Explorations

Perhaps it’s human nature: You see something on your skin you hadn’t noticed before. Has it always been there? Did it suddenly appear? You could have it checked by the doctor, but why make a fuss? You can just wait for your next regularly-scheduled visit – if there is one…

Modern man grapples with many fears. Whereas our ancestors worried about obtaining life’s basic necessities, we fear disease. They feared upheaval and calamity; we fear the disastrous results of years of excess. Some of us think we have it figured out: If you never have yourself examined, you are never sick. After all, they reason, illness is not real; it is the subjective determination of a physician. The problem with this thesis, of course, is that it is false.

The Torah speaks of a similar phenomenon, albeit in the metaphysical sphere: A lesion appears on the skin. It was not there yesterday; it should be examined. Here, though, the person who must perform the examination is not trained as a physician, he is born a kohen, because this ailment is not physical; it is a spiritual malady, or, to be more accurate, a physical expression of a spiritual condition.

The Torah describes the condition afflicting body, clothing or home in great detail: This is tzara’at. Although often translated as “leprosy,” most commentaries insist that the condition otherwise known as Hansen’s disease has nothing in common with tzara’at aside from the English translation it has been assigned. Rambam (laws of Tum’at Tzara’at chapter 16), for one, insists that the presentation of tzara’at is so different in its varied manifestations that it has nothing to do with the physical malady known as leprosy.

Tradition has generally associated the appearance of tzara’at with misspeech, be it divisive, hateful speech, slander, character assassination or even non-constructive, frivolous chatter. Thus, the kohen’s diagnosis of tzara’at is the first step along a long path of spiritual rehabilitation – but it is a step that cannot be skipped: Treatment cannot begin until the kohen has made his declaration -- unlike the physical ailment of leprosy which, if left untreated, whether a doctor pronounces a diagnosis or not, can result in death. Tzara’at is not tzara’at until it is declared so by a kohen, and is not treated until the kohen’s diagnosis is pronounced. (Rashi 14:36)

This crucial first step creates a distinct possibility for avoidance: Theoretically, a person can live in denial, hide the symptoms, and avoid altogether the “ordeal” of facing the kohen and the “treatment” that will ensue. Unfortunately, the underlying cause of the tzara’at, left untreated, can and will take its toll. Just as a person who ignores the warning signs of a physical ailment and avoids treatment will eventually face the physical consequences of neglect, so, too, the person afflicted with tzara’at who chooses to ignore the warning signs does damage to his or her soul. Ignoring the symptoms of tzara’at will not lead to physical demise, yet left unchecked, the malady festers and metastasizes, and causes pain to those around us.

The Torah teaches us to be sensitive - to minor changes in our person, our clothing, our homes, as well as to the feelings of those around us. Just as we should be sensitive to the physical health of our bodies and take note of changes, so, too, we are commanded to be sensitive to our spiritual health and to the wellbeing of our personal space, and to ask the kohen to pay a house call if any suspicious spots appear. If the kohen identifies the problem as tzara’at, the stricken individual must follow the instructions for containment and quarantine with precision, but equally importantly, he or she must correct the underlying cause of the ailment: A new diet of words and modes of conversation must take the place of the destructive, hurtful speech that brought tazara’at in its wake. The sufferer must take advantage of the period of isolation to learn to use the gift of speech to comfort and uplift those around him, to recognize the spark of the divine within others, and to allow that same spark of divinity within himself to shine.

For a more in-depth analysis see:

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/audio-and-essays-parashat-metzora.html

Echoes of Eden

Audio and Essays Parashat Metzora:

Audio and Essays Parashat Metzora:

New Echoes of Eden Project:

Ignoring the Signs

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/parashat-metzorah-5776-ignoring-signs.html

Audio:

Tumah/Hyssop/Korban Pesach

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/854863/rabbi-ari-kahn/tumah-hyssop-and-the-korban-pesach/

Commandments as a replacement for Holiness

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/774530/Rabbi_Ari_Kahn/Commandments_as_a_replacement_for_Holiness

Iyov Yona and Eliyahu Prophets and Non-Prophets

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/792170/Rabbi_Ari_Kahn/Iyov_Yona_and_Eliyahu_Prophets_and_Non-Prophets

FreeBird

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/834497/rabbi-ari-kahn/freebird/

Metzora

http://archive.rabbiarikahn.com/audio?id=306

Turning Pain into Pleasure

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/759389/Rabbi_Ari_Kahn/Turning_Pain_into_Pleasure

The Lonely Leper

http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/811172/rabbi-ari-kahn/the-lonely-leper/

Essays:

Life and Death

http://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48923217.html

The Holy Hyssop

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2009/04/tazria-metzorah-5769.html

The Sanctity of Speech

http://www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48923507.html

Man's Duality

http://archive.rabbiarikahn.com/writing?id=132

Turning Pain Into Pleasure

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2010/04/parshiot-tazria-and-metzora-5770.html

Feeling Kinship

http://rabbiarikahn.com/pdf/parashat_metzorah_5774_feeling_kinship.pdf

FreeBird

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2015/04/parashiottazria-5775-and-metzora.html

The Holy Hyssop

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2009/04/tazria-metzorah-5769.html

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Parashat Tazria 5776 Power of the People

Echoes of Eden

Rabbi Ari Kahn

Parashat Tazria 5776

Power of the People

The book of Vayikra makes a sudden shift from the world of the Mishkan to the laws of purity (taharah) and impurity (tum’ah). In a sense, these are two sides of the same coin: Those who encounter tum’ah are banished from the Mishkan; we may say that tum’ah is the antithesis of what the Mishkan stands for. Therefore, a person in the state of tum’ah must separate from the place of holiness. What is this state of impurity? Where does it come from and how is it resolved? As is the case with many technical terms, translation can only produce an approximation of the concept we call tum’ah. In general terms, tum’ah may be associated with death or quasi-death experiences. Even childbirth generates tum’ah: Although it is the most basic, most immediate experience of life, childbirth is part of the cycle of mortality that is part and parcel of the human experience. The newborn child will, inevitable, inescapably, “suffer” from the same mortality that lies at the base of all tum’ah.

