Tzaraat for slander or anger
Yeshua was a Torah-observant Jew (Yahudi),
and the apostles were all Hebrews, including Matthew and Luke (whose name is
common for a Hellenized Jew). Constantine and King James were anti-Semites.
Today, we are considering Torah-observance and some of God’s ancient
disciplinary methods.
Tumah
(toom-ah, impurity) refers to spiritual contamination, usually that which can be
transmitted to other people, even through things. Following the laws of tumah
from dead animals (previous chapter 11), we have the laws of tumah from
childbirth (chapter 12), and then the laws of tumah from slander (chapter
13). A person who is impure is called a metzora. A metzora who
is quarantined / separated is called a niddah.
(Ezra 6:21-22)
And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated
themselves from the (tumah) impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to
seek Yahweh God of Israel, ate the Passover. And they observed the Feast of
Unleavened Breads seven days with joy, for Yahweh had caused them to rejoice,
and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in
the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
While tumah is a result of the
fall, it is not the same as sin: we are often required to become impure, though
that would make us unfit to enter the Holy Temple until cleansing. Tumah
relates to death – the result of the fall.
In chapter 11, it is from touching
dead animals or people – and we are required to bury our dead relatives, though
not while on duty performing the Temple service.
In chapter 12, it is from childbirth
– and since Adam’s fall, all are born “spiritually dead”. Spiritual
contamination is transmitted.
In chapter 13, it is from slander and
anger – which fall under the commandment category of murder (slander is
destroying another’s name). Isaiah 32:7 describes one who “devises wicked
schemes to destroy the afflicted with slander.” Slander and anger can
spiritually contaminate – spreading like fire.
Leviticus 13
Tzaraat
(tza-ra-at) is commonly translated “leprosy.”
Leprosy is Hansen’s Disease. It is a
popular mistaken idea that, with this disease, people’s fingers and toes rot and
fall off. Actually, this is a disease of the nervous system, where people lose
feeling. As a result of being unable to feel, people unknowingly sustain burns,
animal bites, and other injuries. In poor southeast Asian countries and South
Pacific islands, where this disease is prevalent, rats may bite off fingers or
toes while one sleeps.
The quarantine for tzaraat is
not consistent with disease prevention methods. One stricken with tzaraat
is not considered unclean when the malady covers the entire body, but is unclean
when the body begins to heal (v.13:13). When a house is stricken (v.14:26), the
items inside are not quarantined. If a newlywed is stricken during a Festival,
he is not quarantined until the Festival is over!
The word tzora (singular form
of tzaraat) is a contraction of tozia ra, one who spreads slander
(Arachin 15b). Tzaraat was a physical manifestation of a spiritual
problem, a disciplinary punishment. Until the slanderer learned to overcome
slandering, he was quarantined from society, having to shout “Unclean!” to
anyone coming within hearing range. One stricken with tzaraat is called a
metzora.
Biblical cases of tzaraat
indicate slander and anger preceding the malady.
Numbers 12:1
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses
because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for
he had married a Cushite woman); 2 and they said, "Has Yahweh indeed
spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And Yahweh
heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who
was on the face of the earth.) 4 Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses and
Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three
of them came out. 5 Then Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud and
stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had
both come forward, 6 He said, "Hear now My words: if there is a
prophet among you, I, Yahweh, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I
shall speak with him in a dream. 7 "Not so, with My servant Moses, he
is faithful in all My household; 8 with him I speak mouth to mouth,
even openly, and not in dark sayings, and he beholds the form of Yahweh.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against My
servant, against Moses?" 9 So the anger of Yahweh burned against them
and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the
tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward
Miriam, behold, she was a metzora.
11 Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not account
this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.
12 Oh, do not let her be like one dead, whose flesh is half eaten
away when he comes from his mother's womb!" 13 Moses cried out to
Yahweh, saying, "O God, heal her, I pray!" 14 But Yahweh said to
Moses, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for
seven days? Let her be shut up for seven days outside the camp, and afterward
she may be received again." 15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp
for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again.
2 Chronicles 26:16
But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and
he was unfaithful to Yahweh his God, for he entered the temple of Yahweh to burn
incense on the altar of incense. 17 Then Azariah the priest entered
after him and with him eighty priests of Yahweh, valiant men. 18 They
opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn
incense to Yahweh, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to
burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will
have no honor from Yahweh God."
19 But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was
enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the tzaraat broke out on his
forehead before the priests in the house of Yahweh, beside the altar of incense.
20
Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was
leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also
hastened to get out because Yahweh had smitten him. 21 King Uzziah
was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a
leper, for he was cut off from the house of Yahweh. And Jotham his son was over
the king's house judging the people of the land.
Psalm 15:1
A Psalm of David. O
Yahweh, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2
He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his
heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue,
nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
And today’s Psalm (77:13) says, “Your
way, O God, is holy; what god is great like our God?”
From Commentary Y2-35
Torot haMetzora /
Torah of the Metzora
For display in today's lesson, we
will use a sprig of thyme, tied with a red red thread, onto a 1"x6"x6' cedar
board. We also need two imitation birds, a bowl, and a setup for running water.
