Parshat Tazria Metzora 5781
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parshiyot about the laws of Nega’im, the blemishes on one’s skin which render him spiritually impure. The role in determining the status of the Nega is carried out by the Kohen. He establishes whether the individual is impure, and he also determines when he becomes pure. Why is this power of determination given over to the Kohen?
The Meshech Chachmah answers that checking out Nega’im was something which was dangerous and was considered infectious. The Medrash Rabbah on our parsha (16,1) teaches that it was customary to stay far away from people with Tzara’as. Only someone with the proper merit and Shemirah can participate in such an endeavor. As a result, only the Kohanim, who were separated out from the rest of Am Yisrael and considered on a higher spiritual level, were able to be involved in determining Nega’im.
The Sfas Emes teaches that the reason the job of establishing that a Nega had become pure was given to the Kohen is clear. Chazal teach (Avos, Chapter 1, Mishnah 12) that Aharon was Ohev Shalom V’Rodeph Shalom; Aharon was a pursuer of peace. And Chazal teach in the Gemara in Arachin 15B that Nega’im are a result of speaking Lashon Hara. Therefore, the Kohanim, who descend from the pursuer of peace, ought to be the ones to determine the purified state of the Nega, i.e. Teshuvah has been done for the sin and the Nega is now pure. The Tosefta in Nega’im (6,6) teaches that when the Kohen would come and look at the Nega, he would tell the person to check his deeds and repent. The Kohen is clearly suitable to try and help purify the person with Tazara’as.
But why is the Kohen the one who looks at the Nega and determines it is impure? The pasuk in Mishlei (Chapter 22, Pasuk 9) states, Tov Ayin Hu Yevorach. Only those who look favorably upon others shall be blessed. And the Zohar Hakadosh darshens this pasuk to refer to Kohanim and mean, only Kohanim who look favorably upon the nation shall bless, i.e. perform the mitzvah of Birkas Kohanim. Why should the Kohen look at the Nega’im and be the source of bringing discomfort and suffering to people by declaring their impurity?
The Sfas Emes answers by teaching that after the sin of Adam Harishon, the Torah tells us that Hashem gave him and Chavah (Bereishis, Chapter 3, Pasuk 21), Kasnos Or Vayalbisheim. He dressed them in garments of skin. The word Or in the pasuk has the same spelling as the word for a blind person, Iver. By clothing Adam and Chavah in skins he was blocking them from the ability to see the holiness and light emanating from Hashem. They became blind to His presence as their Neshamos were locked within their bodies.
Nonetheless, through hard work one is able to look carefully and see the light within the darkness of our world. For even the physical skin which blocks out our soles has pores; spiritual spores through which we can sense the holiness around us. As the pasuk says in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 2, Pasuk 9), Matzitz min HaCharakim, looking through the cracks. There are small openings within the physical which can enable us to see the spiritual.
The pasuk says in parshat Tazria (Chapter 13, Pasuk 2), Adam Ki Yihyeh B’Or Besaro Se’es o Sapachas, etc. The same Kosnos Or which Hashem placed on Adam is the same Or upon which the Nega’im appear. This same blockage of holiness is what creates the Lashon Hara and the impurities which emerge on the person’s skin. When we do aveiros, whatever openings there might be B’Or Besaro become blocked and clogged.
The pasuk we quoted above tells us that when one is suspected of having Nega’im, V’Huvah el Aharon Ha’Kohen, he is brought to the Kohen. The connotation is a negative one, as if he is being arrested and brought to the Kohen. Hence the Sfas Emes’s question, why does the Torah make the Kohen the bad guy?
The answer is, V’Huvah el Aharon Ha’Kohen is not a punishment, but rather it’s a Chesed from Hashem. The Kohen helps him remove the blockage and restore his spiritual pores, the “cracks” through which he can see the light and the spiritual beauty contained in the world. It’s the first step in a purification and healing process. When we are able to remove the ugliness of speaking gossip and slander, we open ourselves us up to the possibility of seeing the beauty in others and in the world around us.
Good Shabbos
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