Parshas Acharei-Mos - Mind the Land or Beware of Land Mines

Parshas Acharei-Mos

Mind the Land or Beware of Land Mines

By: Daniel Listhaus

וְלֹא תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם: כִּי כָּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְנִכְרְתוּ הַנְּפָשׁוֹת הָעֹשׂת מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּם: וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּי לְבִלְתִּי עֲשׂוֹת מֵחֻקּוֹת הַתּוֹעֵבֹת אֲשֶׁר נַעֲשׂוּ לִפְנֵיכֶם וְלֹא תִטַּמְּאוּ בָּהֶם אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם

Let not the Land vomit you out for having made it impure, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For if anyone commits any of these abominations, the people doing so will be cut off from among their people. You shall safeguard My charge that these abominable traditions that were done before not be done, and nit make yourselves impure through them; I am Hashem your G-d.

-Acharei Mos 18:28-30

Acharei Mos concludes after having warned against following the ways of the goyim. As Jews we are expected to live an elite life of princes keeping the mitzvos of the King. This necessitates being different in many ways – from staying away from avodah zarrah (idol worship) to not participating in gatherings which represent their values.¹ We are required to keep all the mitzvos whether they be ones that we can comprehend or not. We must keep in mind, however, that the reason why we keep any particular mitzva is not because it makes sense to us but rather simply because Hashem commanded us to do so.

Sandwiched between the negative commandments of Acharei Mos dealing with who one cannot marry to preserve the kedusha of marriage and parshas Kedoshim which lists the fundamental mitzvos of what it means to be a person who is kadosh, is a peculiar passuk (verse). The passuk essentially says to be careful to keep every aspect of the Torah and to make sure not to follow the ways of the goyim or else the land – Eretz Yisroel – will spit us out.

In order to explain this interesting passuk, Rashi² offers the following moshol (parable). Rashi writes that imagine there was a son of a king who was fed something repulsive which his stomach could not tolerate. Certainly he would vomit it out. Similarly, Eretz Yisroel does not keep ovrei aveira (transgressors).

When reading this Rashi, two questions come to mind. First, why does Rashi need to give the moshol of a prince who ate something disgusting, why can't the moshol have been with even a regular person eating something repulsive? Second, Rashi is clearly learning the passuk as pashut p'shat (literally understanding the passuk as it is written). However, how could we understand that a land could not tolerate what is done on it? Why should it care what is occurring on its surface?

The Sifsei Chochomim³ explains that Rashi's choice of the prince in his moshol was in fact deliberate. A regular person who eats something that upsets his stomach or that he is told afterward that what he ate was something gross, can tolerate it to a certain extent. However, a prince who is finicky because he grew up in the house of the king is much less tolerant and when fed something repulsive will vomit it out immediately without a delay. So too, writes that Sifsei Chochomim, is the case with Eretz Yisroel. While goyim are in control of Eretz Yisroel and living there, even though they may be doing disgusting things, and certainly not keeping the mitzvos of the Torah, still Eretz Yisroel is able to tolerate it for a longer period of time than while Jews are in control of Eretz Yisroel and living there. Every Jew is a prince of Hashem and if the individual has not strived to perfect his spiritual digestion system to know what to filter out, then Eretz Yisroel does it for him by spitting him out. This is an idea that should not be foreign to us. Reading through Nach one could clearly see that as soon as the Jews started following the ways of the goyim, the Pelishtim and our other enemies of the time immediately waged war and took control of Eretz Yisroel. Yet, the moment that B'nei Yisroel did teshuva (repentance) and cried to Hashem, a shofet was sent to save them. Miraculous things occurred and impossible battles were won with the yad Hashem (“Hand” of Hashem) again on our side.

Rabbi Yeheda HaLevi, in his work, The Kuzari⁴, answers the Kuzari's question as to how it is possible that Eretz Yisroel be any more special than any other land. He writes that just as one can see in the world that certain places have the ability to cultivate particular plants more successfully than other places, that some areas are more conducive for specific minerals than others, and that some animals flourish in certain regions, so too when it comes to spirituality there is a specific place – Eretz Yisroel – which is conducive to spiritual growth. This is why nevuah could only be achieved in Eretz Yisroel.⁵

Eretz Yisroel is a very special land with tremendous powers. Hashem gave us, the descendents of Avraham avinu, this land with an owners manual called the Torah. When we keep the Torah, Eretz Yisroel protects itself and its inhabitants providing the opportune place for spiritual growth. However, during times when Jews in Eretz Yisroel are going against the Torah, the land cannot tolerate the repulsiveness and spits its people out.

