Miller's Musings Parshas Tazria-Metzora: Cause and Defect

בס''ד

A spiritual ailment manifesting itself as a physical one is something that is often found within Torah thought, but none as clearly as the occurrence of tzora’as. This discolouration of the skin (often misconstrued as leprosy) is described in the Torah as one of three possible blemishes, aשְׂאֵת , סַפַּחַת or בַּהֶרֶת .  Although it is beyond the scope of this musing to identify the distinctions between them, we will instead attempt to suggest why there was a need for three separate skin conditions. Would one not have sufficed as a warning to the sufferer, especially if they were all indications of the same transgression?

It is well known that the punishment of tzora’as was brought about mainly due to the sin of Loshon Horah, speaking ill of one’s fellow man.  This is one misdeed but it can be due to three distinct causes, each one reflected by one of the three types of skin disorders, as elucidated by Reb Moshe Shternbuch.  The first category is those who speak of another’s failings in order to make themselves feel superior, and raise themselves above others.  This led to the affliction of שְׂאֵת from the root to lift.  The second group are those who speak Loshon Horah because they are surrounded by people who act in this way and feel peer pressure to do likewise.  These people suffer the סַפַּחַת which means to be connected, as their sin was due to being attached to the wrong crowd.  The final grouping are the ones who simply thrive on knowing everyone else’s concerns to and love to gossip about all that they know.  Those that fit this description are the ones that contract the בַּהֶרֶת, which means to be clear, as the affairs of others are entirely evident to them. 

I hope you will forgive me the presumption, but I believe that we all speak Loshon Horah on occasion.  The only question lies in our motivation behind it.  Do we lack feelings of self-worth that drive us to belittle others?  Do we surround ourselves with those lacking spiritual development who relish demeaning another? Or do we have this penchant for tattle and hearsay that we find too hard to resist? Whatever it is, we would all surely agree that spreading malicious rumours and even unpleasant truths, is something that none of us would want done to us and should equally not be done to others.  The key to halting this practice may be in determining which of the root causes, outlined above, we possess.  If we resolve this question we can perhaps begin to work on only generating positivity, amity and harmony in the world around us.

*May we feel Hashem’s presence in every moment this Shabbos*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

לרפואת אלימלך יהושע אהרון בן דבורה רבקה