METSORA_LEVITICUS XIV:1-XV:33

The great biblical expositor and defender of orthodoxy, HaRav Samson Raphael Hirsch of Germany, insisted that Tsara’at, the affliction that occupies the attention of the biblical text, should not be confused with leprosy. In the case of leprosy, you should go to a physician; on the other hand, for the cure of the Tsara’at – which is also presented as a skin lesion – the person indicated to examine the wound is the Kohen, who decides on the remedy for its healing. Because, according to the Talmud, Tsara’at is an outward manifestation of an inner spiritual evil.  According to the Chachamim, the word Tsara’at comes from Lashon Hara, (Lehotsi ra) the perverse use of language to slander one’s neighbor. 

It is not a question of inventing slander, but rather the propagation of some deficiency of the neighbor, a negative characteristic of the person. That is, to tell a factual truth that shows the other person in a negative light. If someone lies, telling others about this fact constitutes Lashon Hara. However, if someone is about to hire a person for a position that requires trust in their word, it is necessary to warn that that person has lied.

The faculty of the use of words is perhaps the most salient distinction of the human being above the other creatures that inhabit the earth. Language allows for mental abstraction, and the construction of models to describe nature. It is the means through which God communicates with man. But just as it is often the most effective means for development, it is also the most efficient instrument for destruction. With a word, well placed, you can help a person to get a job, while with slander you can destroy a reputation that took decades to establish.

If the Kohen determined that the skin lesion was indeed Tsara’at, he expelled the afflicted from the community for a period of 7 days, during which time the person had to be outside the camp. This seven-day period was also intended to allow the person to examine his behavior while in the desert. The intention was that he recognizes where the mistake was made and what damage his slander had caused. Because the cure of the injury occurred through the Teshuvah, the recognition of the insult against the neighbor and the firm decision not to repeat the mistake in the future.

It should be noted that the prayer of greatest recollection on the day of Yom Kippur is called Kol Nidrei, an affirmation that is not a prayer, but a promise not to incur the breach of a promise in the future. Once again, we underline the importance of the word, the promise pledged but unfulfilled.

The Talmud relates that one of the Tanaim asked his servant to go to the market and bring him the most delicious delicacy he could find. Faithfully, the servant returned with the tongue of an animal. When the next day he asked him to bring him the worst food this time, the servant again brought home a tongue. The obvious moral is that with the tongue you can compose verses, and make peace between litigants; but at the same time, you can slander and destroy the reputation of an honest person.

Other chapters of the Torah will emphasize the importance of keeping a promise. The first chapters of the Torah testify that God created the universe by use of the word. God said, and it was done. He expressed His Will, which became a physical fact that man can appreciate with his senses. The Torah consists of words: the word of God, and the Ten Commandments receive the designation of Aseret HaDiberot, the Ten Words. The Tsara’at ‘s condition teaches that the misused word has a real consequence, an injury to the skin that can be appreciated by all.

MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARASHAH

CONTAINS 11 POSITIVE MITSVOT

1. Leviticus 14:2 Ritual of purification by Tsara’at
2. Leviticus 14:9 Shaving the affected by Tsara’at on the seventh day (part of the purification ritual)
3. Leviticus 14:9 Immersion of the impure individual in a Mikveh for ritual purification
4. Leviticus 14:10 The offering of the individual’s with Tsara’at when he is healed of his affliction
5. Leviticus 14:35 Laws of ritual impurity of a house contaminated with Tsara’at
6. Leviticus 15:2,3 Laws of ritual impurity of the person who has emissions, Zav, who is the cause of his ritual impurity
7. Leviticus 15:13,14 Offering of the Zav when cured of emissions
8. Leviticus 15:16 Laws on the ritual impurity of semen, which is ritually impure and causes ritual impurity
9. Leviticus 15:19 Laws of ritual impurity of the person who is menstruating that acquires ritual impurity and causes ritual impurity
10. Leviticus 15:25 Laws of ritual impurity of the person who is menstruating abnormally that acquires ritual impurity and causes ritual impurity
11. Leviticus 15:28,29 Offering of the Zava woman, who is menstruating abnormally after being ritually purified