Similarly, if not somewhat strangely, a person who suffers from “living death,” from the physiological manifestation of the spiritual disease known as tzara’at (often lamely translated as leprosy) is considered more profoundly impure than a person who comes into contact with actual death. The leper is sequestered, quarantined, removed completely from all three concentric rings that made up the Israelite camp. Not only is the leper completely isolated, he or she must warn one and all of the affliction, alert everyone they encounter to keep a safe distance – by calling out “tameh! tameh!”. On the other hand, when a person dies, family members who became tameh in the course of the burial must leave the Mishkan, but the community comes to them. The mourners are not sequestered, not isolated. They are cared for, consoled and comforted, gently reintroduced into the community and, eventually, the sacred confines of the Mishkan. Not so lepers: Until they are completely healed, they remain personae non grata.

There is an unmistakable linguistic parallel that may bring this contrast into sharper focus. Describing the leper, the Torah states:

The … kohen must declare him unclean. When a person has the mark of the leprous curse, his clothing must be torn, he must go without a haircut, and he must cover his head down to his lips. ‘Tameh! Tameh!’ (Unclean! Unclean!) he must call out. As long as he has the mark, he shall remain unclean. Since he is unclean, he must remain alone, and his place shall be outside the camp. (Vayikra 13:44-46)

Some of the terms here are familiar to us from an earlier narrative: The sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, died suddenly in the Mishkan itself, and Moshe instructs the family not to mourn:

Moshe said to Aharon and his sons, Elazar and Itamar, 'Do not go without a haircut and do not tear your vestments; otherwise you will die, bringing Divine wrath upon the entire community. As far as your brothers are concerned, let the entire family of Israel mourn for those whom God burned. (Vayikra 10:5)

Here, then, is the inverse of the leper: The leper is completely estranged from the Mishkan and all of society, while the Kohen Gadol and his sons are commanded not to leave the Mishkan. The leper must comport himself like a mourner, letting his hair grow long and tearing his clothes, while Aharon’s family is forbidden to show any of these outward signs of mourning.

A concise comment in the Talmud may shed light on this inverse relationship. We noted above that the leper must call out and declare to all he is tameh (spiritually impure). The simple understanding of this behavior is pragmatic: The leper suffers from a severe spiritual malady, and his condition may be highly contagious - especially according to the Talmudic opinion that connects leprosy with speaking gossip (Erachin 16b). It becomes eminently clear why this person must be removed from society. Yet the Talmud sees the leper’s cry as something else altogether: The Talmud teaches that the leper’s cry “tameh, tameh” is, in fact, a call to anyone who hears his cries to pray for him (Shabbat 67a). The leper must ask the very people whom he may have slighted to show greatness of spirit, to forgive him, to have compassion and pray for him. The leper’s plea to his community serves to teach him to value the very people he had slandered, those for whom he had shown disregard and disrespect.

This contrasts starkly with Moshe’s instructions to Aharon and his remaining sons in their time of pain and mourning: The task with which they had been entrusted, the position of kohen, was not one they could walk away from. Aharon was given both the responsibility and the power to pray for the entire nation; he no longer had the luxury of private time. The Kohen Gadol is not only the representative of the people before God, he is also the servant of the people. Aharon would no longer have the luxury of “time off,” even to mourn his personal loss. Whereas the kohen embodies the greatness, the power and the holiness of the community, the leper is forced to beg the community to pray for him, teaching him to value his community as the first step towards reconciliation and rejoining the community.

For a more in-depth analysis see:

http://arikahn.blogspot.co.il/2016/04/audio-and-essays-parashat-tazria.html

Echoes of Eden

Books

Healing & Repairing: Essays on Sefer Bereishit
The Crowns on the Letters: Essays on the Aggada and the Lives of the Sages
Explorations Expanded (Bereishit)
Echoes of Eden: Sefer Bereshit (Me'orei Ha'aish Fire and Flame: Insights Into the Weekly Torah Portion) (English and Hebrew Edition)
Echoes of Eden: Sefer Shmot
Echoes of Eden: Sefer Vayikra
Echoes of Eden: Sefer Bamidbar
Echoes of Eden: Sefer Devarim
A River Flowed from Eden
A Taste of Eden: (More) Torah for the Shabbat Table
Explorations: In-depth Analysis of the Weekly Parashah Through the Prism
Emanations: In-depth analysis of the Jewish holidays through the prism of rabbinic perspective by Ari D Kahn (2002-05-04)
Echoes of Eden: 5 Volume Set (Me'orei Ha'aish - Fires and Flame: Insights Into the Weekly Torah Portion)
With Liberty and Justice: The Fifty Day Journey from Egypt to Sinai by Senator Joe Lieberman and Rabbi Ari D. Kahn

Explorations

Twitter

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Torah for Pesach

Monday, April 11, 2016

Parashat Metzorah 5776 Ignoring the Signs

Audio and Essays Parashat Metzora:

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Parashat Tazria 5776 Power of the People

Popular Posts

Explorations

Blog Archive

Total Pageviews

Books

Explorations

Rabbi Ari Kahn - YUTORAH.org: Recent Shiurim

Twitter

Translate

Followers

Wikipedia