Every nation and country in the world has a malach. Eretz Yisroel and the Jewish people have no malach, but rather Hashem himself is our direct contact. As tremendous as this is, we must realize that it comes with the expectation that we set our spiritual digestive system accordingly with the Torah in a way that we do not do what the Torah warns against and instead involve ourselves in the mitzvos, stick to our mesorah, and listen to da'as Torah which together directs us how to live our daily lives.

Living in Eretz Yisroel is something that many Amoraim and Rishonim dreamed of. Had they been living in our times when Eretz Yisroel is so accessible they would surely be on the next flight over. What we must keep in mind though is that as much as Eretz Yisroel is our land given to us by Hashem Himself and that we are privileged to live there, we have the tremendous responsibility to make sure that we act appropriately. In this way the land will protect itself as it has done in the past; for Hashem is the sole guardian of Eretz Yisroel.

May Hashem help those in Eretz Yisroel who have strayed away from the Torah realize that they can still do teshuva so that we could continue to have the zechus (merit) of living there and be able to take advantage the land's conduciveness to spiritual growth, instead of chas v'shalom, our past repeating itself of the land not able to tolerate us.

1See Rashi Vayikra 18:4

2Vayikra 18:28

3Ibid.

4Kuzari 2:9-24

5Although throughout Torah and Nach there are many examples of nevuah taking place outside Eretz Yisroel, all those nevuos were specifically about Eretz Yisroel or going to Eretz Yisroel.

Photo Credit: Edited picture from http://blogs.dnalc.org/2009/12/07/lighting-up-landmines/

Parshas Acharei Mos – Kedoshim - Caught in a Lie

Parshas Acharei Mos – Kedoshim

Caught in a Lie

By: Daniel Listhaus

לֹא תִּגְנֹבוּ וְלֹא תְכַחֲשׁוּ וְלֹא תְשַׁקְּרוּ אִישׁ בַּעֲמִיתוֹ: וְלֹא תִשָּׁבְעוּ בִשְׁמִי לַשָּׁקֶר וְחִלַּלְתָּ אֶת שֵׁם אֱלֹקיךָ אֲנִי ה'ה

“You shall not steal, and you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby desecrating the Name of your G-d – I am Hashem.”

-Kedoshim 19:11-12

The first passuk (verse) of parshas Kedoshim begins, “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the entire assembly of B'nei Yisroel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am Holy.”¹

Rashi² comments that this passuk teaches us that this part of the Torah was said b'hakhel – at a gathering of the entire B'nei Yisroel – because the majority of the essentials of the Torah depend on it.³ There is no doubt that this parsha indeed contains the most basic and fundamental parts of the Torah. After all, the Aseres Hadibros are present throughout the parsha in some way or another– some explicitly and some hinted to. Additionally, the parsha contains the mitzva of v'ahavta l'rayacha ka'mocha (love your fellow as yourself)⁴ which is, as Hillel called it, “zeh klal gadol batorah – this is a tremendous fundamental in the Torah”.⁵

Interestingly, a large part of the mitzvos in this vital list of “kedoshim tehiyu (you shall be Holy)” are mitzvos having to do with being honest and staying away from sheker (falsehood). In the aforementioned passuk, the Torah lists a series of warnings: “You shall not steal, and you shall not deny falsely, and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby desecrating the Name of your G-d – I am Hashem.” Rashi⁶ comments that this juxtaposed series is no coincidence. In fact, the Torah is teaching us a lesson in human behavior. Rashi writes as follows, “If you have stolen, your end will be to deny falsely; and then your end will be to lie; and then your end will be to swear falsely.”

There are two questions one could ask on this Rashi. First, what is the difference between denying falsely and lying? If one stole something and then denies doing so, that is itself a lie. So according to this succession of aveiros (sins) which Rashi is setting up, how is lying any different from denying falsely?

The second question one could ask on Rashi is that he seems to be taking this whole theory too far. The mishna in Bava Metzia⁷ discusses a case where two people walk into Beis Din (Jewish court), each holding half of a tallis and are each claiming that it is entirely his own. The halacha (law) that the Mishna states is that they split the tallis equally and then each swear that they do not own less than half.⁸ The Gemara⁹ then explains that the sh'vuah (oath) was instituted to address an issue which would arise without it. Imagine if the law would be that whatever two people come into court holding is automatically split in half between them. With such a law in place, what would stop people from approaching others and grabbing a part of whatever they please, dragging them to court, and then getting to keep half of it? In order to stop such a thing from possibly happening, this oath was instituted to essentially scare off dishonest people from taking advantage of the halacha.

