Transcript
Good morning, בוקר טוב Boker tov and welcome back to Torah Perspectives for today. This is our last Parsha class until after פסח Pesach. Not because I'm taking a break, but you are taking a break, we're taking a break. Next week is פסח Pesach, so there is no Parsha that we read next שבת Shabbos or the שבת Shabbos after is still פסח Pesach. So two weeks are יום טוב Yom Tov reading and then we'll resume the Parsha following פסח Pesach and we will resume learning it together. Very much looking forward to that. Want to thank our series sponsors for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and family members, David Grossman. In memory of Becky's father, לעילוי נשמת דוד בן מנחם מנש l'ilui nishmas Dovid ben Menachem Manash. Very grateful to their generosity and their sponsorship. This week, we have the privilege of reading and studying פרשת מצורע Parshas Metzora, page 620 in the Artscroll Stone חומש Chumash, very much continuing the theme of last week's Parsha. Hold on, I left my notes in the other room. You can still hear me. So what should I tell you? We had a great dinner last night.Okay, still here. First time, I'm, I'm tired. I'm tired, I'm tired. You have to forgive me. I knew something was missing. Something was up. Okay, we begin at the beginning. פרק י\"ד פסוק א' Perek Yud Daled, Pasuk Aleph, the beginning of פרשת מצורע Parshas Metzora. We usually read תזריע מצורע Tazria Metzora together. This year, because of the leap year, we read them separately, which gives us the opportunity to study them separately as well. וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור, זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו Vayedaber Hashem el Moshe leimor, Zos tihyeh toras hametzora b'yom taharaso. This is the law of the מצורע metzora on the day of their purification. והובא אל הכהן V'huva el hakohen. They are brought to the כהן kohen. The כהן kohen, the כהן kohen goes outside the camp, ויצא הכהן אל מחוץ למחנה v'yatza hakohen el michutz lamachaneh. It's very instructive. The Toldos Aaron Rebbe has a beautiful piece where he talks about the responsibility of leadership. You picture this כהן kohen. Those who learn the דף daf, particularly in חגיגה Chagiga, spent a lot of time reminding ourselves of the כהן's kohen's awesome responsibility, an enormous knowledge he had to possess. Not just the כהן kohen, the average person, in order to preserve the sanctity of their food, in order to protect themselves from טומאה tumah, from impurity, it was an awesome responsibility and there was a lot they had to know. So this כהן kohen, this כהן kohen who's incredibly careful not to expose himself to contamination, not to become impure, maybe isolates himself in the ivory tower of the בית מדרש Beis Medrash, of serving Hashem in the עבודה avodah, and yet, this מצורע metzora, the individual who gossiped, who slandered, who therefore needs to be quarantined outside the camp, who goes to him? It relies exclusively on the כהן kohen. Leadership is going out to the people. Leadership is coming off your high horse and your perch. Leadership is coming out of your ivory tower. Leadership is a willingness to become contaminated to purify others. Leadership is being there. Sympathy and empathy and being נושא בעול עם חברו nosei b'ol im chaveiro. The כהן kohen goes ויצא הכהן אל מחוץ למחנה v'yatza hakohen el michutz lamachaneh. The כהן kohen goes out מחוץ למחנה michutz lamachaneh.I want to begin. I don't remember whether I did this last year or not. If I did, it's good חזרה chazara. If I didn't, it's well worth it to look at it together. But the מדרש Midrash on this פסוק pasuk, זאת תהיה תורת המצורע zos tihyeh toras hametzora. This is the Torah of the מצורע metzora. The מצורע metzora has his own Torah. Not a separate, חס ושלום chas v'shalom, Torah competing with our own. We don't mean to suggest the מצורע metzora has a separate independent or parallel Torah, we mean these are the laws. This is the prescription. This is the formula for the מצורע metzora. And the מדרש Midrash on these words tells us אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי, חמש תורות כתובות במצורע Amar Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, chamesh toros ksuvos b'metzora. There are five Torahs that are written when it comes to the מצורע metzora. זאת תורת נגע צרעת Zos toras nega tzaraas, זאת תהיה תורת המצורע zos tihyeh toras hametzora, זאת תורת אשר בו נגע צרעת zos toras asher bo nega tzaraas, זאת התורה לכל נגע הצרעת zos hatorah l'chol nega hatzaraas, זאת תורת הצרעת zos toras hatzaraas. זאת תהיה תורת המצורע zos tihyeh toras hametzora. המוציא שם רע, ללמדך שכל האומר לשון הרע עובר על חמשה חומשי תורה hamotzi shem ra, l'lamedcha shekol ha'omer lashon hara over al chameisha chumshei Torah. The word Torah is used five times in the context of the מצורע metzora. The one who abuses the power of speech, no less than five times do we use the word Torah in association. לכן משה מזהיר את ישראל זאת תהיה תורת המצורע L'feechach Moshe mazhir es Yisrael zos tihyeh toras hametzora. The reason we introduce with the word Torah is because five times, משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu is מזהיר mazhir. זאת תהיה תורה Zos tihyeh Torah, this is the law. What does one thing have to do with the other? Rav Druk, זאל זיין געזונט און שטארק zol zein gezunt un shtark, should have a complete and speedy רפואה שלמה refuah shleima. The great Rav Druk, the