In an ancient
Talmudic story (from memory), a certain man came to his priest, asking how he
could rectify his having made evil statements about another person. The priest
told the man to go home and bring his pillow, which he did. Then the priest told
him to open it and shake all the feathers to the wind, which he did. Then the
priest told him to go and gather all the feathers back; the man complained that
it was impossible. The priest said that such was the situation with the evil
words he had spoken.
A slanderer
whom God has under the discipline of the disease tzaraat is called a
metzora (both words being from the root tzara – one who spreads
slander). Tzaraat is a state of spiritual impurity (tumah), with
physical manifestations: no other impurity takes effect upon the declaration of
a priest, and no other impurity can be temporarily ignored as a matter of
convenience, such as for a wedding or festival. Only a metzora is
excluded from the entire camp, and contaminates everything in a building he
enters. (Note that tozia ra (slander) includes truth and lies.)
Leviticus 13
is concerned with the diagnosis and discipline of the metzora – the one
who is stricken for slander. Leviticus 14 deals with the healing and return of
the niddah – the quarantined slanderer, who repents.
When God heals
him, he must go through an eight-day two-stage process of purification. A priest
who is himself a niddah – one who is quarantined as a metzorah –
is not eligible to rule on a healing, since the Torah requires that the priest
who rules must go out of the camp to rule.
The root cause
of the sinner’s gossip or slander is haughtiness – contempt for others. His
purification therefore symbolically displays his repentance, going from
haughtiness to humility.
The first
stage of involves a ritual with two birds, performed outside the camp, after
which he could enter the camp. Because the punishment came for gossip and
slander, twittering, chirping birds are used in the ritual as symbols. The
slaughter is not a karban – offering. The birds must be of a kosher
kind, but not of those species that may be used for offerings.
The tall, wide
cedar tree symbolizes haughtiness. Crimson dye comes from a small creature whose
identity is uncertain, showing lowliness; likewise, thyme (often translated
hyssop) is a lowly plant.
As the gossip
/ slanderer has “slain” his victims, with his words of life-destruction running
far and wide, so now the better of two birds must be slain, its life-blood being
spread with water.
A sprig of the
small thyme plant is tied with a scarlet thread to a large cedar board. {Sample
presented} They are dipped into the bloody water. The live bird is also dipped
into the blood, and then thrown to freedom over the open field: the death-cry of
the blood is carried far. The slaughtered bird is buried after the ritual.
The healed
metzora is sprinkled seven times with the blood, and then must go to a
mikvah (baptistery) and put on clean clothes. He is afterward allowed into
the camp, but may not go into his house (he may not cohabit with his wife) until
his cleansing is completed seven days later.
The final
stage of his purification, on the eighth day, requires an unusual three
atonements: two male lambs, plus a ewe lamb. The third offering, a guilt
offering, is brought by someone who has used something dedicated to God – stolen
from the Temple; the implication is that the slanderer has taken something from
God.
Loaves made
from three omers (about 5 pounds per each of three animals) of fine flour
and olive oil, plus one log (about 1 pint) of olive oil, are also
offered.
|
Acting out today’s portion:
A person, who spoke in a manner defaming
another’s character, has been quarantined from society, and is now
repentant. His tzaraat has been healed. A priest must go outside
the camp to meet him.
The priest would send for two kosher (but
not sacrificial type) birds, a bowl, a cedar plank, a scarlet thread,
and a sprig of thyme / hyssop.
Look at these two (stuffed imitation)
birds, whose chirping represents the slander or gossip that was spread
by the penitent. The better of these birds will be slaughtered in the
bowl, its (red dye) life-blood being spread by running water,
like the life of the slander victim. The live bird is dipped in the
blood, and then released to fly away (stuffed bird carried by the
presenter), the death-cry of the victim’s blood going afar.
This (fence board) plank from a great
proud cedar tree has a thin red thread around its lower end, to which an
insignificant sprig of thyme is tied. This symbol of haughtiness to
humility is dipped in the bloody water. The penitent is sprinkled seven
times with the blood.
The penitent must now immerse in a mikvah,
and put on clean clothes. Afterward, he may enter the camp, and seven
days later may enter his house. |
It was the
year 5608 (1848). The city of Vilna was in the grips of a terrible epidemic. The
killer cholera was sweeping through the city and the surrounding countryside and
the Jewish community was in turmoil. As in all times of trouble, Jews gathered
to pray to Yahweh. Their leaders exhorted them to search their hearts and
repent, each one for his particular sins. People were urged to give charity and
be especially kind to one another.
Most people
genuinely repented and improved. There were some, however, who instead of
examining their own faults and sins, eagerly examined those of their neighbors.
One such Jew
came to R’ Yisrael Salanter during this time. He had something to confess. He
whispered in the rabbi’s ear of some sin he saw in a fellow Jew.
“Rabbi, who
knows if it is not that very sin which is causing our plague? Something must be
done about that person,” he said.