We see from this Gemara that swearing falsely in Beis Din was no laughing matter. Taking a sh'vuah in Beis Din was something that even the biggest thief would think twice about. If so, how could our Rashi make such a confident inference from the passuk that one who steals will ultimately end up swearing falsely?

Perhaps we could come to understand the lesson that Rashi is teaching us by first understanding an area of human behavior. There are three phases which a person goes during the process of performing any action: before, during, and after. The “before stage” is when we anticipate what to expect with the experience we are about to undergo. The “during stage” is the stage of the experience itself, while the last stage is the “after stage”, which consists of our memories of the experience we had. These three stages are obvious and known to all, however their relationships with each other are things which are often not payed much attention to.

Imagine for a moment that you have decided to take the day off to go to an amusement park with a couple of friends. You arrive at the park at 10am and spend the day playing different games, going on various rides, and having a terrific time. Finally, at about 3pm, with only one hour left to spend at the park, you and your friends decide to take a break amongst the excitement. So, you sit down together for a late, but wonderful, picnic lunch. After lunch, you decide to go on the new super-duper-upside-down-roller-coaster. This starts off as a great ride until you realize that your lunch is there as well, is not too happy with you at the moment, and will be waiting to take revenge the moment you get off the ride. Then, as you begin to get sicker and sicker, your strong-prescription glasses go flying off without any warning, and will just as much never be seen again as you will not be able to see for the rest of the day. You get off the roller-coaster and are forced to watch your friends go off and continue enjoying themselves as you stay behind for the remaining hour of your time at the amusement park sitting at a bench sick to you stomach, and barely able to see.

There is no doubt that this day will be remembered as one of the worst in your life. However, if you would stop to think about it, that would not be such an accurate analysis. After all, for five out of the six hours spent at the park, you had a great time. Nonetheless, many of those pleasures and fun moments will not be able to be recalled later because the memory of you being sick will kill your memory of experiencing the great time you had. In other words, peoples' experiences are tremendously effected on both sides of the actual event. The attitude which one has when anticipating an experience will have a tremendous impact on the experience itself; however, to even a greater degree, the way we choose to remember an experience, will effect the way we remember it forever.

Our memory has an incredible influence over our experiences. Some times this could be good. As a matter of fact, the Orchos Tzadikkim¹⁰ writes about how great it is to forget and forgive people who have done bad things to you in the past. However, the power of memory is simultaneously extremely dangerous. The reason it is dangerous is because it is easy to manipulate.

The Orchos Tzadikkim¹¹ describes that when someone tells a lie, it generally falls into one of nine categories. One of these categories is when someone hears a story but when he says it over to others, he conveniently leaves some parts out, and adds other parts in to make the story more thrilling. People are wiling to do this even though there is no inherit benefit to be gained by either party. Yet, the Orchos Tzadikkim writes, one who accustoms himself to saying such lies will result in testifying falsely. If one becomes someone who allows sheker to take control of him, and allows his memories to be manipulated, he has breached the geder shel emes – the fence protecting his truths. This leads to actually believing one's own lies; and unless he does something to protect himself, he may easily become someone who testifies falsely about people – not necessarily because he means to do so, but because he is a person who is not careful with emes and therefore such outcomes enter the realm of possibility.

Rashi writes that one who steals will eventually come to deny falsely, then will come to lie, and will ultimately end up swearing falsely. The Maskil L'Dovid¹² writes that the sequence goes as follows. Someone goes ahead and steals an item from someone else. Then, when asked if he took it, he will deny it defensively with a definite “no”. The next part of the time-line is coming up with lies. The thief starts thinking up a whole story about where he was at the time, what he was doing, and who else was there. He throws so many vivid details into his story that he himself starts confusing them with the real details of what happened. This person who is not careful with protecting his memory ultimately becomes worse than just a regular thief. He ends up as a denier and a liar who will get so caught up in his lies to the point that he will start believing it himself. Once he starts believing the lies that come out of his mouth, he will have no problem with swearing falsely. He will believe his own story to the extent that he will not be scared off by swearing – after all, he is swearing the truth.

We must make sure that we take control of our memories and keep them as accurate as we can in accordance with the experience we experienced. A memory is extremely important because it has the potential to recall the facts that we remember experiencing in the past. However, we must keep in mind the manipulative power that our memory is capable of, and be careful not to force information into our memories. Doing so opens up to disaster. Once we let our guard down and allow ourselves to manipulate our own memories, there is no end to the aveiros in sheker it could lead to.

1Vayikra 19:1

2Ibid.

3The Sifsei Chochomim asks: What is Rashi saying? The entire Torah was taught to the entire B'nei Yisroel from Moshe! He answers with two possible answers. Either that this parsha was said even in front of all the women and children (which was not necessarily the case by the entire Torah), or that this parsha was said in front of everyone at the same time as opposed to them learning it from Moshe in groups, as they did for other parts of the Torah.