אש תמיד Aish Tamid. That's why I don't think we got to it last year, I don't remember. Again, if we did, it's good חזרה chazara. מובא במדרש דבר חמור ונורא, כי לכך הוצרך הכתוב לשנות חמש תורות בפרשת מצורע, להודיעך שכל האומר לשון הרע עובר על חמשה חומשי תורה Muvah b'Midrash davar chamur v'nora, ki l'chach hutzrach hakasuv lishnos chamesh toros b'parshas metzora, l'hodiacha shekol ha'omer lashon hara over al chameisha chumshei Torah. The word Torah is used five times in order to communicate to us and in order to emphasize for us that the מצורע metzora, the individual who gossips, who slanders, who misuses that power of speech, who's insensitive and cruel and hurtful and harmful, such an individual has violated the entire חמשה חומשי תורה chameisha chumshei Torah. We spoke about last week, why פרשת תזריע parshas Tazria comes after שמיני Shemini, be careful not only with what goes in your mouth, be careful what comes out of your mouth. The Torah is concerned with both. And arguably spends more time on what comes out of your mouth than what goes into it. It's very strict, it's very stringent so much so it's as if you violated all of חומש Chumash. But wonders Rav Druk ויש להעיר, במה היזכר המדרש לשון זה שעובר על חמישה חומשי תורה, מדוע לא השתמשו חז\"ל בלשון פשוטה, שכל המספר לשון הרע כאילו עבר על כל התורה כולה v'yeish l'ha'ir, b'mah hizkir hamidrash lashon zeh she'over al chameisha chumshei Torah? Madua lo hishtamshu Chazal b'lashon pshutah, shekol hamisaper lashon hara k'ilu over al kol haTorah kulah? Why do you have to describe it as, it's as if you violated חמישה חומשי תורה chameisha chumshei Torah? The five books of the Torah. Just say it's as if you violated the Torah. You know it comes in one volume too. Many of you are holding and following along right now, comes conveniently in one volume. We call it חומש Chumash, it's made up of five books. But we also refer to it in its total, in totality as the Torah. So why not just say the מצורע metzora by the way they use their speech violated Torah. כל התורה כולה Kol haTorah kulah, the entire Torah. Why specifically break it down חמישה חומשי תורה chameisha chumshei Torah and need to repeat the word Torah five times? And says Rav Druk, a very beautiful insight. He says, because the Torah is not just telling us, if the message were that if you gossip or slander it's as if you violated the whole Torah, then you'd be right. Simply say, כל התורה כולה kol haTorah kulah. But that's not the message. The message is you've violated the five books of Torah. What's the difference? Says Rav Druk, consider for a moment each of the five books of Torah and how each of those five books includes a story and a message and a lesson about the power of speech. It's a beautiful essay, we don't have time to read it all inside, but I'll just summarize for you. בראשית Bereishis, where do we see it? Anybody? You're also hungover from the shul dinner? Just joking, I didn't have any drink. Hungover by joy and happiness and success. בראשית Bereishis. סיפורו של הנחש שדיבר לשון הרע והסיט את איש לאכול Sipuro shel hanachash she'diber lashon hara v'hesit et ish l'echol. The נחש nachash, the snake slandered. And the snake seduced חוה Chava, who in turn convinced אדם Adam. As the גמרא Gemara in ערכין Arachin tells us, the whole story there. משוך הנחש בלחישה ויתפתה בעל הלשון Mashuch hanachash b'lachisha v'yitpateh ba'al halashon. The egregious violation of the snake was using that gift, an unusual gift. Most snakes don't speak. Some people who speak are snakes, but most snakes don't speak. And this snake used that power of speech in order to seduce חוה Chava. You see the power, the violation of לשון הרע lashon hara. What else do you see in בראשית Bereishis very prominently? We're going to mark it in a week and a half time. The brothers. לא יכלו דברו לשלום lo yachlu dabro l'shalom. They couldn't even speak to one another. They couldn't give each other a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem. They couldn't communicate whatsoever. It broke down their entire relationship, their entire communication. They couldn't even talk to one another. יוסף Yosef shared his dreams, arguably unnecessarily. The brothers then spoke among themselves and gossiped and conspired against יוסף Yosef. We have this entire storyline. פסח Pesach is only because of that. What do you mean? כרפס Karpas. We begin the סדר seder, we dip the כרפס karpas. We dip the כרפס karpas in the salt water. רבינו מנוח Rabbeinu Manoach, a commentary on the רמב\"ם Rambam, says, what's the etymology of the word כרפס karpas? What do you use as כרפס karpas? Parsley, potato. If you're from Elizabeth, New Jersey, bananas. What do you use for כרפס karpas? But you dip the כרפס karpas in the salt water. What is the word, where does the term כרפס karpas come from? רבינו מנוח Rabbeinu Manoach says כרפס karpas is כתונת פסים k'sones passim. What happened? How did the whole story begin? We sit at the סדר seder table. This is such a core, core message. That's why I repeat it every year. It's a core, core message. We sit regally and royally at the סדר seder table. We're dawned in white, we're decked out in our קיטל kittel. The table is set majestically and beautifully. And we lean like aristocrats and the סדר seder table, סדר seder night, it's majesty. ליל שימורים Leil Shimurim. It's a night of divine protection. It's an incredible night. We're going to celebrate our