Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

Iyar 3, 5773 ~ April 13, 2013
by Neska


Dedicated to the Birth Days of Barbara B, Sheila D and Neska N

In Memory of the Life of a Grand Old Dame - Hilde Korr

"Sticks and stones may break my bones

But words will never hurt me" OH YEAH?

Metzorim = people who speak lashon hara

* They are excluded from being inside the camp but must move outside the 'city limits'. And for some, even that is not far enough. They must move to waaaaay outside the city limits and are truly isolated. . This short DVORT (u laughing Rabbi JD?) is about two very different types of metzorim.

Meriam - is speaking with her brother Moshe, with Aaron at her side and lashon hara is spoken. What? Miriam speaking with an evil tongue?

In the Haftarah, four men are sitting outside the city and may not enter as they have spoken lashon hara and are metzorim.

Let's take Miriam first.

The Torah warns us to be careful about speaking lashon hara and then immediately proceeds to say "remember what happened to Miriam when...." In Rav Zef Leff's book Out Looks and Insights, he suggests that Miriam did NOT sin; she did not speak malice, she was talking to none other than her brother, Moshe (with their other brother, Aaron), having a family conversation, making certain that Moshe and Zipporah were all right. But a "tam", like "hevel", must have been spoken. And, as further proof that nothing "evil" was said, Moshe asks Hashem NOT to forgive her, but to heal her. And the Jewish community waits with her for a week, just as she waited for Moshe beside the river to see what would happen to him, just as she rushed to get Yocheved to nurse him, just as she loved him so much she wanted to make sure that he and his wife were ok. It was out of concern for their marital relationship that she spoke to Moshe. And it was out of love for Miriam that the Jewish people waited with her.

Four men are sitting outside the city borders and are speaking with one another; they have not been cast into isolation, but must have done some negative speaking because they have definitely been cast out of the city. They are sitting and talking and get around to talking about how hungry they are and make a decision, not to try and correct what it was that they said so they could return to a Jewish life within the city, (resisting teshuva?) but decide to go to the Aramean camp to see if they can find some food and if not, they will simply die. Better, it seems, than to repent. That they have no impetus to repent/return. They feel themselves too far gone, perhaps. As they come to the camp, they notice that it is quiet, and upon searching, they realize that the people in the camp seem to have just evaporated. No one is there--BUT food and clothing and other items are just laying about, as if the people have fled. Which, indeed they have. So they sit and they eat and they horde some of the wealth they find and they come back and sit and eat and...suddenly, one of them says....This is not right. We need to go to the City and tell the gate keeper of the circumstances here - our people need to know.

Ahhh....what a miraculous turn of events. How beautifully has Hashem set this up so that not only the metzorim return to civilization but the Jews have what they need to survive.

Sometimes Hashem remains anonymous.

So what about in our times? If tzaaras were still in existence, we would probably ALL (or most of us) be sitting outside the camp and, perhaps we are. Driving home after the first two days of Pesach, having had a fulfilling experience with friends, having sang and sang and eaten and eaten and learned and learned....I not only spoke lashon hara in the car but I spoke it in an angry manner, I mean angry. No white spots on my skin. No white hairs. BUT for the rest of the chag (clear thru Tuesday night) my body was out of sync. I was having tremelo's; my body was vibrating. . I could not sleep more than an hour. I was talking out loud to myself and so much so that I actually asked myself out loud, why are you doing this body? And I couldn't figure it out and I was afraid. And, as I was preparing for this 'dvor' it suddenly dawned on me. No, I didn't have white spots on my skin, I didn't have white hairs appear. But my whole body was covered with the effects of having spoken lashon hara. And once that dawned on me, all I could do was thank Hashem for being so Present and so lenient. When Joel asked us to sign up for a parasha for this spring, I could have chosen any parasha to study and drash on....but Hashem had the cure before I had the 'illness'. And I chose Tsar'as and Metzorah.

Hilde Korr, ztl, strongly in my mind. What a beautiful woman, matriarch, lady. Her gentleness will so be missed. I was introduced to the Korr Mishpacha when I first heard the Kohanim in our shul dulchan the priestly blessing. I remember gasping. With my eyes closed, I was certain I was hearing a strong connection with American Indian chanting. And I felt that way every time Mr. Korr, whose lead voice is the strongest, and the rest of the Kohanim chant. Which brought me to thinking about the parallels of the American Indian Medicine Man (who would look and lay hands and prescribe herbs) and with the Kohanim who are the only ones who can diagnose tsa'aras and who can treat it. (I actually called the American Dermatological Association to see if they had ever done a study of how many dermatologists were Kohanim. But alas and alack.) And perhaps, who knows, perhaps the American Indian is a lost tribe of Israel. Who knows.

Hashem does.

Shabbat Shalom