4Vayikra 19:18

5Rashi Vayikra 19:18 brings this from the Toras Kohanim 19:45. The Sifsei Chochomim here adds that in fact Hillel said, “This mitzva encompasses the entire Torah. The rest is just its explanation.”

6Vayikra 19:11

7Bava Metzia 2a

8Bava Metzia 5b describes exactly why the sh'vuah (oath) must be made in this specific way.

9Bava Metzia 3a

10Sha'ar HaShich'cha

11Sha'ar HaSheker

12Vayikra 19:11-12
Cover Picture Credits: edited from: http://climategate.nl/2012/05/08/anthony-watts-salomonsoordeel-cru-zijn-een-stelletje-leugenaars/pinocchio/ and http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/13669/1/1/how-to-draw-a-spiderweb-for-kids.htm

Parshas Tazria-Metzora - The End is Near: “Game Over” or “Level Cleared?”

Parshas Tazria-Metzora

The End is Near:

“Game Over” or “Level Cleared”?

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּימֵי נִדַּת דְּו‍ֹתָהּ תִּטְמָא

“Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, 'Speak to the Children of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be impure for a seven-day period, as during the days of her menstruant infirmity shall she be impure.'”

-Tazria 12:1-2

Rashi¹ points out that only now after having discussed many of the details regarding bringing animals as karbanos (offerings) does the Torah teach about the very first halachos (laws) that apply at the beginning of every childbirth. Rashi brings from a medrash² that the reason for this order is because it is structured after the sequence of Beraishis (Creation). Just as the creation of man came after all the cattle, beasts, and fowl, so too the halachos pertinent to man are taught after those of animals.

The question that this leads to, however, as the Sifsei Chachomim³ asks, is why exactly is it that man was created after animals? The Sifsei Chochomim answers based on a gemara. The gemara⁴ itself poses the question as to why man was created last, just hours before Shabbos. The gemara offers four answers. The first answer is in order to remove the possibility of people believing that man helped Hashem create the world. After all, if man was clearly not created until Friday after everything else, then it is impossible that man had anything to do with the creation of the world. The second answer suggested is that man was created last as a constant reminder, especially during times when we may feel haughty, that even the gnat was created before us. The third answer given is that man was created right before Shabbos in order that he be able to involve himself in a mitzva right away. The fourth answer the gemara offers is that man was created last because really the whole world was created for man and this way all of nature would be prepared for us.

Having answered his side question, the Sifsei Chochomim asks on the medrash brought by Rashi that if indeed the Torah was structuring the many halachos of Sefer Vayikra based on the order of Beraishis, then why is it that Parshas Tazria comes before Parshas Metzora? After all, the halachos in Tazria deal with women whereas Metzora deals with laws subject to men. Adom was created before Chava and therefore Parshas Metzora should come before Parshas Tazria in the same way that the Parshiyos dealing with laws of animals come before the halachos dealing with people?

The Sifsei Chochomim offers three answers, however we will focus on the first. The Sifsei Chochomim writes that the reason why the laws of Tazria are in the Torah before those of the Metzora is because it is much more common for a woman to give birth (tazria) than for a man to become a metzora (someone with tzara'as). This answer is simple enough. It is actually fairly common for the Torah to give preference in order to something that is more common. This concept is known as tadir v'she'aino tadir, tadir kodem – for example if one has before him two mitzvos, one of which is objectively done more often than the other, one should do the more regular one first and only afterward do the second. However, the words of the Sifsei Chochomim themselves are worth repeating that the answer as to why Parshas Metzora does not come before Parshas Tazria is because it is more common for a woman to give birth than for a man to become a metzora.

Now-a-days we live in a world where exactly the opposite is true. Rarely does a day go by in the news without a mention of pushing the rights of women to be able to not have children; and when was the last day there was no story in the news of someone killing many people? Stabbings and shootings all over the country (let alone the world) of innocent people are things which we have become accustomed to and no longer even seem to faze young children. I do not intend to take any political sides or try to promote an opinion regarding either side to these topics. Both sides to these areas are certainly debatable in American law, and I have no idea what the subject matter or current debates in halacha are involved. I am sure that by both Torah and secular law, although coming from very different sources, reasons, and viewpoints, there is a lot of gray area as to what degree these things could be taken to from a practical position, a constitutional stand point, and an ethical perspective. However leaving all of that aside, the only thing that I would like to point out is the fact that unarguably these discussions and events do fill the daily news and occupy the minds of many. Regardless of how far one is willing to extend it, there is no question that the universal goals of man – to provide a next generation and ensure peace keeping peace by staying away from lashon harah – are things which the world in general is now willing to play around with more than in the past. Could we really be so sure that indeed now-a-days it is not the case that man becomes a metzora⁵ much more often than a woman gives birth? The metzora side is heavy - people degrade and belittle each other all the time in more and worse ways now than ever before. Simultaneously, the tazria side is light – it is no secret that America's birth rate is speedily decreasing to the point that it is now even an economic concern that a child born in 2015 will possibly be expected to carry twice the economic burden than one born in 1985.