freedom and our liberty. We're going to celebrate our elevated status, עם סגולה am segulah, our mission-driven lives. But you know what? First, before we can celebrate freedom, we have to talk about what got us to Egypt to begin with. Before we can mark our exodus and liberation from מצרים Mitzrayim, we spend a moment. We allude and we hint to how we got there to begin with. And how did we get there? Because when the brothers sold יוסף Yosef into slavery, what they do with that coat? With that colored coat, that כתונת פסים k'sones passim? What did they do with it? They dipped it in blood to bring it back to their father to say our brother יוסף Yosef, an animal, he's been attacked, something happened. So we dip the כרפס פסים karpas passim in the water. We do multiple dippings that night, but before we can dip for freedom, we have to first dip to remind ourselves שנאת חינם sinas chinam. You cannot celebrate your freedom and only mark the good part of the story without first remembering what brought us down there to begin with. The מרירות maror, the hatred, the enmity. We have to remember, we have to invoke, we have to learn from it what happened. So says Rav Druk, ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis, is there לשון הרע lashon hara? רכילות rechilus, gossip, slander, abuse of the power of speech in ספר בראשית Sefer Bereishis? Absolutely. And we have to learn from it. At the סדר seder table, we learn from it even yet before we mark and celebrate our freedom. ספר שמות Sefer Shemos. Where's it in ספר שמות Sefer Shemos? מרים Miriam, even before מרים Miriam. He says, even before the spies. That's later. ספר שמות Sefer Shemos. משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu kills the מצרי Mitzri, who he saw strike the עברי Ivri. And what happens? ויאמר לרשע למה תכה רעך Vayomer l'rasha lama sakeh re'echa. רש\"י Rashi says they were דתן ואבירם Dasan v'Aviram, and they were slandering him, they were gossiping, they were going to post it online. They were going to post it on social media. They were so excited, they'd be able to expose משה רבינו Moshe Rabbeinu. They'd be able to turn the court of public opinion against him. וישמע פרעה את הדבר הזה ויבקש להרוג את משה Vayishma Pharaoh es hadavar hazeh vayivakesh laharog es Moshe. פרעה Pharaoh heard about it and he wanted to kill משה Moshe. How'd פרעה Pharaoh hear about it? Page six, Daily News, New York Post? One of those probably מוקצה muktzah newspapers. But they heard about it, they read about it, they knew about it. That's how פרעה Pharaoh knew. Why? Slander. Slander. You also have in ספר שמות Sefer Shemos, לא תשא שמע שווא lo sisa shema shav. רש\"י Rashi says you're not allowed to be מקבל לשון הרע mekabel lashon hara. ספר ויקרא Sefer Vayikra. Where do we see it? We don't stop seeing it. Here, תזריע מצורע Tazria Metzora, לשון הרע lashon hara, over and over again. לא תלך רכיל Lo selech rachil, you're not allowed to gossip. ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. פרשת שלח Parshas Shlach. Someone said before, the מרגלים meraglim, the spies. You're not only forbidden from gossiping about people, you can't slander precious gifts from God from above. How could you talk negatively about ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael? Not only its inhabitants, but even the land. And there we have the story of מרים הנביאה Miriam haNeviah and her brother. ותדבר מרים ואהרן במשה על אודות האשה הכושית אשר לקח Vatedaber Miriam v'Aharon b'Moshe al odos ha'isha hakushis asher lakach. They're talking, and people think it's okay within the family. You're allowed to gossip about your sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law and in-laws and parents. That's all part of the natural family dysfunction. It's not okay. And מרים Miriam is sent out of the camp and they all wait for her because she had proven she could wait for us. And that's in ספר במדבר Sefer Bamidbar. דברים Devarim. Where is it in דברים Devarim? פרשת מוציא שם רע Parshas Motzi Shem Ra. את האישה הזאת לקחתי ואקרב אליה ולא מצאתי לה בתולים Es ha'isha hazos lakachti v'ekrav eileha v'lo matzasi lah besulim. A man marries a woman and then he publicly challenges her that she in fact was not the status she claimed to be when they got married. She wasn't a בתולה besulah, she wasn't a virgin. And he was lying. He wanted to lower his financial obligation to her. He was lying. And he owes a penalty to her father. The הלכות halachos of מוציא שם רע Motzi Shem Ra. Literally, מוציא שם רע Motzi Shem Ra. We also have in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim, ארור מכה רעהו בסתר, ואמר כל העם אמן Arur makeh re'eihu basaser v'amar kol ha'am amen. And רש\"י Rashi says, what's מכה רעהו בסתר makeh re'eihu basaser? What does it mean to strike your friend in private? It means מספר לשון הרע misaper lashon hara. If you speak about your friend, that's what it means to harm them, to hit them, to injure them in private. You're not publicly doing it, even behind their back you're injuring them by slandering them.So Rav Druk's point is when we say זאת תורת המצורע zos toras hametzora and the word Torah is used five times and חז\"ל Chazal tell us that we learn from here that if you gossip or slander it's as if you violated all of חמשה חומשי תורה chameisha chumshei Torah, it would have been you're right, more efficient to simply write, you violated כל התורה כולה kol haTorah kulah, but it would