Nisan 5, 5784 / April
12-13, 2024
Parashat Tazria
Torah Leviticus 12:1 – 13:59
Haftarah: 2 Kings 4:42 –
5:19
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PESACH IS
COMING!
My 5784 Pesach
Resources sheet is available at:
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This d’var torah
is offered for a refuah shleimah and a speedy and safe return of all the
hostages being held by Hamas.
This d’var torah
is offered for a refuah shleimah for all who have been wounded in the
terrorist attacks and in fighting against the terrorists, as well as innocent
non-combatants caught in the crossfire.
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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at
12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. There is NO Lunch and Learn on Monday,
April 22. On Monday, April 15, we'll be at BT Shabbat 152a, page 209
of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 -
'...א"ל רבי לר"ש
בן חלפתא מפני מה לא הקבלנו פניך' – "Rabbi said to R. Simon b.
Chalafta: why were we not permitted to see you…”
Ein Ya'akov (Glick
edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630
A pointed Hebrew text
version with different pagination is available at Sefaria:
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has
a blog which you should read at:
Dr. Steve
Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should
read at:
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Please pass this on to a
friend - and please cite the source
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AN ANCIENT PLAGUE
'And the one with leprosy in whom the plague is,
his/her clothes shall be torn, his/her hair shall be uncut, and s/he shall
cover his/her lips, and shall cry: "Impure! Impure!" All the
days that the plague is in him/her, s/he shall be impure; s/he is impure; s/he
shall dwell alone; outside the camp will be his/her dwelling.' Leviticus
13:45-46
The Torah goes to great lengths to
describe tzara'at, the ailment generally mistranslated as
"leprosy". It does not appear to be any known physical
disease. This seems obvious from a close reading of the text. The Talmud says that
"metzora", "leper", is really a contraction of "motzi
shem ra" - one who brings forth a bad name, i.e., a slanderer.
The Rabbis taught that tzara'at was a "miraculous" disease, inflicted
by God as punishment for slander, which could not be cured by physicians. Indeed, the Torah describes no cure for the disease, merely the acts one must
take while suffering from it - covering the mouth, warning others and
separating from the community - and the rituals for when the disease
disappears.
How can a punitive ailment inflicted by God disappear? The cure, or at
least the possibility of a cure, is within the individual suffering from
tzara'at. Tzara'at is the physical manifestation of a spiritual ailment -
the haughtiness and false sense of superiority of the person who slanders
another. Once the slanderer realizes this, s/he is required to publicly
confess through self-denunciation, and then do penance, alone, until the
disease is gone. The slanderer is "treated like a leper".
What do the Torah and the Rabbis know that seems so difficult for us to
grasp? Why is slander/gossip a growth industry in our society, when it
has been recognized as a contagious plague for 3500 years? How many of us
ask ourselves, "Did I do or say anything today which makes me
impure? Am I fit to be with other people?"
It has been said that what comes out of one's mouth is as important as what
goes in. If you are what you eat, perhaps you are what you say. Time maybe for all of us to go on a verbal diet.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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