The world has become completely upside-down. The species of mankind has so deeply deteriorated that those still represent what an “adom” is are extremely far and extremely few between. Those who are immersed in Torah study and work on their middos and connection to Hashem represent the last remnant of Adom.

Last weekend, William Kieren, a 79 year old man, was tragically killed in car accident on the highway. This accident was one like no other – Kieren was killed but his car did not have even the slightest scratch in it. As a matter of fact, his car was not even hit. No one was drunk, no one was on the phone while driving, and the car that killed him was completely in control. How did he die? William was driving along the dark Wyoming highway and noticed an injured rabbit in the middle of the road. So, he left his car on the side and walked to the center lane where the rabbit was and started to pick it up to save it from its imminent danger. Ironically, while doing so, he himself was hit by a car, whose driver could not make Kieren out in the dark. Kieren was sadly killed and although it was not mentioned, it could be assumed that the unlucky rabbit was as well.

This story is a sad one indeed and for many it is still fresh in their minds. When reading this article, though, it is hard not to wonder what in the world he was thinking for getting out of his car in the middle of a highway to save the rabbit? Maybe he thought he would see any oncoming cars and be able to move out of the way in time, or perhaps there was some other rationale. There is no argument, however, that it was at best a case of safeik sakanas nefashos (a situation of a possible loss of human life). As a Torah Jew, there is very little demanded from one in a circumstance of possible loss of human life, and saving an injured animal is certainly not on that privileged list. Again, there is no humor in a nice 79 year old man dying no matter how it happened, but the fact that someone with so much life experience could make such a miscalculation is scary. Surely this comes from the double edged sword of two forces pulling at modern society. One is the force of the importance of animal rights and the other is the devaluation of human life. These perspectives are so predominant in our times that it has become seemingly normal.

On September 24, 2011 a 21 year old man by the name of C.J. Wickersham was a victim of a bull-shark attack. The good news is that he lived to tell the tale, something many with a shared experience do not. The bad news is that he lost a couple of body parts and is obviously not the same person physically or mentally that he was before. However, despite this man's traumatizing encounter, PETA thought it to be the opportune time to remind everyone to have the proper view of life. As Ashley Byrne, a PETA director, said, “We are glad that Mr. Wickersham is going to be okay, but we do hope that this painful and frightening experience makes him think about the pain and fear that he is causing to fish – and other fishermen are causing to fish.”

The atmosphere modern society advocates of the devaluation of human life, is expressing itself in the types of debates that are being argued, the daily violence, and depression at early ages. Man was created last because the world was created for him. Granted there is a commandment not to destroy the world Hashem created for us⁶ and that we are warned against tza'ar ba'alei chaim (paining creatures)⁷, but equally is the charge for us to remain an Adom and utilize the world and its resources productively – for the use of man – even if there be a cost to the animals involved.⁸ Yes, fish do need to be taken out of their habitat and killed for people to eat, but that is their purpose. The 'ethical perspectives' of our times are completely contrary to what was established as the baseline expectations of all mankind from the time of Beraishis.⁹

May Hashem help us and the world at large realize how we are failing greatly in our role as adom. The world is completely upside-down and there is no doubt that the end is near. However let us make an effort to at least think about this and help change so that we do not have to end the world with a “game over” as reshaim who are not even holding on the level of basic Adom, but rather with a “level completed” as tzaddikim who recognize what it means to be an Adom and are therefore able to do teshuva.

1Vayikra 12:1

2Vayikra Rabbah 14:1

3Vayikra 12:1

4Sanhedrin 38a

5Obviously there are no metzoras now because we no longer have tzara'as and there is no Beis Hamikdash with a Kohen to declare it to be tamei or tahor. However, conceptually, the idea that people are constantly doing things that would be the cause of tzara'as and becoming a metzora is a very real one.