miss the point. It's not just that it's so egregious. It's not just that it's so harmful it's as if you violated all Torah, but it means in חומש Chumash, every ספר sefer of חומש Chumash has several lessons about the power of speech. And if you haven't learned from them, it's like you stepped on and violated each of the five books of Torah. Not just you violated Torah, כל התורה כולה kol haTorah kulah, but says Rav Druk, through the examples we just gave, it is as if you violated each of the חמשה חומשי תורה chameisha chumshei Torah, you went through each one separately. זאת תורת המצורע Zos toras hametzora. It's an amazing מדרש Midrash. The מדרש Midrash says a story in תהילים Tehillim. מי האיש החפץ חיים, מעשה ברוכל אחד שהיה מחזיר בעירות, mi ha'ish hechafetz chaim, ma'aseh b'rochel echad shehayah machzir b'ayaros. There was a certain רוכל rochel, a merchant, who was, who was selling his wares in the city close to ציפורי Tzippori, and he announced, כל מאן דבעי למיזבן סם חיים kol man d'ba'i l'mizban sam chaim, who wants to buy the elixir for life? The medicine for life. Who would like to buy the סם חיים sam chaim? Who doesn't want to live a long life? The fountain of youth here in Florida. Who doesn't want to extend their life and their quality of life? עוד כן עליי רבי ינאי, הוה יתיב ופרש בטרקליניה, שמע דמכריז מאן בעי למזבן סם חיים? אמר ליה, תסוק להכא זבון לי Udkein alai Rabbi Yanai, hava yosiv v'paresh b'traklinei, shama d'machriz man ba'i l'mizban sam chaim? Amar lei, tesok l'hacha z'von li. And the מדרש Midrash has a whole back and forth that the real סם חיים sam chaim, the elixir of life is, מי האיש החפץ חיים mi ha'ish hechafetz chaim. What's the answer? נצור לשונך מרע Netzor l'shoncha me'ra. You're not allowed to speak, don't gossip, don't slander. That's the person you live a long life. By the way, some of the commentaries ask, who in their right mind would go up to that merchant? Are we so foolish to think that you could buy or add years to your life because you buy some elixir? You're going to buy some little bottle, you're going to buy some medicine. I laughed when I saw that question they asked, because the truth is, like QVC, the whole, the whole world, every kiosk and every mall, every, everybody, which is just a reflection of how desperate everyone is to extend life, to live life, and to look for shortcuts in life. We could live a long life if we earn it, if we have the merits for it, if we take care of ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally, but we'd much rather pig out and then buy a little, a little vial of some elixir of some medicine which will extend our life. It's a funny question they even ask. But Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, the אבן האזל Even Ha'ezel. Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer says the following about the גמרא Gemara. He says, דרובם חושבים שאיסור של לשון הרע הוא איסור ככל איסורים d'rovam choshvim she'issur shel lashon hara hu issur k'chol issurim. Everyone thinks there are 613 commandments in the Torah. We know 365, 248, broken up into positive and into negative. So לשון הרע lashon hara is like any other negative commandment. לשון הרע Lashon hara is like you can't eat non-kosher, you can't violate שבת Shabbos, and you can't wear שעטנז shatnez, and you can't, I don't know, all the other negative prohibitions in the Torah. So לשון הרע lashon hara is just another one of them. But Rav Isser Zalman says, no, it's categorically different. It is unusual, borderline unique. Why? He says, המונע את עצמו ממנו יכול להשתדל לקיים מצוות לומד תורה שהם אסקס בהם יותר שזכות יתן אדם מבטיח לעצמו אדם חיים hamone'a es atzmo mimenu yachol l'hishtadel l'kayem mitzvos lomed Torah shehem eskes bahem yoser sh'zkus yiten adam mavtiach l'atzmo adam chaim. People think that לשון הרע lashon hara is like every other violation where what? Even if you violate that negative prohibition, you could still learn Torah, you could still דאווען daven, and you could still offset or compensate, you could still extend your life by earning merits. ואף כי שאמרו חז\"ל, יושב ולא עבר עבירה, נותנים לו שכר כעושה מצווה V'af ki she'amru Chazal, yoshev v'lo avar aveira, nosnim lo schar k'oseh mitzvah. The גמרא Gemara in קידושין ל\"ט Kiddushin Lamed Tes says that if you sit and don't violate an עבירה aveira, we make it as if you did a מצווה mitzvah. All of you are sitting here right now from 9:30 to 10:30 on Tuesday morning, and you know what? While you're sitting here, maybe you took coffee from the back, maybe you're having a granola bar. You know what you're not doing? You're not eating bacon. Now would you say you're doing a מצווה mitzvah? You're doing the מצווה mitzvah of תלמוד תורה Talmud Torah, I hope, we're learning Torah together. Maybe you did the מצווה mitzvah of making a ברכה bracha before you ate or drank that coffee or that bottle of water. But is it a מצווה mitzvah that you're sitting here right now and you are declining, you are refraining from eating bacon? So the גמרא Gemara in קידושין Kiddushin says to a certain extent, yes. יושב ולא עבר עבירה Yoshev v'lo avar aveira, if you sit and you don't do an עבירה aveira, you're tempted. You, maybe bacon doesn't speak to you. If you've never had it. If you have had it... But we're all tempted by things. Tempted to look at the right, wrong thing and watch the wrong thing and say the wrong thing and go to the wrong place and