SUMMARY
Details how the recovered metzora (one afflicted with skin discoloration / eruptions) is purified by the kohein with a special procedure involving two birds, spring water in an earthen vessel, a piece of cedar wood, a scarlet thread and a bundle of hyssop.
A home can be afflicted with tza'raat by having red or green patches on the walls. There is also a specific process for purification, and after a set period (19 days) the kohein decides if the house can be purified or if it has to be demolished.
Men can become ritually impure by having a seminal discharge and women by menstruating (or childbirth as outlined in Tazria). Purification is by immersion in a mikvah (natural body of water).
Metzora, one afflicted with tzaraat, is related to the commitment of slander by a play on words:
Said Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: One who bears evil tales will be visited with the plague of tzaraat. . . . Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of the verse “This shall be the law of the metzora”? It means: This shall be the law for him who is motzi shem ra (‘gives a bad name’ through slander).”
There are 4 causes of ritual impurity. Contact with any could cause a person to be ritually impure, which meant that you were not able to enter the portable sanctuary, the Mishkan and later, the Temple in Jerusalem. 1. Contact with a human corpse, 2. touching or carrying the carcasses of certain animals 3. discharges / emissions of life fluids 4. a condition known tza'araat.
Tzaraat is a general erosion of the skin causing a disintegration of the flesh (gradual escape of life). The person so afflicted was seen as in a state of being in a state of death. Impurity was caused by this 'leakage of life' (Jewish Study Bible).
Those who love it will eat its fruit.
Not everything that is thought should be expressed, not everything that is expressed verbally should be written, and not everything that is written should be published. ~Rabbi Israel Salanter
When you are about to say something about someone, stop and ask yourself if you would say it in their presence. ~Orchot Yosher, Chapter 4
וּֽלֲהַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ וּבֵ֣ין הַחֹ֑ל וּבֵ֥ין הַטָּמֵ֖א וּבֵ֥ין הַטָּהֽוֹר׃
for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure;
Through the opposing states of purity and impurity, the Torah points us toward both upholding life, as well as dealing constructively with the inescapable—but often shattering—incursion of death into our lives. ~Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) זֹ֤את תִּֽהְיֶה֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת הַמְּצֹרָ֔ע בְּי֖וֹם טׇהֳרָת֑וֹ וְהוּבָ֖א אֶל־הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ (ג) וְיָצָא֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֶל־מִח֖וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה וְרָאָה֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְהִנֵּ֛ה נִרְפָּ֥א נֶֽגַע־הַצָּרַ֖עַת מִן־הַצָּרֽוּעַ׃ (ד) וְצִוָּה֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְלָקַ֧ח לַמִּטַּהֵ֛ר שְׁתֵּֽי־צִפֳּרִ֥ים חַיּ֖וֹת טְהֹר֑וֹת וְעֵ֣ץ אֶ֔רֶז וּשְׁנִ֥י תוֹלַ֖עַת וְאֵזֹֽב׃
(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) This shall be the ritual for a leper at the time of being purified. When it has been reported to the priest, (3) the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the leper has been healed of the scaly affection, (4) the priest shall order two live pure birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for the one to be purified.
This shall be the law of the metzora . . . he shall be brought to the kohen (14:2)
Both the onset and the termination of the state of tzaraat are effected only by the proclamation of a kohen. If suspect markings appear on a person, they are examined by an expert on the complex laws of tzaraat—usually, but not necessarily, a kohen; but even after a diagnosis of tzaraat had been made, the state of ritual impurity does not take effect, and the metzora’s banishment is not carried out, until a kohen pronounces him “impure.” This is why even after all physical signs of tzaraat have departed, the removal of the state of impurity and the metzora’s readmission into the community is achieved only by the kohen’s declaration.
The kohen’s function as a condemner and ostracizer runs contrary to his most basic nature and role. The kohen is commanded by G‑d to “bless His people Israel with love”; our sages describe a “disciple of Aaron” as one who “loves peace, pursues peace, loves G‑d’s creatures and brings them close to Torah.” But this is precisely the reason that the Torah entrusts to the kohen the task of condemning the metzora.
