Tazria                                                                                          Steve Nachman

Parshat Tazria introduces us to the laws pertaining to tzara’at.  While tzara’at is loosely defined as leprosy or, by some, as scale disease, it includes an array of symptoms and conditions ranging from discoloration of the skin, loss of facial hair, and tzara’at of the clothing and of the walls of a home.

 The laws relating to tzara’at include requirements that a metzora who suffers from tzara’at be “shut up” for seven days and sometimes be “shut up” for a second seven days, or that he be made to dwell alone outside of the camp.  Modern man is accustomed to quarantine and to isolation wards as a part of medical treatment and infection control.  To us, having somebody who is infected with tzara’at isolated from the rest of us seems like a natural precaution to prevent the spread of this disease.          

But there is clearly more at work here.  To quote the Abarvanel, “Far be it from us to consider the Torah as a medical manual.”  Indeed, if all that was at issue were public health concerns, the laws of tzara’at would make seemingly little sense as one example makes clear.  A metzora, whatever his symptoms, is not found to suffer from tzara’at until a Kohen (priest) first declares him so and pronounces him “unclean, unclean.”  But the Kohen cannot pronounce him a metzora and isolate him during any of the shalosh regalim holidays when he would be in Jerusalem surrounded by fellow pilgrims.  And yet these are the times when one would think that public infection concerns are greater than otherwise as the putative metzora would be in contact with the greatest number of people.                            

An answer lies in understanding why a person is inflicted with tzara’at:  It is not because of medical reasons, but rather it is because of his actions in speaking lashon ha-rah (the evil tongue), or gossip, or slander of a fellow Jew.  Indeed, that was the reason why Moshe Rabbenu was inflicted with tzara’at (Shemot 4:1, 7), and the reason why his sister Miriam and his brother Aharon too were inflicted with tzara’at. (Bamidbar Perek 12).  

This point is made clear by various of our Chazal.  Resh Lakish, in discussing our parsha (Mesechet Arachin 15b), explains: “What is the meaning of: ‘This shall be the law of the leper’?  [It means,] this shall be the law for him who brings up an evil name [motzi shem ra]."  Rashi, relying on the next page of the Talmud (Arachin 16b), points out in his commentary on the parsha (Vayikra 13:46) as follows:  “Why is he [the metsora] different than other unclean persons to dwell alone?  Since by his slanderous tongue, he separated man from his wife, and a man from his fellow Jew, so too will he be separated.”  And the Rambam, in his commentary on the Mishna (Nega’im 12:5) notes the “our Sages have said that tzara’at comes as punishment for the evil tongue, for its owner is isolated and can no longer harm people with his loose talk.”  

Today, we spend an inordinate amount of energy to prevent contact with things we fear may infect our bodies. Gloves, masks and hand sanitizers can be found everywhere.  Our Kohanim, however, are no longer able to pronounce us unclean and lack the authority to segregate us from society.  But while the danger of tzara’at may have passed, the danger of harm from our words has not.  As we approach Pesach when we constantly question what we put into our mouths, our parsha and the laws of tzara’at teach us that we still need to question what comes out of them too. 

Shabbat Shalom.