oversleep. We're tempted by the wrong things. And when we overcome that temptation, and we sit passively and don't violate that עבירה aveira, Hashem considers it not just that we're neutral, not just that we remain in פטור p'tur, but the fact that we've shown the will and the willpower. If we can muster up the will and the willpower, even to passively not violate something wrong, it's as if we did something right. בכל זאת אינו דומה עדיין לעשיית מצווה בפועל B'chol zos, eino domeh adayin l'asiyas mitzvah b'foal. They can't compare. How could you compare sitting stationary passively, not violating a prohibition with putting on תפילין tefillin, with giving צדקה tzedaka, with volunteering for חסד chesed, with learning Torah? It's different. It's different. הרוכל שהכריז מן בעי למיזבן סם דחיים, haroichel shehichriz man ba'i l'mizban sam d'chayei. So the merchant who was proclaiming, pronouncing, who wants access to the elixir of life, חידש, ששונה מפני הדברים באיסור לשון הרע, שמירת הלשון, שעם שמירת הלשון, אינה יותר מאשר הימנעות מעבירה, אינה הכרזת הרוכל מובנת כלל Chidash, she'shoneh mipnei hadvarim b'issur lashon hara, shmiras halashon, she'im shmiras halashon, einah yoser ma'asher himanu'us me'aveira, einah hachrazas haroichel muvenes klal. Think about what שמירת הלשון shmiras halashon is. What does it mean to guard your mouth? Are you active or passive when you guard your mouth? You are? You're passive. I have a really juicy, juicy, delicious לשון הרע lashon hara for you. I have something to tell you, it's unbelievable. About someone, you're going to fall off your chair, you're not going to believe it. It's incredible. But you can't tell anybody. It's just for you. That's, you know, the Jewish notion of a secret is something you tell people one by one.So a person says, I have such juicy לשון הרע lashon hara, such good stuff. Ah, such good stuff. And you say, you know what, never mind. I'm biting my tongue. I'm not going to tell you. It's wrong, it's hurtful, it's harmful. I wouldn't want it done to me. I'm not going to tell you. So I sit here silently and passively. By the way, there's a whole conversation in my head. I don't even say it to you. In my own head, I'm tempted. I need to make conversation. I have nothing to talk about. I'll look pretty cool that I had this information. Now we'll have someone to gossip about. Let me tell him or her, let me, let me give the good לשון הרע lashon hara. And then you say, you know what, in your own head, you have this battle, this conversation, and you say no. Be quiet, stay silent, don't share. Have you done a מצווה mitzvah? No. You just didn't do an עבירה aveira. If you sit and stare down the bacon, you look at it, maybe even smell it, you're tempted by it, you're curious about it, but you don't eat it. Have you done a מצווה mitzvah? No, you just haven't done, you just haven't done an עבירה aveira. So why is this the elixir of life? How is it a סם חיים sam chaim? סם חיים Sam chaim means that you're actively doing something which will prolong your life. This is not something that earns a merit, you haven't done a מצווה mitzvah, it shouldn't prolong your life. You passively have abstained or refrained from violating a boundary and doing something wrong. כשם שאין לומר שמי שרוצה לחיות לא יאכל טריפה. K'shem she'ein lomar she'mi she'rotzeh lichyos, lo yochal treifah. You wouldn't say that if you want to live a long life, don't eat non-kosher. You'd just say don't eat non-kosher because it's the wrong thing to do, but it won't give you a long life. שכן סם חיים הוא דבר משפיע באופן חיובי, אלא החידוש הוא, שמניעת דיבור לשון הרע כשלעצמה, היא גופה סם חיים. וכך מפורש בפסוק: מי האיש החפץ חיים. עצם מניעת דיבור לשון הרע היא זכות בפועל, שמקדשת את האדם על ידי זה שפיו קדוש, מתקדש בעצמו. She'ken sam chaim hu davar mashpia b'ofen chiyuvi, ella hachidush hu, she'meni'as dibur lashon hara k'shelatzmah, hi gufa sam chaim. V'kach meforash b'pasuk: mi ha'ish hechafetz chaim. Etzem meni'as dibur lashon hara hi zechus b'foal, she'mekadeshes es ha'adam al yedei zeh she'piv kadosh, miskadesh b'atzmo. So this is the חידוש chidush, says Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer. Such a beautiful insight. He says when you abstain or refrain from לשון הרע lashon hara, you're not doing something passive. You're not just abstaining or refraining, you are doing a מצווה mitzvah. You're doing something positive and that's why it earns the סם חיים sam chaim. It's not like any other עבירה aveira that when you don't do it, you're holding in neutral. When you don't do it, you're in the positive. You're now in the black. When you don't do it, you've done something good, you've done something right and that's why מי האיש החפץ חיים mi ha'ish hechafetz chaim. You want a long life, don't just sit neutral and not do the wrong thing. In this case, in this unique case, not doing the wrong thing is the right thing and puts you into the right place and into the right frame of mind.I'll add my own to this, that perhaps the reason that when you don't speak לשון הרע lashon hara, you don't simply remain in neutral, but you've done something positive is because most people don't not speak. Most people speak, they talk. We talked about last week or I think or two weeks ago, Rav Wolbe, we teach children to speak, but we forget to ever teach them to stop speaking. The value of silence. The wisdom of silence, the importance of silence. We