Overview
of the Weekly Reading: Tazriya
/ Metzora To
be read on 1 Iyar 5766 (April 28-29) Torah: Leviticus
12:1-15:33;
Haftorah: Isaiah 66 (for Rosh Chodesh)
Pirkei Avot: Chapter
2
Tazriya
is the 4th Reading out of 10 in Leviticus and 27th overall,
and 48th out of 54 in overall length
Metzora is the 5th
Reading out of 10 in Leviticus and 28th overall, and 41th out
of 54 in overall length
Tazriya
opens with childbirth laws, followed by a long discussion of the distinguishing
signs of tzara’at* on skin, hair, and garments.
Metzora
discusses the process of purification for a metzora (one having tzara’at),
the poor metzora’s offering, tzara’at on houses, and concludes with
laws about male and female discharges which cause impurity and means of attaining
purification from these.
* tzara’at is a discoloration
appearing on skin, hair, garments, and houses, and is sometimes (inaccurately)
translated as 'leprosy'
FROM THE MASTERS OF
KABBALA
From the holy Zohar, teachings
of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
Explaining this verse] Rabbi Aba opened [his discourse with the passage]
"Be afraid of the sword; for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that
you may know that there is judgment." (Job 19:29). The word for "judgment"
in the verse is spelled with the letter vav but pronounced with the letter yud.
For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * *
From the holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed
Let us [first] note that the word for
"my raised-disease" [in Hebrew, "se'eiti"] may be permuted
to spell the word for "my wife" ["ishti"]. [This indicates
that] if a person merits, [his wife is good to him; if not, she is like a plague
to him]. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * *
From Rabbi Moshe Alshich
This means that he divests himself of
all that is extraneous, non-essential, and therefore apt to lead him astray. At
that point no hint of his affliction remains, and the rehabilitation process has
been successfully completed.
For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site.
FROM THE CHASSIDIC
REBBES
"If a man shall have on the skin of his flesh."
(13:2)
The plague
of leprosy appeared only "on the skin of his flesh" - on the most external
part of a person. Years ago, when G-d afflicted someone with leprosy as a punishment
for his deeds, it affected only his most external self, for the inner person was
spiritually healthy and not deserving of punishment. Nowadays we have no such
phenomenon, as the Biblical leprosy differed from the modern-day disease bearing
the same name. In our time, it's not just the external part of ourselves we must
work on and purify.
(Sefer Maamarim)
A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi
Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org
MOSHIACH THIS WEEK
Metzora
"Examine the leper to determine that the leprous mark has healed.
The priest shall then order…" [14:3-4]
As soon as G-d sees that
the sin which was the cause of the plague (the exile under the dominion of the
Gentiles) has been healed, "The priest shall then order…" G-d will
issue directives for two birds to be taken, etc. These two birds represent the
two Messiahs, the Mashiach ben Yoseph and the Mashiach ben David. The reason the
Messiah is called a bird is that this is a description for souls in the higher
regions. The Zohar on Parshat Balak, (Numbers 24:17) quotes another example
of the Messiah being called a 'bird': "From this cave there emerges a very
great bird which will rule over the world and the kingdom will be handed over
to him." All these expressions area euphemisms for celestial forces, as every
student of the Kabala is aware of. We have found that the first Messiah
will be from the tribe of Ephraim who will nevertheless die while revealing himself;
he will be followed by the Messiah descended from David. When the Torah speaks
of G-d taking "two birds which are pure," these words are similies for
the two kinds of Messiah. Ohr HaChaim
[Adapted from
Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell and
the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org]
An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:27-2866/Tazriya/Metzora)
This
Torah page is dedicated in memory of Devorah Gittel bas Baila, A"H.
May this essay be an elevation for her soul.
In different contexts, the Torah utilizes
four different Hebrew words for the word "man": "enosh",
"gever", "ish" and "adam".
The different words refer to different levels of self actualization. "Enosh"
is the lowest, "adam" the highest. "Adam" is
used almost always when the Torah mentions the Jewish people. "Enosh"
and "gever" are generally used to describe lower levels of human
expectation and performance. This week's double portion speaks primarily
about "nega-im" - blemishes on skin, clothing and buildings that
often are signs of a spiritual lacking. There are two reasons given for why we
do not have such blemishes today. One is that there is no Temple, where one would
bring an offering after finishing the purifying process. The second reason is
that these blemishes were primarily an indication of extremely subtle spiritual
imperfections. Most, if not all, of our generation is unable to correct such spiritual
nuances because we are so enmeshed in the gray area between good and bad and cannot
completely purify ourselves. Nevertheless, we can still learn from the Torah description,
as is described in the following story: The first Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi
Shneur Zalman, had a private room for Torah study and prayer. Once, he came out
of that room to where his disciples were gathered, and said the following in a
state of extreme excitement: "In the section of the Torah that describes
the laws of making an oath, their spiritual importance and the consequences of
breaking them, the Torah uses the lower level name "ish" - "a
man [in Hebrew, 'ish']....when he swears an oath". Yet, when the Torah
speaks about blemishes, the expression for "man" is that of the higher
level, "adam" - "…a man "["adam"],
when he has a skin blemish...". Rebbe Shneur Zalman continued that
in the Torah uses the name "ish" to describe an individual in
his relationship to his emotions. The name "adam" refers to an
individual's relationship to his intellect. The fact that the Torah uses
different words when describing oaths and blemishes teaches how we can grow spiritually.
Spiritual service begins with oaths because these cause us to make boundaries
for ourselves in the physical world. Learning how to say "no" to a permitted
- but extraneous - desire is the beginning of a sincere relationship with G-d.
But this is only the beginning. The name "adam" is used
in connection with blemishes, which are caused by some subtle sin which happens
through a lapse in our spiritual consciousness, a failing of our watchfulness.
Only by re-asserting our intellectual powers can we correct and cure the blemishes.
The Hebrew word for wisdom is "chochma". The letters of "chochma"
can be re-arranged to spell the words "koach mah", meaning "the
'strength of what", which, Kabbalistically, connotes the power of "what
can not be described" - the strength of the Divine. Ultimately, wisdom is
G-d's power being invested in us. This is demonstrated by the fact that the word
"adam" has the same numerical value as the word "mah".
Only the level of "adam", which has the divine level of intellect
invested in it, can correct the subtle impurities of blemishes. Controlling
our emotions is only the first and more basic step in spiritual growth. Using
our intellect to correct and refine our spiritual shortcomings is how we can really
begin to approach divinity. Shabbat Shalom
(Above story
based on talk from the Rebbe Rayatz in 1939)
P.S. Please also read
my weekly Shabbat Law, below.
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
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