About Tzaraat and implications, as an unordinary trial takes place between a person and hisher surroundings.
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Parashat Metzorah deals primarily with a very unpleasant issue; a type of disease, infection or impurity - the Tzaraat, leprosy. In general culture, a leper has been seen as haunted and cursed; he is an individual who is shunned and isolated from society, whose presence is not tolerated, be it on account of his actions or appearances. What is it about the leper that we find so intimidating? Why does one individual’s deviation from the accepted appearance cause such a phobia, that even in our modern times of toleration, incarnations continues to seep through to our hearts at the sight of someone different from ourselves.
The Torah deals in detail with the biological patterns of this deviation from normal human physiology, the changing of the skin and its appearance and the proper response to this. Here we will attempt to examine the subject and questions regarding the appearance of Tzaraat on the human body in the public realm.
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aharon the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests.[1]
Man is referred to as an object that is dealt with by others. He is ‘brought’ to the priest to be evaluated, and the latter will pass judgment on him. One can imagine the masses apprehending (or possibly even dragging) the frightened man - it is not clear what frightens him more - the recent discoveries on his body, or the prospect of his neighbors finding out - the women whispering from a distance and pointing; the children cheering around trying to get an up-close look at the strange man with the spots on his skin. It can be sad that this is the natural reaction of the crowds trying to deal with the intolerable different individual. The verse intends to direct the ‘draggers’ fear and repulsion to somewhere other than “outside the camp” - the automatic location of damnation - to a place of higher spiritual authority. In this attempt, we find God’s intention that the matter of leper shall be brought into the heart of social order. It is not merely an issue of filth that requires disposal, but rather an important matter of purity that must be considered by the priests.
At this point I would like to bring our discussion to a legal point of view. Even though at first glance it might seem otherwise, there are many legal elements to this ‘procedure’. True, the individual in question is not brought before the judge - Moshe in this case - but before a priest; but still he comes before him to receive an assessment of his situation. There is a question of guilt here that requires inquiry, a crime that may or may not have been committed. And there is a clear procedure. There is evidence - the signs that the Torah gives and maybe even the days that passed can act as witnesses to the validity of the infection.
If so - we have here before us a unique type of legal proceedings, with no prosecution or defense, without any actual verbal accusations and without any chance of a settlement - this trial is taking place in the interaction of the human body with its surroundings. What is this ‘trial’ and what is its inner meaning, beyond this strange procedure of expulsion?
In many places we find that the Midrash connects Tzaraat with the sins of Lashon Hara (slander) and Motzi Shem Ra (giving a person a bad name) as an almost automatic assumption. Various explanations are given as to how this constitutes adequate punishment. For example the Midrash says that a person who brought about the separation of a husband and wife (the primary example of Motzi Shem Ra) shall be separated from his own wife by leprosy. But what is the intricate connection between Lashon Hara and leprosy? More so: the verses themselves give no reason for the appearing of leprosy. Why did the sages choose to make the seemingly unnecessary link between this phenomenon and the concept of sin and punishment?
The clear connection appears in the story of Miriam being afflicted with Tzaraat as a result of Lashon Hara she spoke regarding Moshe:
And Miriam and Aharon spoke about Moshe regarding the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said: ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only with Moshe? Had He not spoken with us as well?’ And the LORD heard it… And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow; and Aharon looked upon Miriam; and, behold, she was leprous.[2]
But it still is not clear. Miriam did not say anything specifically bad about Moshe.
It seems that the answers may be found within the verses themselves. The proceedings of the leper take place in a different kind of court, because his entire affair is unique. Regular legal matters are characterized by clear definitions and value systems - they can be judged, one way or another. The judgment is a result of an action or incident that in happening deviates from the normal public or private social order and code of behavior, and now is being regulated by a court of law. But the actions that result in Tzaraat are not bad deeds in the legal sense, yet they have ill intentions. The words Lashon Hara literally mean the bad tongue. The Midrash quotes a verse dealing with body parts:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; A heart that devises wicked thoughts, feet that are swift in running to evil; A false witness that breaths out lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.[3]
Like Lashon Hara, body parts have no real legal or public status - these are the bearers of Tzaraat.
The Midrash also points to the literal meaning of Motzi Shem Ra - he who brings out the bad. The leprosy reveals, exposes the evil intentions of man, and now it is public domain. To a Jewish person, nothing - not even the inside of his own body - is completely private. Even his ill will that was kept hidden inside his body is exposed and he is held accountable for it.
There are two facets to the judgment of Tzaraat. Man cannot escape from the judgment of his innermost bad self, but society cannot hide from the wrongdoings of its individuals. No more hidden skeletons in the closet; the Tzaraat will afflict men, clothing and homes. The public shall come face to face with its infected parts and will be forced to deal with it. But in contrast to the European tradition of the expulsion of lepers and later on the mentally-ill, we are commanded to bring the deviation, the infection, into the realm of social order. Even the removal from the camp is limited and examined and may end at any moment.
Henceforth, we see that the sin is not a sin and the punishment not a punishment - they are both one and the same - Metzora \ Motzi Ra - the extraction of the bad. In Miriam’s story we see how complex it can be, when God’s anger at Miriam attains a physical appearance, but on the other hand the nation judges her favorably - they wait for her to return to the camp.
In summery, we are called to reexamine ourselves, not to take for granted the relation between our body and our being, after all it is said that “from my flesh shall I see God”[4].
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[1] Leviticus 13 2.
[2] Numbers 12 1-2, 10.
[3] Proverbs 6 17-18.
[4] Job 19 26
