Metzorah Parshah Thoughts
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Our Daily Tragedies
Rashi says that its good news that Hashem will give our houses tzaraas in Eretz Yisroel, because we will find hidden treasure while tearing down the house.
Tzaraas is commonly viewed as a punishment for lashon harah or stinginess or other aveiros. Why would a sinner get rewarded with treasure?
Some explain that tzaraas is indeed a punishment, yet has a silver lining; while punishing us Hashem slips us a consolation prize – hidden treasure.
The Chinuch disagrees. He suggests that this referred to when the Jews took the Land of Israel and needed to find the treasure hidden by the Philistines. Only then was tzaraas in order to find treasure. Sinners indeed don’t find anything.
And why didn’t Hashem just inform them where the treasure was? Because Hashem likes the natural way, and tzaraas is more natural than prophesy.
We asked the kinderlach: Why would Hashem put someone to the anguish of having tzaraas in his house, isn’t there a kinder way?
One suggestion is that Hashem didn’t cause him any anguish; any pain was of his own doing. Who said that losing a home to tzaraas is a hardship, perhaps it is to his great fortune? The homeowner, thats who!
He assumed the worst – that he was losing all. He anguished himself.
This ought to be our attitude; We refuse to anguish over a problem until we are certain we have one!
A French philosopher wrote ‘My life has been full of tragedies, most of which eventually never happened…’
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The Path Splits Here
The ceremony of purifying a person or house with tzaraas involved taking two birds, slaughtering one of them, dipping the live bird, grass, a ceder branch and some red wool into the blood of the slaughtered bird mixed with water. This was sprayed on the fellow/house, then the live bird was sent free to the fields.
The ceremony is reminiscent of the Yom Kippur ceremony of the two goats, one offered to Hashem and the other to Azazel (- commentaries); both start off with two similar birds or goats, and end with one going off in this direction and the other in the opposite one.
Perhaps the metaphor is that the identical thing can end up in opposite ways. We start off with identical beings, and end off so differently. We realize that the difference lies not in the subject, but in its destiny.
On Yom Kippur, people believe that they are predisposed to sinning. The two goats shows the very same thing brought up to Hashem or sent to Satan. We can really be anything we desire. The choice is ours. Our behavior is not ingrained in our genes.
One bird killed and the other sent to life symbolize life and death. Tzaraas is described in the Torah as dead flesh (by Miriam). It is a shade of death. The purified one is leaving death, and joining life.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
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Korbanos At Work
The Kohain brings the chatas, and “purifies the metzorah from his impurity, and then afterwards slaughters the Olah” The next pasuk reads: “And he shall sacrifice the Olah and Mincha on the Mizbeach, and he shall be mechapper on him”.
In the previous pasuk it says the Chatas was purified already – what is missing?
The answer is that the first pasuk described purification from tumah, the second pasuk refers to becoming entirely atoned for, atoning for the sin which caused the tzaraas. Often, chatas and olah work in tandem, together effecting kapparah. Here the chatas removes tumah, while the olah and mincha effect kapparah.
Here is a korban removing tumah. We have seen the same with a yoledes, but here it seems that this is the main function of the korban. Tumah, we know, has little to do with sin (as we see from Yoledes, zav, mes) and sin does not result necessarily in tumah (a mechalel shabbos is not tamai…). Yet korbanos do effect ritual purity, as well as atonement. Is there any relation between these seemingly separate functions?
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Concerned
The Kohen commands to clear our the house [with tzaraas].
Rav Meir said: why clear out the house?
For the wood or metal vessels? He can immerse them in a mikve and they will be pure.
It must be that the Torah is concerned with his cheap earthenware.
If the Torah is so concerned for his junk, how much more so it it concerned with his valuable property.
If this is for mere possessions, certainly for his person.
If this is for a sinner – who receives tzaraas – how much more so is the Torah concerned about an ethical man!
©2014
kollel parshah | Tiferet Ramot 83-21, Jerusalem, Israel, 97290
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