Everyone is used to divrei Torah on Sefaria. But a maggid, now that's something special. I wish that there was a good maggid writing source sheets, but unfortunately you're stuck with me (for the moment. Maggidim,wherever you are, this is my call to you). Here goes:
Dovie Blanchard was an 8 year-old living in Teaneck, NJ. His family was one of devoted members of Beth Aaron, the main Modern Orthodox shul in their area.
Dovie's older brother Jacob had just had his Bar Mitzvah, and the second grader was captivated by the sweet sounds of the Ta'amei Hamikra, or as the Candyman of the shul called them, trop. But Dovie, according to official shul policy, was too young to stay in the sanctuary; he had to go to children's groups.
Dovie's dad, Shmuel Blanchard, didn't want Dovie to miss out on the Torah learning. He asked the Rabbi how his son could still follow along with everyone else in the congregation. The Rabbi brought down the following quote:
Finish your parashot with the community: twice in the text, and once in the translation...
Dovie started learning in this fashion, reading three aliyot a day with his father to finish one parasha per week. Eventually, he got to Tazria-Metzora, when he noticed something strange. The first aliyah (or first part of the first aliyah, technically, in a double-parasha year) talks about what happens when a child is born; all of the next aliyot talk about the Metzora. And, what's more, the next parasha continues that strand, finally ending the discussion of Tzara'at just in to the fifth aliya. Why, little Dovie wondered, is the topic of Tzara'at broken into halves, and each half combined with another discussion in their own parasha?
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אִשָּׁה֙ כִּ֣י תַזְרִ֔יעַ וְיָלְדָ֖ה זָכָ֑ר וְטָֽמְאָה֙ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֔ים כִּימֵ֛י נִדַּ֥ת דְּוֺתָ֖הּ תִּטְמָֽא׃
(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a woman be delivered, and bear a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the impurity of her sickness shall she be unclean.
Perek 12 is the outlier in Tazria.
This, in Metzora, is the end of the Tzara'at section.
Right after, still in Metzora, we start talking about other sources of impurity.
Dovie's dad, not knowing the answer, decided to ask the Rabbi that Shabbos. The Rabbi thought for a few seconds, and then replied thoughtfully:
"Well, if you look at the break in between Tazria and Metzora, there's a slight difference in topic. Tazria is about the actual signs of the affliction; Metzora starts off with the way to become pure, after a week of having Tzara'at."
"That's true," Mr. Blanchard thought aloud. "But what does this teach us?"
The Rabbi smiled. "By putting a break in between the punishment and the way to make things better, we are taught an important lesson: Before someone does teshuva, they must always take a pause, reflect, realize that they did something wrong, and regret it."
Dovie wished the Rabbi a Shabbat Shalom and thanked him for resolving the difficulty, and for explaining his answer so that he could understand.
And so we learn from this: With the method of splitting up the im-purification from the purification, the Torah is cautioning us that repentance must be sincere and thought-out.