Dear Friends;

I hope that you will enjoy the following two Parashiot summaries followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parshiot in a Nutshell ”

The Torah commands a woman to bring a korban after the birth of a child. A son is to be circumcised on the eighth day of his life.

Tzara’at is a super-natural plague, which can afflict people as well as garments or homes. If white or pink patches appear on a person’s skin, a Kohen is summoned. Judging by various signs, such as an increase in size of the afflicted area after a seven-day quarantine, the Kohen pronounces it tameh (impure) or tahor (pure).

A person afflicted with tzaraat must dwell alone outside of the camp until he is healed. The afflicted area in a garment or home must be removed; if the tzara’at re occurs, the entire garment or home must be destroyed.

The Torah describes the purification procedure for a person afflicted with tzara’at upon conclusion of his isolation. This process extends for a week and involves sacrifices and immersions in the mikvah. Then, a kohen must pronounce the afflicted pure.

Ritual impurity is also caused by a seminal or other discharge in a man, and menstruation or other discharge of blood in a woman, necessitating purification through immersion in a mikvah.

” Dvar Torah ”

When I started to do these Divrei Torahs, my biggest fear was to pick Dvar Torah topics in the book of Vayikra, since the main topic of discussion in this book is about the duties and responsibilities of the Kohanim at the time of the “Temple”. I used to say to myself what can we learn from these rituals which haven’t been in practice for more than two thousand years? But to my surprise, as I started to read the commentaries, I realized that I was wrong. Every Parsha of the Torah is as important as the other, and in every Parsha there is a lesson to be learned!

The main topic of discussion in this week’s two Parashiot is a disease called Tzara’at. There is no English translation for this disease, since this disease never existed in any other cultures, but it was somehow similar to Leprosy, except for the fact that it was not contagious. This disease did not have any scientific proof, nor any medical remedy to it, but rather, it was a heavenly disease brought down by Hashem and cured by Hashem. The Chachamim say that this disease was a punishment for those who had committed the sin of “Lashon Hara”, gossiping and evil talking about someone else.  This disease was an affliction that discolored human skin, clothing, hair, household items and even homes; but it is discussed in great detail when it fell on the body.

If a person was suspected to be struck by the disease, he did not need to be examined by a physician nor a medical expert. In fact, the entire examination and evaluation procedure was done by non-other than the “Kohen”. If afflicted, the person was quarantined and then reevaluated; if condemned, he was sent outside the Jewish camp, isolated from the whole congregation, until he was healed, which was a sign that he had repented from his slanderous ways. The whole procedure was a very embarrassing event. The Kohen had to accompany the convict to outside of the camp in front of the whole congregation and he had to announce in loud voice that he has Tzara’at. The Chachamim say that the punishments given in the Torah are usually measure for measure. The same way that the victim of an evil gossip is avoided and disrespected by everyone else; the same way the gossiper is put to shame and forced to isolate himself from the rest of the community.

But, The Torah tells us that the fate of the stricken man is totally dependent upon the will of the kohen. The kohen is shown the negah (blemish) and has complete authority to declare it “tamei” (impure) or “tahor” (pure), which determines the faith of the victim whether he could stay or leave the camp. In fact, even if all signs point to the declaration of impurity, if the kohen, for any reason deems the person tahor or refuses to declare him tamei, the man remains tahor. But the way the Torah demands from the Kohen to examine the blemish on the afflicted person is quite strange. The Torah says: “And the kohen shall look at the “negah” affliction on the skin and behold it has changed to white and appears deeper than the skin of the flesh – it is tzara’at and the kohen shall look at the man and declare him tamei”!

The question that bothers the Chachamim is quite simple. How many times does the Kohen need to look? If he looks at the blemish and it’s clearly tzara’at, then why does he need to look at the man again before publicly declaring him impure??!

Rabbi Kamenetzky has a beautiful insight in regards to this question. The kohen who is instructed to deal with the stricken individual should not only look at the affliction, but he must look at each person individually too. The Kohen must realize what consequences his verdict will bring upon the person and what the victim has to go through! Even if the “negah” has all the attributes that should lead to a declaration of impurity, there are other factors that must be weighed. If the man is a groom, about to be wed, impurity must not be declared. If the man is expecting a new baby sometime soon; if he is moving to a new house or if it will ruin any upcoming festivities, then a declaration of contamination must be postponed. The kohen, a man of love and peace, is not expected to embarrass or humiliate the afflicted person when he is in a state of joy, but rather, he is obligated to hide the truth. A person who has committed Lashon Hara and has humiliated someone publicly, deserves to be humiliated himself. But the Torah is telling us otherwise! The Kohen is expected to show compassion towards the afflicted one! The purpose of the tzara’at is not to punish the person or “chasbe shalom” to get back at him, but rather, it’s suppose to make him realize what he did was wrong and help him to change his ways.

Yes my friends, how easy is it for us to see a flaw or a blemish in others and how easy is it for us to announce it in public. How easy is it for us to call someone a liar, a thief, a crook, a womanizer, an alcoholic and so on. But before we do so, we should look at the man! We should ask ourselves, how is my declaration going to affect the future of this man? Sometimes, a simple gossip can scar a person for life! We should think of the consequences and then see if it’s worth saying it or not. If Hashem has so much compassion even towards a sinner and doesn’t want to embarrass him in public, then how much more compassion we should have for our fellow jews and not to humiliate them in public!

In the weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, it’s time to revise the book of “Pirkei Avot”. In it, it says “judge all of the people in a good way,” as do not look at a partial person: rather, judge all of the person — even a flaw may have a motivation or rationale behind it. That’s why when a Kohen clearly sees a blemish, before he pronounces him impure, he must look again. He must look beyond the blemish. He must look at the man!!

Shabath Shalom and Regards;

Martin