Weekly Torah Study: Metzora 5784/2024

(2) This shall be the ritual for a leper*leper Heb. meṣora‘, a person afflicted with ṣara‘ath; see note at 13.3. at the time of being purified. When it has been reported*it has been reported Cf. note at 13.2. to the priest,

( (2) והובא אל הכהן, “after he had been purified he shall be brought to the priest;” while still outside the camp, but where the priest can inspect him without undue discomfort. We know that the afflicted person could not yet have entered the confines of the camp from what is written immediately following, i.e. that the priest had to leave the camp in order to perform his duties. An alternate explanation: the words: “and he was brought to the priest,” mean that he had to be brought to the priest because he was still resident outside the camp, so that he had to be brought to the boundary. The priest on his part came as near as he could in order to meet him.

(1) מפרי פי איש תשבע בטנו תבואת שפתיו ישבע, “A man’s belly is filled with the fruit of his mouth he will be filled by the produce of his lips.” (Proverbs 18,20) (2) In this verse Solomon told us something about the power of the tongue (speech), be it for good or for evil. If man employs the power of speech to speak words of Torah, to admonish people to live according to Torah and to thereby help Jewish society to acquire spiritual merits for themselves, then his reward is with him, and his works are a beacon shining before him.” [He will be recognized for his true worth. Ed.] (Isaiah 40,10). On the other hand, if he uses the power of speech to engage in slander, character assassination, and the like, his punishment will be served up to him and he will have to consume it to his being more than sated with it. We must therefore understand the beginning of this verse as applying to the dissemination of evil gossip and the like; and the end, i.e. the words “his mouth will be filled by the produce of his lips,” as referring to the reward in store for those who use their power of speech judiciously, providing spiritual merits for the society in which they live. This is also the meaning of another saying of Solomon in Proverbs 18,21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.” What the author is saying is that seeing the tongue controls death and life, if someone loves the tongue, i.e. is anxious to keep talking at all times, he should endeavour to choose subjects which are liable to enhance his life, i.e. speak words of wisdom, moral and ethical exhortation, etc. If he does so he will get to eat (as a reward) the fruit of the power of speech. Only in that case will people who are fond of talking increase their own merit in proportion to their frequent use of the tongue.
In the reverse case, i.e. someone who loves to talk but uses his tongue indiscriminately, so that he engages in gossiping and worse, as his punishment he will eat “the fruit of that punishment.” Considering all this it is important to be most circumspect in the use of one’s tongue. The Torah has shown us on several occasions that if someone abuses his power of speech and uses it negatively he will be afflicted with the disease of tzoraat. Our sages in Vayikra Rabbah 16,2 have found that the very words introducing the subject of the מצורע could be paraphrased as זאת תורת המוציא שם רע, “this is the law about people who indulge in character assassination.” (3) זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו והובא אל הכהן, “this shall be the law of the person afflicted with tzoraat; on the day he regains purity he is to be brought to the priest.” The sages in Tanchuma Metzora 1 have explained that this affliction is a retribution for the evil tongue as we know from Kohelet 5,5: “let not your mouth bring guilt on your flesh.” Solomon means to not give permission to your mouth to express words which will harm the rest of your body. Do not subsequently say to the angel who is in charge of you (remainder of the verse in Kohelet) that it was an unintentional aberration. Every word a person utters is recorded in a book, be it something appropriate or inappropriate, be it intentional or unintentional. “Why should G’d have reason to be angry at what you have said? Why should He have to thwart the work of your hands?” The “work of your hands” which Solomon refers to in that verse are the hand and feet of your body which will become afflicted with skin disorders.
ons” (the semen which was meant to produce a health child?) mean that Solomon attributes physical blemishes in children as caused by the sins committed by the parent (or parents) when having marital relations.
Yet another approach to the verse in Kohelet: Solomon means “why should you incriminate yourself and your flesh by ignoring the laws of G’d so that you will need an angel (priests are referred to as angels of the Lord by the prophet Maleachi 2,7) who would have to preside over your becoming healed ultimately?” You would only be deceiving yourself, why make G’d angry? The words מעשה ידיך, “the work of your hands,” refer to the fetus which you helped to produce and who will be struck with the tzoraat disease as a result of your sin. (4) When the Torah in our verse continues with the words “on the day he wants to become purified,” this means that on that day he must be brought to the priest. This teaches that it is impossible for the purification to become halachically effective without the priest declaring the subject to have become ritually pure. Although the word והובא, “he is brought to the priest,” sounds as if the afflicted person has to come to the priest, this is not so. The priest goes to see the afflicted person outside the camp. This is clear from the words “the priest will go outside the camp and inspect the affliction” (verse 3). (5) Tanchuma Metzora 2, quoting Proverbs 18,21 that “life and death are within the power of the tongue,” says that everything depends on the tongue. If it is used properly it confers life, if it is abused it results in death for its owner. The word חיים, “life" in that context refers to Torah which has been described as עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה, “it is a tree of life for the ones who hold on to it.” In fact, Torah is an effective medication against the damage one has inflicted upon oneself through indulging in evil gossip. The Midrash bases this on Proverbs 15,4: “a tree of life is a healing tongue.” If the person had been engaged in disseminating evil gossip he had thereby forfeited his life; the sin of spreading evil gossip is considered morally as worse than killing.