A thought on Parshas Tazria
"...v'ra'ah haKohen es ha'nega..."...and the Kohen shall examine the affliction..." (13:3)
The tzaras condition required careful examination of the skin in order to be diagnosed. The examination and diagnosis were made by a Kohen who would then instruct the ailing person as to his or her prescription of quarantine and other measures.
The Recanati reminds us that this was not a matter of illness. It was a type of spiritual impurity. It was a sign of "etzba Elokim," he writes, as if the afflicted person was fingered from Above to endure the ordeal of contamination. One was forbidden to attempt any surgical intervention or cure for the tzaras outbreak. Only a Kohen could engage in bringing about a purification for the afflicted one.
The Recanati helps us peer deeper into the dynamics of the Kohen's involvement. The mission of the kahuna is that of facilitating atonement for the misdeeds of the Jewish people. This is because kindness, chesed, is the attribute associated with those who carry out the sacred duty of bringing a sense of the Above closer to humanity. Atonement is a sublime level of chesed. The concept that HaShem will allow rectification of iniquity and remedies for wayward acts is a brilliant manifestation on earth below of HaShem's loving kindness from above. This is why Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei (16:6) b'chesed...ye'chupar avon - sins are kindly atoned for.
The errors which lead to one developing tzaras are not only sinful but also create an unclean impurity (tum'a) which emanates from within the person's soul and spills out over the body.
What do we know about tum'a - ritual impurity? If an item comes in contact with something that is impure, it may not necessarily contract any unclean status. However, if it has been pre-designated (hechsher), which is what happens if it is washed off for human consumption, and then makes contact with something impure, it will contract tum'a. What is a generic remedy for many objects which have contracted this tum'a? They are again washed in water, this time in a total immersion, within a pool of ritual cleansing (mikva.) Looking back, it was that first partial contact with water which prepared the item for proper use but then careless contact with the impure rendered that item unfit. A later compete and total water-contact is then needed in order to bring about cleanliness.
This, write the Recanati, is what is being paralleled within the Kohen's role with tzaras. A person with a sign upon his skin meets up with the Kohen. The brief encounter with that Kohen, who pronounces the sign "unclean" is comparable to the water rinsing. It symbolizes that this person might have made good use of the holy man and his good influence. Healthy and proper interaction with a holy man might have been used to better prepare him for a better, dedicated life. Instead, however, the carelessness of this person has led to impurity.
He must now sit out his ordeal and let it run its full course of exuding tum'a.
Only when the tzaras has faded can he consider readmission into the Jewish community. However, just as an impure object must be thoroughly immersed in water before it can be rendered pure and clean, so must the recovering person meet again with the Kohen. This second meeting, though, is no casual "rinsing". It is a matter of "total immersion", where the Kohen helps him earn atonement by bringing select offerings into the holy Mikdash. It is a full contact encounter with the Kohen, whose kindness is dedicated to cleansing the impure among us and bringing about atonement.
In our own encounters with others, what happens as a result of our casual interactions? Do we prepare the person to go on, inspired, and seeking greater spiritual and interpersonal attainments? Do we set them up for subsequent downfall through our unkind words or poor example? When we meet a stricken person, do we point out their impurities, or do we engage in helping them correct their errors in a kind, loving immersion into their struggle?Good Shabbos. D Fox
The tzaras condition required careful examination of the skin in order to be diagnosed. The examination and diagnosis were made by a Kohen who would then instruct the ailing person as to his or her prescription of quarantine and other measures.
The Recanati reminds us that this was not a matter of illness. It was a type of spiritual impurity. It was a sign of "etzba Elokim," he writes, as if the afflicted person was fingered from Above to endure the ordeal of contamination. One was forbidden to attempt any surgical intervention or cure for the tzaras outbreak. Only a Kohen could engage in bringing about a purification for the afflicted one.
The Recanati helps us peer deeper into the dynamics of the Kohen's involvement. The mission of the kahuna is that of facilitating atonement for the misdeeds of the Jewish people. This is because kindness, chesed, is the attribute associated with those who carry out the sacred duty of bringing a sense of the Above closer to humanity. Atonement is a sublime level of chesed. The concept that HaShem will allow rectification of iniquity and remedies for wayward acts is a brilliant manifestation on earth below of HaShem's loving kindness from above. This is why Shlomo HaMelech writes in Mishlei (16:6) b'chesed...ye'chupar avon - sins are kindly atoned for.
The errors which lead to one developing tzaras are not only sinful but also create an unclean impurity (tum'a) which emanates from within the person's soul and spills out over the body.
What do we know about tum'a - ritual impurity? If an item comes in contact with something that is impure, it may not necessarily contract any unclean status. However, if it has been pre-designated (hechsher), which is what happens if it is washed off for human consumption, and then makes contact with something impure, it will contract tum'a. What is a generic remedy for many objects which have contracted this tum'a? They are again washed in water, this time in a total immersion, within a pool of ritual cleansing (mikva.) Looking back, it was that first partial contact with water which prepared the item for proper use but then careless contact with the impure rendered that item unfit. A later compete and total water-contact is then needed in order to bring about cleanliness.
This, write the Recanati, is what is being paralleled within the Kohen's role with tzaras. A person with a sign upon his skin meets up with the Kohen. The brief encounter with that Kohen, who pronounces the sign "unclean" is comparable to the water rinsing. It symbolizes that this person might have made good use of the holy man and his good influence. Healthy and proper interaction with a holy man might have been used to better prepare him for a better, dedicated life. Instead, however, the carelessness of this person has led to impurity.
He must now sit out his ordeal and let it run its full course of exuding tum'a.
Only when the tzaras has faded can he consider readmission into the Jewish community. However, just as an impure object must be thoroughly immersed in water before it can be rendered pure and clean, so must the recovering person meet again with the Kohen. This second meeting, though, is no casual "rinsing". It is a matter of "total immersion", where the Kohen helps him earn atonement by bringing select offerings into the holy Mikdash. It is a full contact encounter with the Kohen, whose kindness is dedicated to cleansing the impure among us and bringing about atonement.
In our own encounters with others, what happens as a result of our casual interactions? Do we prepare the person to go on, inspired, and seeking greater spiritual and interpersonal attainments? Do we set them up for subsequent downfall through our unkind words or poor example? When we meet a stricken person, do we point out their impurities, or do we engage in helping them correct their errors in a kind, loving immersion into their struggle?Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 8:17 AM
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