COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WEEKLY DVAR TORAH

Vol 1:3       						 Nissan 5756
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                              TAZRIA-METZORA	

This week's Divar Torah by:
			Andrew Jakabovics

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   This week's Torah reading is the double portion of Tazria-Metzora. The 
bulk of the two parshiot deals with varied aspects of tzara'at, loosely 
translated as leprosy for lack of a clear definition. While the symptoms 
of tzara'at are described in great detail, the underlying cause of the 
disease is conspicuously absent from the parsha. It is only from other 
biblical narratives that the Rabbis were able to provide an explanation 
of the cause. There are those who wish to attribute tzara'at to physical 
causes and explain the weekly and biweekly checkups by the priest and the 
quarantine imposed on the stricken as Divinely mandated hygiene. Rabbi 
David Tzvi Hoffmann rejects this interpretation and opts to explain 
tzara'at as a purely spiritual phenomenon. He has the weight of tradition 
on his side, for the Talmud states that the priests were not called upon 
to examine possible cases of tzara'at during the pilgrimages of Pesach, 
Shavuot, and Sukkot. If there were indeed a fear of spreading disease, 
it would seem even more incumbent upon the priests to investigate in 
order to protect the masses.
   Having now understood tzara'at to be spiritual, its cause still remains 
to be determined. The Rabbis deduced that tzara'at strikes as a result 
of slandering (lashon hara). They learned primarily through the case of 
Miriam when she spoke ill about Tzipora, Moses's wife. God rebuked 
Miriam (and Aaron who listened to the slander) and punished her with 
tzara'at. There are two ways to understand tzara'at itself. It can be 
viewed as the punishment for slander or as a warning to others.
   Tzara'at can easily be understood to be the punishment for slander. It 
seems to be obvious from the case of Miriam. When one speaks evil about 
another, the speaker is punished with tzara'at and is forced to leave 
the community. Rashi explains that the act of slandering removes another 
person from the community by causing others to have hostile feelings 
toward the innocent party. A fitting punishment for the slanderer, quid 
pro quo, is to be banished from the community.
   On the other hand, tzara'at can also be seen as a warning to others. 
When Israel is in a high state of purity and devotion to God, the  
slightest wrongdoing can have devastating consequences. God provided the 
Jewish people with a warning device. When they begin to stray, God sends 
tzara'at to afflict clothing and houses in addition to individuals. 
Unfortunatey, however, as Sforno explains based on Sanhedrin 71a, the 
Jewish people never reached that special level of holiness wherein God 
would overtly warn them if they were sinning. 
   Despite not having reached such a high level of devotion, we can still 
learn about the severity of lashon hara from the lengthy description of 
tzara'at in the Torah. The Midrash quotes Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi saying 
there are five times the word "Torah" is used regarding tzara'at, which 
comes to teach us that anyone who slanders violates the five books of 
the Torah. The wording that he uses is unsual, as he chooses to say "the 
five books of the Torah" instead of the more familiar "whole Torah." 
Rabbi Yehoshua wishes to drive home that lashon hara violates each and 
every one of the five books rather than just the Torah as a single unit. 
In Breshit, the serpent speaks lashon hara about God to Eve, which  
ultimately led to the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. According to 
the Midrash, Moses was forced to run from Egypt after Dathan and Aviram 
told Pharaoh that Moses smote the Egyptian. Additionally, Moses himself 
was struck with tzara'at when he visited Pharaoh. An explanation is 
given that God gave Moses this sign to show Pharaoh that He exists as a 
punishment to Moses. The punishment was because Moses tried to avoid 
speaking to the people by saying that they would not listen to him. This 
was a case of lashon hara by Moses against B'nai Yisrael. Leviticus 
itself contains various verses which explicitly prohibit lashon hara. 
Numbers contains the story of the spies who spoke lashon hara about the 
land of Israel, and in Deuteronomy, Moses reminds the people to remember 
what happened to Miriam when she spoke lashon hara.
	May we all keep in mind the lessons of  Tazria-Metzora while we strive 
for a level of awareness of God that will enable us to see tzara'at as a 
sign from God and not as a punishment.


Shabbat Shalom!
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