A Thought on Parshas Metzora

"...v'nosati nega tzaras b'bais eretz achu'zas'chem..." (14:34) "...and I will place a severe affliction on the house of your land of possession..." Our parsha brings to a close the multitude of Torah verses which have addressed impurity and afflictions on people, on property and in our possessions. ibn Shu'aib tells us that he too is going to close this section, with a different midrashic approach used by our Sages. Word by word and clause by clause, he interprets the above passage, fortifying each insight with support from verses elsewhere in TaNaCh. It is worth seeing his writing inside, but I will paraphrase him here without including his support verses. After all, as he writes, he is merely presenting the words of our Sages... When our verse(s) above says "the house", this alludes to the Holy House, the Temple known as the Bais HaMidkash. When the Torah says "the one who owns the house", this alludes to HaShem Himself. The clause "and he shall tell the Kohen" (about the affliction on his house), refers to the prophet Yirmiahu (who was a Kohen), who forecast and later lamented the churban, the destruction (affliction) of the Bais HaMikdash. When the verse then says "an affliction has appeared in my house", this refers to the pagan idol placed by King Menashe. When the verse next says, "and the Kohen shall instruct them to empty the afflicted house", this was the attempt to rid the Temple of that impurity. When the verse then says, "then the Kohen shall instruct them to demolish the house", this was Yirmiahu's prophecy materializing as the Temple was actually destroyed. The Torah then says, "and they shall take other stones", which alludes to the building of the Second Bais HaMikdash. The verse stating, "and if the affliction returns and spreads over the house", is a reference to the baseless hatred which arose and spread during the time of the Second Temple. When the verse then cries, "it is a malignant affliction", this alludes to the damage done by the hypocrisy of that behavioral desecration during a sanctified era. "Demolish the house" means the Second Temple will be utterly destroyed. The verse which says, "and if the Kohen will then come", refers to the forthcoming building of the Third Bais HaMikdash. The Kohen of that verse hints to Eliahu HaNavi. The verse, "for the affliction will be purified" refers to that time, when the Temple is rebuilt, when our internal straying will also be healed, and the clauses "the house will be cleansed, cleared, purified" foretell the restoration of the sacrificial rite, which will bring atonement and cleansing. Ibn Shu'aib prays for us all, asking that it be the will of HaShem to rebuild our people, and to restore to us our higher sense of sanctity, so that we will once again sense the Presence. Good Shabbos and good Yom Tov ha'ba aleinu v'al kol Yisroel l'tova. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Tazria

"...isha ki tazria..." "...when a woman conceives..." (12:2) This week, ibn Shu'aib focuses in large part on the more mystical facets of the parsha. He is most interested in understanding the miracle of conception, and the laws which are associated with this phase of human development. I will introduce one of his thoughts, with the proviso that it is one which must be understood from a spiritual view, for it might run contrary to some people's sensitivities these days. He begins with his platform that there is a spiritual hierarchy among human beings. This is shaped, in part, by the ways with which they can serve HaShem. So, for example, the gentile world has been given certain commandments. Avadim - those who are subordinate to Jewish masters - are responsible to observe additional commandments. Jewish women have many commandments. Jewish men are given many more. Each person has a neshama - a soul - but the role which each one's spiritual self plays will determine his or her subjective level of holiness. The more mitzvos one is bound to keep, the greater their potential holiness. This is one reason that we recite the blessings in the morning which thank G-d 'who did not form me as a nachri, as an eved, as an isha'. A Jewish man thanks HaShem for giving him the potential to ascend the hierarchy of holiness. ibn Shu'aib writes that there is no blessing proclaiming "sh'lo asani beheima" - who did not form me as an animal - because an animal has no neshama and isn't on that spiritual hierarchy at all. Now, he explores the biology of conception. We will not discuss that here, but suffice to say that his premises, based in the Talmud, have been supported by science. He looks at some of the internal sequence which determines, in part, the gender of the embryo. He discusses the events which eventuate in that child being born a female, and how the Torah decrees a longer interval of tuma'a, impurity, when a daughter is born (14 days) than when a son is born (7 days). He reasons that since the birth of a girl means that, from the standpoint of mitzvos which can be performed by her, she will enact a diminution in holiness relative to a male, her existence symbolizes a potential distancing of the Divine Presence, relative to that which could eventuate were the child to grow into a man, where the relatively greater kedusha he could achieve would bring the Shechina closer. Thus, the mother remains impure for 14 days, twice as long as she would be after delivering a son. The longer wait reflects the prolonged waiting for the Shechina to draw close, a product of the fewer mitzvos which the daughter can enact. In turn, with double the waiting interval before she can re-purify, she is also distanced from her husband double the time. This also symbolizes this "decreased potential to bring holiness" - when a married couple are united, they bring, ideally, the Shechina into their midst. When they are apart, this means that the Shechina seems distant. Thus, there is a paralleling of the husband-wife experience and the humanity-Divine Presence experience. Finally, ibn Shu'aib ponders the other difference between a woman's days of impurity for a son as compared to a daughter. Following her purification after one week for a son, she has 33 days of "purity from blood." However, following her purification after two weeks for a daughter, she is given 66 days - double the amount - of "purity from blood." What is the meaning of this paradoxical reversal of her status? How is it that she has twice as long an interval of relative respite from impurity after delivering a girl? ibn Shu'aib proposes that when a person accepts the Divine rule, despite its hardship and demands, this is a form of "teshuva" - of aligning themselves with the Heavenly Will. So, for a woman to shoulder the doubled stress of initial impurity, she earns double the "reward", since Midas Rachamim - the standard of mercy - has double the bounty of Midas HaDin - the standard of justice. She has earned a double share of "merciful reward" for having endured the earlier set back of longer impurity. Good Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh Tov. D Fox