As usual, R’
Yisrael listened patiently and when his visitor fell silent, he said, “As you
know, the Torah instructs us to send the metzora from all three camps (of
the kohaniim, leviim, and the rest of the people, Yisrael). Our sages tell us
that tzaraat is the punishment sent upon a tale-bearer, the baal
lashon hara (lit. – possessor of evil speech). Some people think that this
sin only applies to lies one says about another. That is not so. A person who
searches out other people’s faults and sins is certainly considered a baal
lashon hara, too. We tell him, ‘If you think that you are expert at
discovering sins, go out of the camp. There, where you will be isolated for many
days, you won’t be able to uncover another’s sins. But you will certainly be
able to discover and see your own. From “Tales of Tzaddikim - Vayikra” (Artscroll
Youth Series)
___________________
A house with
tzaraat:
A man carries
some responsibility for what goes on in his house – that is: what his family
does (see Job 1:5, 1 Timothy 2:4, 12). When a house becomes contaminated with
apparent tzaraat on its walls, there is a seven-day period for taking
care of the problem in the family. If the contamination is still spreading –
because of slander still going on – then the affected stones must be removed and
replaced. If the contamination returns, the house must be torn down.
Gossip and
slander will destroy one’s house – that is his family. God requires repentance.
That is the purpose of discipline – to bring repentance.
We all meet
people who look for double meanings of statements made in general conversation:
when we are speaking of something entirely different, they will seek to twist it
to have a sexual meaning, to make a joke of our statement.
The sages
teach us to speak with double meanings of another kind, as well as to look for
double meanings in what we hear. We should always have our minds upon God. When
we speak of our worldly needs, our words should be chosen to instill devotion to
God. When we hear others speak, we should understand the words as if they were
holy – to find God’s message to us. (“Jewish Spiritual Practices” by Yitzhak
Buxbaum)
Everything
that happens to us, including everything we hear, should be considered as a
message to us from God for that particular time. All things work together for
good for those who love God – those who are called for His purpose (Romans
8:28).
____________________
R’ Mordechai
of Pinchov did not have two pennies to rub together. Small wonder, then, that
his wife would beg him, whenever he went to his Rebbe, the Chozeh of Lublin, to
speak of their sorry plight and ask for advice and a blessing. But as soon as he
entered the Rebbe’s room, the world of here and now vanished. He forgot all
about his wife’s pleas and had only eyes and ears for the Rebbe. They would
spend hours in exploring the intricacies of the Torah, the Talmud, and Chasidus.
All worldly things were as mere shadows compared to their eternal wisdom.
And so R’
Mordechai returned to Pinchov each time invigorated in spirit. He glowed. But
when he entered the house and his wife greeted him with the question, “Well, did
you speak to the Rebbe about parnasah this time?” R’ Mordechai would
strike his forehead. He had completely forgotten again!
When they had
sold everything they possibly could and were down to their last crust, she again
came crying to R’ Mordechai, “You must go to the Chozeh again. You must beg him
to pray for us. This time, however, I want to make sure that you do not forget.
I will accompany you!”
And indeed,
the next time he visited Lublin, he entered the Rebbe’s study and blurted out
the words immediately, before they could slip his mind, “Rebbe! I can bear it no
longer.” He went on to describe the squalor and poverty in his home, begging the
Rebbe to pray for him.
“I did not
realize that things were so bad. Why did you never mention this to me before!”
he said in a note of complaint. “You should not have allowed things to reach
such a terrible state!”
R’ Mordechai
hung his head in shame. “I felt it was not right to bother the Rebbe with such
material matters. Besides,” he added, lowering his voice, “I always thought
that, in His divine intuition, the Rebbe would know of my condition.”
The Chozeh
smiled and said, “The Torah differentiates between tzaraat upon a person
and tzaraat that afflicts a house. With regard to a person it says, ‘And
if a man has on his skin a tzaraat lesion . . . and the priest shall see the
spots (Leviticus 13:2-3).’ This implies that a person need not tell the priest
what happened. It is enough to come to the priest. He will see it without your
telling him and know what to do.
In contrast,
with regard to plague spots on the wall of a house, the Torah states, ‘And the
owner of the house shall come and tell the priest thus: such a spot did I see in
my house.’ The Torah explicitly states that in connection with things that
concern the house one must tell the priest exactly what is wrong with the house,
before he can begin to treat it.” From “Tales of Tzaddikim - Vayikra” (Artscroll
Youth Series)
So we see how
the specific rules of Leviticus 14 are applied to broader situations. (Until
reading this story, I had not picked up the difference in the situations of a
plagued man and a plagued house: how one is seen but the other must be told.
Also, we see here that “house” symbolizes the family (the family was poor).
_____________________
Ephesians 4:
“Therefore, laying aside falsehood,
speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one
another” – v.25.
If we have found faith in Yeshua, we
have a new life, and should walk accordingly. We should be repentant of our
former ways of defaming others, and practice speaking truth and acting in love.
We are to seek redemption for the faithless and for help other believers to grow
in grace and overcome sin.
“29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth,
but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the
moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. 30 Do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and
slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to
one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Messiah also
has forgiven you” –
v.29-32.