Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: Nahum HaLevi ben Bracha, Chaim Moshe ben Esther, Yehuda Baruch ben Sarah, Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam Hanna (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon"

Pray for the  "Refuah Shleima"  (rapid recovery) of "  our community" . May G-d deliver us from this crisis quickly and grant a full recovery to those who are sick, Amen!

Tazria

Leviticus 12:1 - 14:9

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.

There are two 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 ... and 2) Rechilut (literally "tale bearing") -- telling someone the negative things another person said about him or did against him.

"And God spoke to Moshe and Aharon saying, 'When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot and it becomes in the skin of his flesh the plague of tzora'as, then he shall be brought to Aharon the priest or unto one of his sons the priests' " (Leviticus 13:1-2).

What is the significance and meaning of these different types of tzora'as?

The Chasan Sofer comments that the different types of tzora'as are illustrative of reasons why people might speak against others:

1) Sais (a rising): A person might speak against others to raise his own stature.

2) Sapachas (a scab): A person might join (sipuach) a group of people who speak against others. In ordinary circumstances, he would not speak lashon hara, but to be sociable or to fit in, he would.

3) Baheres (a bright spot): A person might have done something against someone else, and in an attempt to exonerate himself, he speaks against that person. He clarifies (bahir) the reason for his behavior. If one is aware of the motivation for his speaking lashon hara, he can work on correcting himself.

The Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, points out that 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!

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

Worry does nothing about the future, but it destroys today's peace of mind!

Shabbat Shalom, 

R. Tank

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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.