There is nothing more hateful to G‑d than division between His children. The metzora must be ostracized because, through his slander and talebearing, he is himself a source of divisiveness; nevertheless, the Torah is loath to separate him from the community. So it is not enough that the technical experts say that he marked by tzaraat. It is only when the kohen—whose very being shudders at the thought of banishing a member of the community—is convinced that there is no escaping a verdict of tzaraat that the metzora is separated from his people. And it is only when the one doing the banishing is suffused with loving concern for the banished person that the penalty will yield a positive result—the repentance and rehabilitation of the metzora.
There is another lesson here as well: it is not the fact of the tzaraat that renders the metzora impure, but the kohen’s declaration of his impurity. In other words, no matter how terrible a person’s state may be, to speak ill of him is more terrible still. The kohen’s saying that he is impure affects his spiritual state far more profoundly than the actual fact of his tzaraat! ~The Lubavitcher Rebbe
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RASHI: live [birds]: Heb., חַיּוֹת, excluding [birds] that have a fatal disease or injury. — [See Chul. 140a] |
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| clean [birds]: Excluding an unclean bird, [i.e., forbidden to be eaten] (see Chul. 140a). [Why are birds required for this cleansing rite?] Because lesions of tzara’ath come as a result of derogatory speech, which is done by chattering. Therefore, for his cleansing, this person is required to bring birds, which twitter constantly with chirping sounds. — [Arachin 16b] | ||
| a cedar stick: Because lesions of tzara’ath come because of haughtiness [symbolized by the tall cedar]. — [Arachin 16a] | ||
| a strip of crimson [wool], and hyssop: What is the remedy that he may be healed [of his tzara’ath]? He must humble himself from his haughtiness, just as [symbolized by] the תּוֹלַעַת [lit., “a worm,” which infested the berries from which the crimson dye was extracted to color wool], and the [lowly] hyssop. — [Tanchuma 3] | ||
| cedar stick: Heb. וְעֵץ אֶרֶז, a stick of cedar wood. — [Torath Kohanim 13:12] | ||
| a strip of crimson [wool]: Heb. וּשְׁנִי תוֹלַעַת, a tongue-like strip of wool dyed crimson. — [Torath Kohanim 14:13] |
צר Narrow, constrained, constricted, to shape, to form, sorrow, to regret, enemy, persecutor,
(א) זֹאת תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת הַמְּצֹרָע. יְלַמְּדֵנוּ רַבֵּנוּ, עַל כַּמָּה דְּבָרִים נְגָעִים בָּאִים עַל הָאָדָם. כָּךְ שָׁנוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ, עַל אַחַת עֶשְׂרֵה דְּבָרִים הַנְּגָעִים בָּאִים עַל הָאָדָם. עַל עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, וְעַל חִלּוּל הַשֵּׁם, וְעַל גִּלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת, וְעַל הַגְּנֵבוֹת, וְעַל לָשׁוֹן הָרַע, וְעַל הַמֵּעִיד עֵדוּת שֶׁקֶר, וְעַל הַדַּיָּן הַמְקַלְקֵל אֶת הַדִּין, וְעַל שְׁבוּעַת שָׁוְא, וְעַל הַנִּכְנָס בִּתְחוּם שֶׁאֵינוֹ שֶׁלּוֹ, וְעַל הַחוֹשֵׁב מַחְשָׁבוֹת שֶׁל שֶׁקֶר, וְעַל הַמְשַׁלֵּחַ מְדָנִים בֵּין אַחִים. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: אַף עַל עַיִן רָעָה.
“This shall be the law of the one with tzara'at” (Lev. 14:2). Let our master instruct us: For how many things does tzara'at come? Thus have our masters taught: The affliction comes [upon one] for eleven things:
(1) For idolatry,
(2) for desecration of the name [of God], (3) for unchastity,
(4) for theft,
(5) for slander,
(6) for false witness,
(7) upon the judge who perverts justice,
(8) for swearing in vain,
(9) upon one who enters a domain which is not his,
(10) upon one who thinks false thoughts, and
(11) upon one who instigates quarrels among brothers.
And some also say, “for the evil eye (i.e., for being miserly).”
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (known by his great work, The Chafetz Chaim --- One Who Desires Life---from Psalm 34:13-14) wrote two major halakhic works on the evil tongue: Chafetz Chaim and Shmirat HaLashon ("Guarding the tongue"), both in 1873. He lists 31 speech-related commandments mentioned in the Torah.