don't teach that, we don't emphasize that, we don't reward that. We don't say, yay, you're quiet. We say, yay, you said your first word. It's amazing. But we forget to reward them for silence. Silence is important, but most people don't do it. Most people speak, speak incessantly. In fact, by the way, we'll get to in a moment, but this individual, the מצורע metzora, what do they bring? What do they do to purify themselves? וציוה הכהן, פסוק ד' v'tzivah hakohen, pasuk daled. וציוה הכהן ולקח למטהר שתי ציפורים חיות טהורות V'tzivah hakohen v'lakach l'mitaher shtei tzipporim chayot tehorot. כהן Kohen, what happens? פסוק ד' Pasuk Daled. The כהן kohen shall command for the person being purified there has to be two live clean birds, cedarwood, crimson red and אזוב eizov, and hyssop. עץ ארז ושני תולעת ואזוב Etz erez v'shni tola'as v'eizov. We're going to examine in a second why. Each of these ingredients are part of the formula of their rehabilitation process. But they have to bring two birds. Why do they bring two birds? רש\"י Rashi says, שהוא מעשה פטפוטי דברים shehu ma'aseh pitputei devarim. You know what these birds do? They tweet. It's actually funny, their חומש Chumash and they translate, you know what they do? They tweet. Tweet, tweet, tweet. They twitter, is actually what they, the proper English word. פטפוטי דברים Pitputei devarim. They twitter. They twitter incessantly. They twitter unfiltered. They tweet every thought. They're tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet all day long. לכן הוצריך כפרתו ציפורים שמפטפטים תמיד בצפצוף קול L'feechach hutzrach kaparaso tzipporim shemifatpetim tamid b'tziftzuf kol. So we bring these two birds. Some of the מפרשים mefarshim wonder, why two? How many should you bring? One. You violated לשון הרע lashon hara, you spoke, gossiped, slandered, you misused the power of speech, so you bring one bird. You were like a bird that was chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirping. You didn't stop talking. And when you don't stop talking, you're going to end up saying the wrong thing, hurtful things, harmful things, unintentionally, without malice. But if your default is to be talking, you run out of things to talk about if you don't start talking about people. So you're like that bird, פטפוטי pitputei, you're just chirp, chirp, chirp, tweet, tweet, tweet. Tweet, tweet, twitter. So therefore you bring two birds, but you should bring one. Why not the other bird? So the answer is, some say the two birds, there was the speaker and there was the listener. You violate לשון הרע lashon hara when you're the one communicating it, and you violate לשון הרע lashon hara when you're the one listening to it. But listen to this interpretation, I forgot where I saw it. He says, you know why two birds? You need to atone for what you said, and you need to atone for what you could have been saying. One bird is for what you said that was wrong. And you know what the other bird is? What you could have been saying that would have been right. Instead of gossiping or slandering, you could have been complimenting. You could have been uplifting. You know the power of a compliment is? You know what it does for somebody? It costs you nothing. It's so easy to do. And yet it can transform someone's life. When you tell them, you look wonderful, or it's great to see you, or you did a great job on that event, that program, that effort, that speech you gave. Compliment. For the food, for the effort. To our children, to our spouses, to our friends, to our employees, to our coworkers. We could be using the power of speech to build worlds and build people, and to enrich, and to elevate, and to empower, to inspire. And when instead we use that power of speech and we use that time not to do those things but the opposite, we're guilty of two things. We're guilty of having used wrong speech, but we're also guilty that in that moment we failed to use speech in the right way. So two birds, two atonements, one for where we went wrong and one for where we failed, where we could have gone right. So if that's the case, if that's true, maybe that's why it's the סם חיים sam chaim. The סם חיים sam chaim is, if you cut לשון הרע lashon hara out of your life, then you'll find yourself speaking much more compliments. You'll find yourself speaking much more positive. You'll find yourself speaking much more appropriately. So it's the סם חיים sam chaim because maybe when you cut לשון הרע lashon hara out of your life, you're not sitting and doing something passive. You know, if I, if I stare down that bacon and I don't eat it, so there's a passive sort of spectator not doing the לאו lav, not doing the prohibition. Have I done a מצווה mitzvah? No. So you'll say, but you didn't eat the bacon, but now you're hungry. So instead of the bacon, you can have a kosher hamburger. Was it a מצווה mitzvah having a kosher hamburger? No. I mean, hopefully you washed, you made a ברכה bracha before and after, but eating the hamburger itself is not a מצווה mitzvah. Whereas here, here, if you don't speak לשון הרע lashon hara and you fill that same space and effort and speech with something positive and a compliment, by abstaining from doing the negative, you will fill it with something positive which is a מצווה mitzvah. So maybe that's another פשט pshat, why it's the סם חיים sam chaim and why it's different than these other עבירות aveiros, not