Tazria/Metzora - Leviticus Making Torah Personal #4 12:1 – 15:33

(45) For I am God, the One who brings you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; and you shall be holy, for I am holy.

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a woman at childbirth bears a male, she shall be unclean seven days; she shall be unclean as at the time of her menstrual infirmity.—

Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When any man has a discharge issuing from his member, he is unclean.

When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.

The priest shall examine the affection on the skin of his body: if hair in the affected patch has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous affection; when the priest sees it, he shall pronounce him unclean.

He shall be unclean as long as the disease is on him. Being unclean, he shall dwell apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, “Something like a plague has appeared upon my house.”

שאת או ספחת או בהרת, different skin afflictions----None of these phenomena correspond to the skin diseases we read about in medical text books. Such phenomena as are mentioned in these textbooks do not result in the afflicted person being considered ritually impure, nor are they subject to the priest deciding if indeed the symptoms require isolation of the afflicted person and when such symptoms can be declared as having disappeared. According to Berachot 5 the only skin afflictions which may be viewed as G’d’s reminder to improve our lifestyle are the four kinds mentioned in our chapter. While they are not classified as afflictions revealing G’d’s love for the person thus afflicted, they are however, described as מזבח כפרה, as “an altar serving as stepping stone to atonement for the character weakness that the afflicted person has to overcome.” G’d does not employ any other medically well known skin diseases as His instrument to call us to order for various sins committed.

He shall be brought to Aharon, the kohein. His purification is only by means of a kohein because Aharon’s descendents have three good character traits that are the opposite of these: 1) The sin of lashon hara causes arguments and a separation between fellow men. Therefore he is healed by Aharon, who exemplifies the trait of peace, for Aharon was “a lover of peace who pursued peace.” 2) Similarly, the sin of haughtiness of spirit is rectified by Aharon who was extremely humble, as Chazal said: What is written concerning Moshe and Aharon is even greater than that which is written concerning Avraham, because by Avraham it says, “I am dust and ashes” whereas by Moshe and Aharon it says, “What are we?” 3) Also, Aharon did not have the negative character trait of lust for money, since the kohanim did not have an inheritance in the Land and only had what they were given from “Hashem’s Table” [the Divine Service in the Beis HaMikdash]. Therefore, they perfected the trait of being satisfied with little and were not at all close to the trait of miserliness, in which one’s entire goal is to amass huge sums of money.

והובא אל אהרן הכהן, “he is to be brought to Aaron the Priest.” Even against his will, if necessary.

Now that we have explained this great principle, we will say that evil deeds are like the sicknesses we previously talked about. For when the various humors of the body are altered, whether in quality or in quantity, then the blood alters with them, the blood which is the sustenance of the body and and preserves it. When the blood is pure and good, then the body blossoms and gives light and its deeds are correct, but if it alters, then the body diminishes in strength and grows weak, for how shall the limbs strengthen themselves if the blood be not pure? It is for this reason that the parts of the body grow weak and thin, for the bad humors mingle with them and that blood flows to all of the body, and the body diminishes in its strength. Because of the bad quality of the blood, its functions are altered. Therefore, I must say that the soul grows sick just as the body does, and the sickness of the soul comes from five causes: from the sight of the eyes, from the hearing of the ears, from the work of the tongue and the lips, from the occupations of the hands, and from the motions of the feet. Aside from these five external causes, there is one inner cause which mingles with the soul, and that is the thought. And from that there arises lust which is the foundation of all sins. Now, thought comes from the soul, and if the soul did not have a body, thought would not be ugly and bad, but pure, like the souls of the angels. But because it is joined to the body, thought has become gross and vulgar, at times mingling with the higher qualities and at times with lower matters. An illustration of this would be that one of the angels had been left lying upon the earth and was formed into a body and became like one of us. We would then be compelled to think that there were two powers at war one with the other. One is drawn to higher and loftier deeds, and one is drawn to lower matters. They would be like two partners, one wise and one foolish, participating in one subject and each one performing his occupation. In this partnership, there will be apparent the occupation of the fool, strange and unworthy; and the occupation of the wise, lovely, and altogether beautiful. If they occupy themselves with one occupation which cannot be divided and where each one cannot do his work separately, but only with the companionship of his partner, that work will be seen as being mixed with good and with evil. But if one of the partners should have an advantage over the other, then his work will be seen as superior to the other’s and as being more worthy than that of his companion. If the fool is stronger, then the worthlessness and the lack of quality will be evident. The difficulty of correction will be apparent in that task. But if the wise part should be stronger, then it will be seen in the product that correction, improvement, and beauty govern.

Therefore, I say that according to the strength of the soul and according to its sweetness, will the power of thought be seen. And if thought inclines to lofty things, then the acts which come from its power will incline towards piety and righteousness, and the acts of the five senses which we have mentioned will be drawn towards righteousness and piety. These five senses are like channels or arteries through which the blood courses to quench the thirst of all the limbs of the body. Similarly, the emotions are channels through which the powers of thought flow in order to quench the thirst of the soul. Concerning this, it is said: (Numbers 15:39), “And that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes.” And so did our Sages, of blessed memory, say in the first chapter of the Jerusalem Talmud, “The heart and the eye are two agents of sin, and when evil deeds are mingled in the soul, they corrupt its acts until they turn away from their regimen.” Just as extraneous juices corrupt the structure of the body, so do evil thoughts corrupt the function of the soul. The functions of the soul are knowledge, intelligence, speech, humility, fear and hope, and other good qualities. But when evil lust is mingled with the soul, it destroys all of these good qualities; just as extraneous juices destroy the structure of the body, so does the mixture of lust destroy the work of the soul. Therefore, we must heal the sickness in the same way as we heal the body—just as the sickness which comes from mixtures of the humors needs at the very beginning medicines that will cleanse and purify the wound from within so that the medicine from outside will be of value. For if you should give to the patient a medicament or an ointment or a bandage and the wound is still clearly discernible, the medicament will be of no advantage. It will only unite with the extraneous juices and increase the damage, as it is written (Exodus 1:10), “… and they also will join themselves unto our enemies.” Moreover, what can healing do from the outside when the enemy lurks in ambush from within. He spoils that which you would correct, and between the onslaught of both of them, the body perishes. Therefore, it is necessary to cleanse the body, and when the body is clean, the medicine will be effective. Just as with a soiled curtain—if you want to dye it, the dye will not be fast because of the stains. But if you wash it well it becomes clean. Then, according to its cleanliness, it will receive the dye well. So it is with the soul. When we wash away from it the taints of an evil thought and the lust which stains, then the power of repentance will cleave to it like to a garment which has been washed. And on this subject, King Solomon, peace be unto him, said (Ecclesiastes 9:8), “Let thy garments be always white.” By this, he means cleanliness of the heart, which is to say that your intention at all times should be that your heart be pure, and then you will be able to receive good deeds. So did the prophet say concerning repentance (Isaiah 55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have compassion upon him.”