Lashon Hara is any derogatory or damaging statement against an individual. In Hilchot Deot 7:5, Maimonides supplies a litmus test for determining whether something is or isn’t Lashon Hara: Anything which, if it would be publicized, would cause the subject physical or monetary damage, or would cause him anguish or fear, is Lashon Hara. www.torah.org
(לה) וּבָא֙ אֲשֶׁר־ל֣וֹ הַבַּ֔יִת וְהִגִּ֥יד לַכֹּהֵ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר כְּנֶ֕גַע נִרְאָ֥ה לִ֖י בַּבָּֽיִת׃
(35) the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, “Something like a plague has appeared upon my house.”
“It seems to me there is something like a plague in the house” (14:35)
Even if he is a learned man and knows for sure that it is a plague, he shall not decide the matter as a certainty, saying, “there is a plague in the house,” but “It seems to me there is something like a plague in the house.” ~ Talmud, Negaim 12:5
"...the plague teaches us that society should take notice of the first sign of misconduct, however small. Just as the same as a disease begins with hardly noticeable symptoms and can be stopped if detected in time, so a moral disease in society can be prevented from spreading if immediate steps are taken. Otherwise it will spread throughout the community."
~Nechama Leibovitz, Studies in Vayikra, p.137 - 138.
If the point is that he should show humility, why does he bring both a cedar and hyssop? But the true meaning of humility is not to broken and bowed, but to be humble even as one stands straight and tall. ~ Hasidic masters
Tzara'at is a collective term including many afflictions that do not resemble each other. For the whitening of a person's skin is called tzara'at, as is the falling out of some of the hair of his head or beard, and the change of the color of clothes or houses.
This change that affects clothes and houses which the Torah described with the general term of tzara'at is not a natural occurrence. Instead it is a sign and a wonder prevalent among the Jewish people to warn them against lashon hora, "undesirable speech." When a person speaks lashon hora, the walls of his house change color. If he repents, the house will be purified. If, however, he persists in his wickedness until the house is destroyed, the leather implements in his house upon which he sits and lies change color. If he repents, they will be purified. If persists in his wickedness until they are burnt, the clothes he wears change color. If he repents, they will be purified. If he persists in his wickedness until they are burnt, his skin undergoes changes and he develops tzara'at. This causes him to be isolated and for it to be made known that he must remain alone so that he will not be involved in the talk of the wicked which is folly and lashon hora.
The Torah warns about this, stating Deuteronomy 24:8-9: "Take care with regard to a tzara'at blemish.... Remember what God your Lord did to Miriam." Now, this is what the Torah is implying: Contemplate what happened to the prophetess Miriam. She spoke against her brother. She was older than he was; she had raised him; and she had endangered herself to save him from the sea. She did not speak pejoratively of him; she merely erred in equating him with the other prophets. Moses did not object to any of this, as Numbers 12:3 relates: "And the man Moses was exceedingly humble." Nevertheless, she was immediately punished with tzara'at. Certainly, an inference can be made with regard to the wicked and foolish men who speak extensively about great and wondrous matters. Therefore a person who seeks to structure his course of conduct should distance himself from their gatherings and from speaking to them so that he will not become caught up in the web of their wickedness and foolishness.
This is the path followed by the gathering of wicked fools: In the beginning, they speak excessively about empty matters, as Ecclesiastes 5:2 states: "The talk of a fool is characterized by a multitude of words." As a result of this, they come to speak negatively of the righteous, as reflected by the verse Psalms 31:19: "May the lying lips be silenced; those which speak falsehood about a righteous man." As a consequence, they will become accustomed to speaking against the prophets and casting aspersions on their words, as reflected by the verse II Chronicles 36:16: "They would abuse the messengers of God, scorn His words, and mock His prophets." And this would lead them to deny God's existence entirely, as reflected in the verse II Kings 17:9: "And the children of Israel spoke in secret things that were not true against God, their Lord."
In this vein, Psalms 73:9 states: "They set their mouths against Heaven and their tongues strut on earth." What caused them to "set their mouths against Heaven"? Their tongues which previously were given free reign on earth. This is the speech of the wicked that is caused by loitering on the streetcorners, frequenting the assemblies of commoners, and spending time at the parties of drunkards.
In contrast, the speech of proper Jewish people only concerns words of Torah and wisdom. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, assists them and grants them merit because of it, as Malachi 3:16 states: "Then those who fear God conversed, each person with his fellow and God listened and paid heed. And a book of remembrance was composed before Him for those who fear God and contemplate His name."