just that you haven't done an עבירה aveira. פרק י\"ד, פסוק ב' Perek Yud Daled, Pasuk Beis, going back. זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו והובא אל הכהן Zos tihyeh toras hametzora b'yom taharaso v'huva el hakohen. והובא אל הכהן V'huva el hakohen. ויצא הכהן אל מחוץ למחנה וראה הכהן והנה נרפא נגע הצרעת מן הצרוע V'yatza hakohen el michutz lamachaneh v'ra'ah hakohen v'hinei nirpa nega hatzara'as min hatzarua. פסוק ג' Pasuk Gimmel. The כהן kohen goes out outside the camp, and he looks and he sees נגע צרעת nega tzara'as. מן הצרוע Min hatzarua. The צרעת tzara'as affliction has been healed from the מצורע metzora. From the מצורע metzora. והובא אל הכהן V'huva el hakohen. The פסוק pasuk says והובא אל הכהן v'huva el hakohen. I tell you an incredible Rav Boruch Ber. Rav Boruch Ber of the Mir, they just had their dinner on Sunday night. Rav Boruch Ber of the Mir. Not he lived, the Mir in Poland. הנגעים באים על לשון הרע ולכן בא לנגע מביא שתי צפרים כדי לומר בזה, הוא פטפט, לכן יביא ציפורים מפטפטות Hanegaim baim al lashon hara v'lachein ba lanega meivi shtei tzipporim kedei lomar b'zeh, hu pitpeit, l'feichach yavi tzipporim mifatpetos. As we just said, he tweeted, chirped, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, you bring birds that chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp. פטפוט הוא קלות ראש ושחוקיות Pitput hu kalus rosh v'shitchiyus. What is chirping? We even use that in the vernacular. Somebody's just speaking incessantly, who's verbose, who's just chattering on about nothingness. Stop chirping. They're chirping incessantly. It's קלות ראש kalus rosh. There's nothing of significance. Eleanor Roosevelt said that small people talk about people, average people talk about things, great people talk about ideas. So we're supposed to use our power of speech to talk about ideas. And this person chirped talking about either things or worse, talking about people. אדם שניסך בנגע למעשה של קלות דעת, הוא כביכול מובא, שאחרים נוסעים וסוחבים אותו. Adam she'nischaf b'nega l'ma'aseh shel kalus da'as, hu k'vyachol muva, she'acheirim nosim v'sochvim oso. This is Rav Boruch Ber's insight. What does the Torah tell us about the individual? How do they go to the כהן kohen? How do they get there? Sorry, the end of פסוק ב' pasuk beis, I was right. זאת תהיה תורת המצורע ביום טהרתו, והובא אל הכהן Zos tihyeh toras hametzora b'yom taharaso, v'huva el hakohen. They are והובא v'huva. What is והובא v'huva? They're brought. What do you mean they're brought? They put them on a stretcher and carry him? Take him on a helicopter? Put them in a baby bjorn and carry them? What do you mean והובא אל הכהן v'huva el hakohen? They are brought to the כהן kohen. How are they brought to the כהן kohen? They don't walk on their own volition, on their own two feet? Says Rav Boruch Ber, the individual who spoke לשון הרע lashon hara, who gossiped, והובא v'huva, they were just swept up and caught up in peer pressure, swept up and caught up in the social pressure. to speak, to gossip, to slander. They're living a life of מובא muva, of peer pressure, of social pressure, of trying to fit in. Why do people slander and gossip? Why do they abuse the power of speech? Because they're trying to impress, they're trying to fit in, they're trying to be the center of attention. They're trying to look like they have some social commodity of information to share. That's why people do it. They're מובא muva, they're drawn in. People don't sit and say, huh, would this be a good thing to talk about? Will it reflect positively about me? Will it positively help people I care about? And then go ahead and speak about it. They don't do that. Why do we do it? Because in that moment we give into that יצר הרע yetzer hara. We are drawn in. We're drawn in. והובא v'huva, they are brought to. They're brought to. Rashi brings in the פסוק pasuk in במדבר Bamidbar in great contrast to the מצורע metzora. זאת תורת zos toras, someone else that we have a תורה Torah of, not the תורה Torah of the מצורע metzora, but we have the תורה Torah of the נזיר nazir. זאת תורת הנזיר ביום מלאות ימי נזרו, יביא אותו אל פתח אהל מועד Zos toras hanazir b'yom melos yemei nizro, yavi oso el pesach ohel moed. There, in the תורה Torah of the נזיר nazir, it doesn't say והובא v'huva. The נזיר nazir also needs to complete their process. And the נזיר nazir also needs to make an appearance at the אהל מועד ohel moed. How does the נזיר nazir get there? It doesn't say והובא v'huva, what does it say? יביא yavi. יביא אותו Yavi oso. זאגט רש\"י Zogt Rashi, יביא אותו yavi oso, יביא את עצמו yavi es atzmo. The נזיר nazir brings himself or herself. So רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom would say, listen carefully, you ready? רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom would say, אילו היו מניחים את כל ספרי חכמת העמים והגות הפילוסופים על כף מאזנים מול שלוש מילים הללו, היסה כוח חכמתם כנוצה ilu hayu manichim es kol sifrei chochmas ha'amim v'hagos hafilosofim al kaf moz'nayim mul shalosh milim halalu, haysa ko'ach chachmasam k'notza. If you had a scale and you put all the works of wisdom of the world on one side and the other side all you had were these three words, יביא את עצמו yavi es atzmo, those three words would weigh, would be heavier, more significant than the rest of the wisdoms of the world. Why? שכן בשלוש מילים קצרות אלו של רש\"י הקדוש מונחת כל עומק חכמת התורה, שנזיר זהיר במעשיו