acts from the wound instead of from the soul.
Nasso says: do not let the lower self lead the life of a holy neshamah, a Divine soul.
Lift the head.
Let the soul lead.
This also explains the phrase “benei Gershon gam hem,” “the sons of Gershon also.” The name Gershon is connected to the sound of gerush, being driven away or exiled. On a deeper level, the Torah is hinting that even the part of a person that feels distant, pushed aside, exiled, or spiritually secondary must also be lifted.
That is very relevant in our generation.
Many people today feel like benei Gershon. They feel outside clarity, outside holiness, outside stability, outside certainty. The world is noisy, distracted, anxious, divided, and spiritually exhausting. A person can easily begin to believe, “I am too scattered. I am too far. I am not the kind of person who can be lifted.”
The Torah says: gam hem, them also.
Not only the obvious tzaddik.
Not only the learned person.
Not only the calm person.
Not only the person who already feels close.
The exiled part of the soul must also be lifted.
This is where the Zohar HaKadosh in Parashat Nasso deepens the matter. In this parashah appears the Idra Rabba, the Great Assembly, where Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai reveals hidden teachings about how Divine mercy descends into creation. The language of the Idra Rabba is very lofty, but one central point is clear: great light cannot enter chaos. It needs vessels.
A vessel means structure.
A vessel means restraint.
A vessel means inner order.
A vessel means a person has made space to receive something higher.
This is not abstract mysticism. It is practical avodah.
When a person pauses before reacting, he becomes a vessel.
When he guards his tongue, he becomes a vessel.
When he chooses truth over ego, he becomes a vessel.
When he gives another Jew the benefit of the doubt, he becomes a vessel.
When he does one mitzvah with sincerity in a confused world, he becomes a vessel.
This is how the head is lifted.
Now we can understand the connection to Mashiach.
Does “lift up the head” literally refer to lifting up Mashiach in the simple meaning of the verse? No. In the pshat, the straightforward meaning, the verse is speaking about counting the Levi’im.
But in the deeper avodah of the verse, it absolutely teaches us how to prepare for Mashiach.
Mashiach is connected to holy leadership, to the rectified head of Israel, and to the revelation of HaShem’s Kingship in the world. But we do not prepare for Mashiach through slogans, imagination, or excitement without inner change. We prepare for Mashiach by lifting the head of our own lives.
A generation prepares for Mashiach when it stops being ruled by the lower self.
When Jews choose unity over hatred, that is preparation for Mashiach.
When speech becomes cleaner, that is preparation for Mashiach.
When homes become places of Torah, dignity, and shalom, that is preparation for Mashiach.
When we stop normalizing spiritual exile and begin living like people waiting for HaShem’s light, that is preparation for Mashiach.
Mashiach does not come to flatter chaos. Mashiach comes to reveal the Kingship of HaShem. Therefore, the vessel for Mashiach is a people whose heads are lifted toward HaShem.
This also connects to Birkat Kohanim, the Priestly Blessing, which appears later in Parashat Nasso:
“Ya’er HaShem panav elecha.”
“May HaShem shine His face toward you.”
First the Torah says: lift the head.
Then the blessing says: may the Face shine.
The order matters.
The face shines when the head is lifted.
Meaning, when a Jew raises his awareness and chooses from the neshamah instead of from impulse, he becomes able to receive HaShem’s mercy. And when many Jews do this together, the world itself becomes more prepared for geulah, redemption.
So the whole parashah can be read as one movement:
Nasso: lift the head.
Gershon: even the exiled parts must be lifted.
Zohar: mercy descends through prepared vessels.
Avodah: become a vessel through restraint, humility, and compassion.
Birkat Kohanim: then HaShem’s face shines.
Mashiach: the final lifting of Israel, when the world recognizes HaShem as King.
The message is simple, but it is not small:
To prepare for Mashiach, lift the head now.
Do not wait for the whole world to become clear.
Do not wait until you feel perfectly inspired.
Do not wait until the exile ends outside of you.
Begin by ending one small exile inside of you.
Pause before anger.
Speak with more holiness.
Choose one mitzvah with more sincerity.
Judge one person with more mercy.
Raise one fallen part of yourself back toward HaShem.
That is Nasso et rosh.
Lift the head high enough that the soul can lead.
And when the soul leads, mercy enters.
And when mercy enters, the face shines.
And when the face shines through Israel, the world becomes ready for Mashiach.