6Devarim 20:19

7See Gemara Bava Metzia 32a-33a which discusses whether this is a law from the Torah itself or a Rabbinic decree. Additionally see Gemara Berachos 40a which states that it is forbidden for a person to feed himself before his animals

8Beraishis 1:26-30; See also Gemara Shabbos 129

9See Beraishis 9:1-7
Photo Credit: Edited Picture from http://www.dailynintendo.nl/ and  http://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_snes2sma.shtml

Parshas Tazria-Metzora - Be Kind Too! You're a Web-Rooted Friend

Parshas Tazria-Metzora

Be Kind Too! You're a Web-Rooted Friend

By: Daniel Listhaus

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר: אָדָם כִּי יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים

“Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying, 'If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a se'is or sapachas or a baheres, and it will become a tzara'as affliction on the skin of his flesh; he shall be brought to Aharon the Kohen, or to one of his sons the Kohanim...'”

-Tazria 13:1-2

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: זֹאת תִּהְיֶה תּוֹרַת הַמְּצֹרָע בְּיוֹם טָהֳרָתוֹ וְהוּבָא אֶל הַכֹּהֵן: וְיָצָא הַכֹּהֵן אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְרָאָה הַכֹּהֵן וְהִנֵּה נִרְפָּא נֶגַע הַצָּרַעַת מִן הַצָּרוּעַ: וְצִוָּה הַכֹּהֵן וְלָקַח לַמִּטַּהֵר שְׁתֵּי צִפֳּרִים חַיּוֹת טְהֹרוֹת וְעֵץ אֶרֶז וּשְׁנִי תוֹלַעַת וְאֵזֹב

“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying, 'This shall be the law of the Metzora on the day of his purification: He shall be brought to the Kohen. The Kohen shall look, and behold! - the tzara'as affliction had been healed from the Metzora. The Kohen shall command; and for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, pure birds, cedarwood, a crimson tongue of wool, and hyssop.'”

-Metzora 14:1-4

וַיְדַבֵּר הֹ' אֶל משֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר: כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם: וּבָא אֲשֶׁר לוֹ הַבַּיִת וְהִגִּיד לַכֹּהֵן לֵאמֹר כְּנֶגַע נִרְאָה לִי בַּבָּיִת: וְצִוָּה הַכֹּהֵן וּפִנּוּ אֶת הַבַּיִת בְּטֶרֶם יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַנֶּגַע וְלֹא יִטְמָא כָּל אֲשֶׁר בַּבָּיִת וְאַחַר כֵּן יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַבָּיִת

“Hashem spoke to Moshe and Aharon, saying: 'When you arrive in the land of Cana'an that I give you as a possession, and I will place a tzara'as as affliction upon a house in the land of your possession.; the one to who the house belongs shall come to declare to the Kohen, saying: 'Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house'. The Kohen shall command, and they shall clear the house when the Kohen has not yet come to look at the affliction, so that everything in the house should not become impure; and afterward shall the Kohen come to look at the house....'”

-Metzora 14:33-36

The whole concept of tzara'as is one that is so foreign to us. With tzara'as as part of reality, one could imagine how it would be so much easier to literally see that even non-physical actions could have real bad repercussions, as well as realize that there is indeed a direct connection between the spiritual and physical worlds. Lashon harah (evil speech) is spoken everyday by so many people whether it be verbally or over social networks, with seemingly no consequences. It has become such a focal part of society that the idea does not faze us. Whistle-blowing, art critiquing, ratings, online comments, everyday news. We rush to hear or say negative things about others because deep down it makes us feel better. It is an extremely unfortunate reality that we are so disconnected and unmoved by speaking or listening to lashon harah. Certainly no one would want lashon harah spoken about themselves – after all “it's not their business” or “for what purpose would you want to ruin my reputation” - yet when it comes to others, it comes to us so easy that we rarely even need to rationalize what we are saying, we just say whatever we want whether in speech, text, email, or comment sections. How does this make any sense? Even non-Jews have the principle to treat thy fellow neighbor as yourself. After all it becomes a necessary principle for civilization to succeed. People do not go around physically hurting others, because they would not want to be physically hurt in return. So why do people easily say things which hurt others when they would not want that to be done back to them? What intuition is lacking when it comes to lashon harah which causes us to do it without thinking? How could we work on ourselves to start realizing when we are saying or hearing lashon harah in order to stay away from it?

The passuk¹ (verse) describes that upon seeing tzara'as on one's house, the afflicted person goes to the Kohen and declares, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house”. Rashi² further stresses that even if the person is a talmid chochom (Torah scholar) who knows that what is on his house is certainly a form of tzara'as, still he is not permitted to definitively declare, “An affliction has appeared to me”; rather, he should say, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”. The reason for this, as the next Rashi³ further explains, is because until the Kohen himself declares it tamei (impure), there is absolutely no law of impurity regarding the affliction.

