Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5766

Commentary by Rabbi Ephraim Nisenbaum

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The Torah discusses the different laws of spiritual contamination and their purification. One type of contamination comes as a result of childbirth. Although bringing an untarnished soul into the world is actually the highest expression of holiness and sanctity, the mother herself becomes impure. She must go through a purification process, lasting forty days upon the birth of a male, and eighty days upon the birth of a female. After that, she brings two sacrifices to the Temple, a burnt offering and a sin offering. Only then is she allowed to enter the Temple and eat sacrificial meat.

The Torah also discusses the nature of the tzara’as disease, its contamination and purification process. Tzara’as is a type of skin ailment (the root of the English psoriasis) that comes as punishment for various sins, most notably lashon hara (slander and gossip). The metzora was isolated from the rest of the community, outside of the camp.

In the purification process, the kohain prepared two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a piece of crimson-dyed wool, and a clump of a low-growing plant called ezov. Each of the needed materials symbolized a facet of the person’s sin and atonement. The chirping birds serve as a reminder of the idle chatter that tends to lead to slander and gossip, the main cause of tzara’as. The cedar wood, a very tall tree, is a reminder of the speaker’s arrogance. The red wool, which is produced from a worm’s blood, and the lowly plant too, both serve as a reminder to be humble.

The Torah also introduces two other types of tzara’as, one that affects the person’s clothing another that affects the stones of one’s house. This condition, if it spreads, could result in having to tear down the entire house. These types of tzara’as, too, are meant as ways of dealing with the person who misuses his tongue.

Rashi points out that when a person would first sin, G-d would send the tzara’as to the stones of his house, merely causing an inconvenience, and perhaps a financial loss. If this did not succeed in arousing the person to improve his behavior, G-d would cause his clothing to become affected with tzara’as. If this too did not succeed, the person’s own body would be affected, until he would learn to be more careful with his speech.

The laws of tzara’as impress upon us the severity of lashon hara, and the importance of using one’s tongue properly and constructively.

...When a person will have a blemish on his flesh... (Lev. 13:3)

Chedva Zilberfarb was a young mother in Israel who became ill with cancer. She went to a great Rav to receive his blessings, and he told her to dedicate herself to teaching others about guarding their tongues from improper speech. Perhaps in that merit she would recover.

Mrs. Zilberfarb organized lectures and classes around the world to teach others about the severity of lashon hara. Although the doctors told her she only had a few months to live, she pushed herself to continue her activities. She lived an additional three years, passing away in 1989 at the age of 27. The fire this remarkable woman ignited, however, remains lit. Her legacy lives on, as women around the world continue to study and practice the laws of lashon hara as merit for those in need of special assistance.

Did You Know...

One who uses the bathroom, must wash his hands before reciting the blessing Asher Yatzar. Some authorities recommend washing three times, similar to the way the hands are washed upon rising in the morning, though others only require a single washing.

Even one who merely enters the bathroom must wash his hands, in order to remove a spiritual contamination present. Preferably, the hands should be washed, or at least remain wet, after the person leaves the bathroom.

Even if one only reached his hands into the room, they must also be washed.