Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Aryeh ben Leah, Esther bat Simcha and Stuart Holtzclaw from Syracuse, NY.

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Tazria

Leviticus 12:1 - 14:9  

Metzora

Leviticus 14: 1 - 15:33

The Torah continues with the laws of physical and spiritual purity. The focus of this portion is upon tzora'as, a supernatural physical affliction sent to warn someone to refrain from speaking badly about others. The disease progressively afflicted home, clothes and then one's skin -- unless the individual corrected his ways and followed the purification process stated in the Torah.

As mentioned above, there are three types of speech transgressions:

1) Lashon Hara (literally "evil tongue") -- making a derogatory or damaging statement about someone even though you are speaking the truth.

2) Motzie Shem Ra -- slander -- where what is spoken is negative and false.

3) Rechilut (literally "tale bearing") --telling someone the negative things another person said about him or did against him. 

"And the priest shall command to take for him who is to be purified two birds alive and pure, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop." (Leviticus 14:4)

What lessons about life do we learn from these?

The cedar symbolizes arrogance (a cedar tree is tall and "haughty").  Tzora'as comes from arrogance and the contempt for others which allows him to talk negatively about others.

Someone who speaks against others vieaxaws himself as above other people and therefore feels that he has a right to say negative things about them. If he were aware of his own faults and limitations, he would not seek out the faults of others.

What is the cure?

He should work on humility, which is symbolized by the scarlet that is made from a lowly worm and the use of hyssop which is a small, low bush. (The two live chirping birds are symbolic of the chatter of idle gossip.)

Our lesson: Be aware of one's own faults and limitations rather than focusing on the faults of others.

From the severity of the tumah (spiritual uncleanliness) of the metzora (the person afflicted with tzora'as), we have an indication of the severity of lashon hara. This is the only type of tumah in which the person is required to stay entirely out of the camp or city where other people live.

If one is careful not to speak negatively about others, he may never have to whisper again!

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.

Keep your words soft and sweet -- you never know when you'll have to eat them!

Shabbat Shalom!

Online Learning 

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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