The Alter of Slabodka⁴ is bothered by this process. Is this all a word game? If the man who received the tzara'as knows for himself that it is indeed tzara'as, why does he need to play dumb with the Kohen? He should be encouraged to explicitly state the facts: “An affliction has appeared to me.” What is the point of this elusiveness by saying, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”?

The Alter of Slabodka answers by reiterating Rashi in a slightly stronger way. He writes that because it is the Kohen who must declare that the affliction is indeed tamei, it would be sheker (a lie) to declare prior to that point that you have seen tzara'as. Tzara'as must be declared by the Kohen. It is therefore not possible that you have seen tzara'as because tzara'as does not really exist until it is declared tamei by the Kohen. The Alter of Slabodka continues to write that perhaps some people are bothered by the following question. According to this, that we are so careful about not saying sheker, we have not accomplished anything. How could this talmid chochom say to the Kohen, “something like an affliction has appeared to me”, if he knows that it is tzara'as and will ultimately be declared as such anyway? If the Torah is really trying to be so stringent on falsehood, no lesson could be learned from here, he is lying regardless!

However, writes the Alter of Slabodka, one who is bothered by such a question is being caught up in the same fundamental mistake. Before the Kohen comes to declare it tamei, there is absolutely no tzara'as. It is not like we pretend that we do not know what it is and then when the Kohen makes his statement we say, “Told you so!” It is not like that at all. Rather, the tzara'as does not exist as a tamei affliction until the Kohen declares it as such. This is true to the point that if the afflicted is a talmid chochom who recognizes it as tzara'as, and the Kohen is an ignoramus who does not know all the rules of what qualifies as tzara'as, and consequently declares it tahor (pure), the man is indeed pure. The fact that the affliction is not considered tzara'as until the Kohen's say-so is evident from the Torah itself. The passuk⁵ advises that before one calls the Kohen to see the affliction in one's home, one should take some time to clear his house of his possessions in order that they not become contaminated at the time the Kohen determines the tzara'as to be tamei.⁶ There is no retroactive tzara'as. It is clear that no tzara'as existed before the Kohen declares it even if that same spot has been there for a while.

The Alter of Slabodka definitely makes himself clear that it would be incorrect for the talmid chochom to say, “An affliction has appeared to me”, and that the Torah is teaching us a lesson of the requirement to stay away from sheker (falsehood). However, let us stop and rethink through this again. though. There is no doubt that honesty is of utmost importance and a pillar of the Torah. After all, the seal of Hashem is emes (truth).⁷ However, is that really being compromised here? At the end of the day, what is really wrong with the afflicted person calling it tzara'as? Let it be his personal opinion. Imagine that you are sitting watching a court case and, after listening to both sides, you turn to the guy next to you and say, “That man is definitely guilty.” Is there really something so wrong in stating this? Granted, if the person sitting next to you is the Alter of Slabodka he might say, “How could you say he is guilty? The jury has not yet declared him as such!” But, would that really be a valid complaint, or is there in fact a bigger fuss about accuracy when it comes to tzara'as than even the most radical truth-tellers would generally make?

Furthermore, let us take a step back for a moment and recall the bigger picture. The whole reason for this necessity to say, “Something like an affliction has appeared to me”, stems from the fact that the Torah insists that it be only the Kohen who has the ability to declare tzara'as to be tamei. Why is this necessary? The entire parshiyos of Tazria and Metzora are filled with descriptions of the Kohen specifically being the one who is commanding and declaring. Why is it so important and why is there such an emphasis on it? Why not eliminate the middle man and let the people declare tamei for themselves?

The Medrash⁸ relates a story of a certain peddler who was traveling through a few cities near Tzipori. He went around announcing, “Who wants to purchase an elixir of life?” Soon, he had attracted a small crowd around him. Rebbe Yannai happened to be sitting there and said, “I would like to buy some”. The peddler turned to him and said, “You and those like you have no need for this product.” However, Rebbe Yannai kept bothering the peddler to sell it to him. The peddler then took out a Tehillim and showed him the following passukim: “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days of seeing good? Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from from speaking deceit. Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”⁹

It seems from these passukim in Tehillim that staying away from lashon harah is the recipe for a long life. However, the two elements which are needed to stay away from lashon harah are to come close to Torah¹⁰ and to pursue peace. As a matter of fact, the Kli Yakar¹¹ explains that this is precisely the reason why when it comes to tzara'as, it could only be declared tamei or tahor by a Kohen.¹² One who involves himself in lashon harah is someone who causes fights and mistrust. Such people destroy society by tearing its members apart from each other. Therefore, Aharon's special middah (trait) of shalom (peace) must be the one to set the example.