Our Sages also said: "Anyone who speaks lashon horah is like one who denies God as [implied by Psalms 12:5]: 'Those who said: With our tongues we will prevail; our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us?’”
In addition, they said: "Lashon horah kills three [people], the one who speaks it, the one who listens to it, and the one about whom it is spoken. The one who listens to it [suffers] more than the one who speaks it.”
(ה) אֶחָד הַמְסַפֵּר בְּלָשׁוֹן הָרַע בִּפְנֵי חֲבֵרוֹ אוֹ שֶׁלֹּא בְּפָנָיו, וְהַמְסַפֵּר דְּבָרִים שֶׁגּוֹרְמִים אִם נִשְׁמְעוּ אִישׁ מִפִּי אִישׁ לְהַזִּיק חֲבֵרוֹ בְּגוּפוֹ אוֹ בְּמָמוֹנוֹ, וַאֲפִלּוּ לְהָצֵר לוֹ אוֹ לְהַפְחִידוֹ, הֲרֵי זֶה לָשׁוֹן הָרַע. וְאִם נֶאֶמְרוּ דְּבָרִים אֵלּוּ בִּפְנֵי שְׁלֹשָׁה כְּבָר נִשְׁמַע הַדָּבָר וְנוֹדַע. וְאִם סִפֵּר הַדָּבָר אֶחָד מִן הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה פַּעַם אַחֶרֶת אֵין בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם לָשׁוֹן הָרַע. וְהוּא שֶׁלֹּא יִתְכַּוֵּן לְהַעֲבִיר הַקּוֹל וּלְגַלּוֹתוֹ יוֹתֵר:
(ו) כָּל אֵלּוּ הֵם בַּעֲלֵי לָשׁוֹן הָרַע שֶׁאָסוּר לָדוּר בִּשְׁכוּנָתָם וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן לֵישֵׁב עִמָּהֶם וְלִשְׁמֹעַ דִּבְרֵיהֶם. וְלֹא נֶחְתַּם גְּזַר דִּין עַל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר אֶלָּא עַל לָשׁוֹן הָרַע לְבַד:
(5) Regardless of whether the slander is spoken in the presence of his fellow, or in his absence, or if the slander spread from mouth to mouth cause harm to his fellow, to his body, or property, even to cause him anguish, or fear to his soul, behold this is the iniquity of an evil tongue. If such evil be spoken in the presence of three persons, the matter is thereby considered public. Thus, if one of the three who heard it repeat it to others no sin of an evil tongue is found therein, provided that in re-telling it he had no intention to spread the rumor and advertise it still more.7Arakin, 16b. C. G.
(6) All such are owners of an evil tongue, in whose neighborhood it is forbidden to dwell, needless to say to be in their company and listen to their words. The doom against our fathers in the wilderness was not sealed for aught else, save for that of an evil tongue.8Ibid. C.
Arachin 15b
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21)." Actually, a person's tongue is more powerful than his sword. A sword can kill somebody who is nearby; a tongue can cause the death of someone who is faraway...
Lashon hara kills three people: the speaker, the listener, and the subject... Regarding one who speaks lashon hara, God says, "I cannot dwell with him," as it says (Psalms 101:60). One who slanders his neighbor... him I cannot tolerate.
One who speaks lashon hara is like one who denies God, as it says (Psalms 12:5) They have said, 'Because of our tongues we will prevail... who is master over us?'
If information against someone might be of benefit to another (e.g. a potential business partner, roommate, etc.), it is permissible for that person to listen to it. (The listener should state why he is listening to the information so that the speaker realizes that the intentions of the listener are constructive, and also so that the speaker doesn’t intend to speak for non-constructive reasons.) However, the listener is forbidden from:
(1) accepting the information as true (he may only suspect and investigate), or
(2) taking action against the subject based on the information.
If caught in a group of people who are speaking Lashon Hara, one should try and leave the group or change the topic. If stuck there:
(1) decide in one’s heart/mind not to accept the Lashon Hara as true.
(2) do not enjoy the Lashon Hara (because the subject is being shamed, its a funny story, etc.).
(3) do not pretend to agree or accept the Lashon Hara (make a face, don’t make eye contact, or at least wear a blank expression)
If someone starts speaking Lashon Hara, try to privately and respectfully tell them that speaking Lashon Hara is forbidden. The best way to prevent others from speaking Lashon Hara is by setting a good example. www.torah.org