In The Day of His Cleansing

Weekly Torah Lesson # 2

Parasha: Metzora  “Infected one”
Torah: VaYikra 14:1 – 15:33

1 And Avinu spoke to Moshe, saying, 2  This shall be the law of the metzora in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest: 3  And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of tzaraat be healed in the metzora; 4  Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean,…(VaYikra 14:1-4)

The process to bring a Metzora from being infected with a skin condition brought on by using his tongue in a very negative way, to a state where his skin is showing signs of healing can be very uncomfortable. Much of this time is spent in an isolated location where the patient spends most of his time alone, not being able to speak with anyone.    

Here is an interesting observation:

There is a fascinating paradox that relates to the laws of tzara’at, the spiritual malady, a skin discoloration that affects those who gossip. On one hand, only a kohen can either pronounce a state of impurity or purity. On the other hand, the afflicted man is in control of his own destiny. that if, for example, the afflicted man removes the negah(infected area), whether it is hair or skin, then he is no longer tamei. So this affliction, which is purely spiritual in it’s nature, a heavenly exhortation to repent from nattering ways, is basically toothless. If the man wills it, he can refuse to go to the kohen and not be declared tamei. And if he so desires, he can even remove the negah before anyone declares its potency.

Another amazing dimension is applicable after the afflicted man is declared tamei. The Torah tells us “that he is sent out of the camp, where he sits in solitude” (Leviticus 13:46).

His departure from the camp of Israelites is surely not due to a contagious nature of the negah. After all, if that were the case, he would be sent away way even before the kohen’s declaration of tumah.

So why send the man to confinement where no one will monitor his reaction to the negah on his being, a place where he could remove the negah, or adulterate its appearance? Why not have him locked in a cell under the supervision of a guard who would insure the integrity of the purification process?

the concept of sitting in solitude, reflecting in unadulterated honesty about one’s true feelings.

There comes a time in one’s life where the message from heaven can only be without the influence of others and the will to impress them. How often do we act because of the influence of friends and relatives? How often do we gossip due to peer pressure? We must make choices in life. Honest choices. We have to do what the neshama wants us to do. And we can’t alter our true emotion due to social, peer, or monetary pressures.

The afflicted man is sent away from anyone who may have influenced him to act in his blathering ways. He can reflect on his true feeling and his honest perceptions of life and his role. But this decision must be made when he is impervious to anyone who was normally in his sphere. And he has a choice. He can pull out the hair, he can scrape off the negah. He can fool the kohen. He can fool his family and fool his friends. But when he returns to the camp, the same man sans negah, the  only one “fooled” is himself!