The mishna¹³ states that Hillel used to say, “Be among the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursing peace; loving people and bringing them closer to the Torah.” These two elements of coming closer to Torah and pursuing peace are the two fundamentals of establishing a successful society. Torah is emes (truth). Trust and honesty are needed in order to build real relationships and friendships. Additionally, in order to have a successful culture, just being “un-annoying” is not enough. Passiveness is not real peace. Passiveness would allow for a world where everyone absolutely despises each other, yet no one wants to violently express that hatred. Rather, real peace is the pursuit of peace. Just sitting around being a bobble-head is not enough, one has to go out and be actively kind and helpful to others with the others' best interests in mind.

This was what was so special about Aharon HaKohen. The passuk¹⁴ testifies that at the time that Aharon passed away, the entire B'nei Yisroel cried for thirty days in mourning. Rashi¹⁵ there comments that all the men and women felt a personal connection to Aharon because he was someone who would pursue peace, save marriages, and instill love between two people involved in an argument.

Speaking lashon harah is not something that one wakes up one morning and decides to do. Rather it is something which either feels right or wrong to us depending on the level we are on. The setup for this failure stems from a lacking in emes and a deficiency in pursuing peace. Emes and the pursuit of peace is what keeps society healthy; defining the contrast, however, is where it gets tricky. It is not enough to just not say or not allow for sheker, nor is it enough to simply not get on others' nerves. Instead, we must do as Hillel prescribes in Pirkei Avos – we must pursue peace and bring others closer to the emes of Torah. This means to actively encourage emes and to take action in creating peace.

Perhaps this is why these two points are so specifically stressed throughout the subject of tzara'as. To pure oneself from tzara'as, one must focus on the two middos – emes and shalom – he is deficient in, which allowed for him to feel comfortable speaking lashon harah in the first place. This is why the Torah chooses here to emphasize the distance we must go to stay away from sheker, and why the Torah takes the task of determining whether an affliction is impure away from those who are talmidei chochomim alone, and instead puts it in the charge of those who represent shalom.

Living during a time of “greed is good” and “on the Internet no one knows you are a dog”, it is no surprise that we have become so insensitive to lashon harah. Shalom and emes seem to be the antithesis of what we are influenced with on a daily basis. One would at least think that a culture where one could make up the perfect profile, and where self-made success is encouraged, should consist of the happiest people on Earth. Yet, that is certainly not the case.

People were not created to live lives of sheker or lack of actively pursuing peace, therefore following such paths cannot and do not lead to real happiness. Rather, it is being honest and caring for others which offers a taste of real happiness. A lady by the name of Elizabeth Dunn led an interesting study in 2008. She and her colleagues gathered a group of students and distributed envelopes to them containing cash and instructions on how it should be spent. Each envelope held either five or twenty dollars along with a note, which either instructed the money to be spent on oneself or on someone else. Later, Dunn and her team measured and analyzed the level of happiness that the participants experienced. Their results showed that the ones who spent the money on others felt much better and happier than those who spent the money on themselves – regardless of whether they had spent five or twenty dollars.

The idea of pursuing emes and shalom is something which we must realize works exponentially. Each person is rooted within a web of friends and acquaintances who in turn are each a part of their own network. So it is not enough to just be not unkind, instead we must actively be kind because we are rooted as part of a web in which one person's positive pursuit of peace could change others', causing an exponential chain reaction. At the same time, we must internalize the dangers that a deficiency in these middos could cause. After realizing the mentality which ruins communities and destroys societies, our task is to work on the middos which will prevent us from reaching such disasters.

May we learn from these parshiyos of tzara'as to work on the middos of emes and shalom, and achieve what Hashem tells us in Nach¹⁶, “You shall love truth and peace”.

1Vayikra 14:35

2Ibid.

3Vayikra 14:36

4Ohr HaTzafun: Chelek Gimmel

5Vayikra 14:36

6Rashi ibid.

7Gemara Shabbos 55a

8Vayikra Rabbah 16:2

9Tehillim 13-15

10See Gemara Berachos 5a which says that there is nothing referred to as “good” other than Torah, as the passuk says in Mishlei 4:2, “For a good teaching I have given you – My Torah; do not forsake it.”

11Tazria 13:3

12The Kli Yakar 13:2 actually maintains that there are three possible reasons why someone would receive tzara'as: For speaking lashon harah, being haughty, or running after money. The Kli Yakar (13:3) then explains why it is a Kohen specifically who declares the tzara'as on someone who did one of these three things. We will focus on the lashon harah part, though it could be applied to all three.

13Avos 1:13

14Bamidbar 20:29

15Ibid.

16Zechariah 8:19

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