שאינו מחשיב מה יאמרו הבריות ועל כן תפארתו She'ken b'shalosh milim ketzaros eilu shel Rashi haKadosh munachas kol omek chachmas haTorah, she'nazir zahir b'maasav she'eino machshiv ma yomru ha'brios v'al kein tifarto. The נזיר nazir is holy, the נזיר nazir is קדוש kadosh. The נזיר nazir takes this vow of abstinence. The נזיר nazir learns to live without because the נזיר nazir craves to live with more, more spirituality, more significance, more mission, more connection and closeness to השם Hashem. What drives and moves a נזיר nazir to live that way? The נזיר nazir doesn't want a fine bottle of wine? The נזיר nazir doesn't want to be willing to be exposed to טומאה tumah? The נזיר nazir says I'm going to live this ascetic life. I'm going to live without because I want to live with more, with more רוחניות ruchnius. You know what drives the נזיר nazir? What gives the נזיר nazir the discipline and the capacity to live that way? Because the נזיר nazir is יביא את עצמו yavi es atzmo. The נזיר nazir carries himself, herself. They're disciplined, they're driven. Which is real freedom, by the way, that's also one of the themes of the סדר Seder. One of the themes of פסח Pesach is that discipline, freedom is discipline, discipline is freedom. Freedom is discipline, discipline is freedom. That when you're undisciplined, you're not free. If you want more money, you have to be disciplined with money. You want more free time, you got to be disciplined with time. You want a longer life and better health, you have to be disciplined with your health. That's why we have the most bizarre celebration of freedom in the world. A kid finishes, a young person finishes their college exams. What do they do? They party all night. No rules, no barriers, no boundaries, no limits. A person's finally arrived at that vacation from work, what do they do? No rules, no limits, no barriers, no boundaries. What do we do? Freedom! We're out of bondage. We're going to mark the end of 210 years of slavery. What do we do? Everyone please take your seat at the table. Please look at the agenda. קדש ורחץ כרפס יחץ Kadesh u'rchatz, karpas yachatz. Everyone take out your measuring devices. Make sure that we have the exact requisite amount of wine, eat the right amount of מצה matzah in the right amount of time. How do we celebrate freedom? The night of freedom with סדר Seder. By being organized and disciplined. It's incredible. Absolutely incredible. Because the תורה Torah understands that discipline is freedom. It's not that a lack of discipline is freedom, discipline is freedom. Discipline financially, you have more money. Discipline with your time management, you have more time. Discipline with your health, you have a better quality of life and more health. Discipline is freedom. סדר Seder is freedom. יביא את עצמו Yavi es atzmo. Be disciplined. Move yourself, be inspired yourself, be disciplined yourself. What led someone to become a מצורע metzora? והובא אל הכהן v'huva el hakohen. They were brought to the כהן kohen. They're an object. סולובייצ'יק זצ\"ל Soloveitchik zatzal had a beautiful דרשה drasha where he distinguished between the human being can be a חפצא cheftza or a גברא gavra. We, the human being, could be a חפצא cheftza, we could just be an object that gravity pulls us down, or we can be a גברא gavra. If I drop my glasses right here, gravity will make them fall. But a human being, I could lift my arm and I can go against gravity. Objects don't go against gravity, unless there's a human force. So are you a חפצא cheftza or a גברא gavra? Are you just going along for the ride? Are you passively an object that's in motion? Are you והובא אל הכהן v'huva el hakohen? Are you drawn into the pressure of whatever is around you? They're gossiping, they're slandering, so you join that. Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp. Are you והובא v'huva? Are you drawn in? Or are you וְיָבִיא v'yavi? Are you able to be disciplined and self-control and sovereign? Become a גברא gavra. גברא רבה Gavra rabba. Don't just be a חפצא cheftza. Be something that's so much, so much more than that. That's רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom. What a great insight. The distinction between the מצורע metzora and the נזיר nazir. The distinction between the מובא muva, the הובא huva, and the יביא yavi. Very powerful distinction. A friend of Zev Leffstein זצ\"ל zatzal, משגיח mashgiach of תורה אור Torah Ohr, a תלמיד talmid of רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom, also has an insight on these words. He says the following. He says, it's a מוסר mussar that Reb Zev heard from רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom. So it's really two רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchoms in a row. He says, יש להתבונן מה ענין בטהרת המצורע שמצינו בשום חטא טהרה כמו זו ממשוכת ומרובת פרטים Yesh l'hisbonen ma inyan b'taharas ha'metzora she'matzinu b'shum chet tahara k'mo zu m'meshuchas u'merubas peratim. This is the most complicated, complex, detailed, difficult rehabilitation there is. We have all kinds of forms of טומאה tumah. We have people who make contact with impurity. We have people who become contaminated. Take two of those, say three of these, and you're good to go. And yet, this מצורע metzora, it's complicated and detailed and arduous. It's so hard. What happens? First they're quarantined seven days. If they don't get better, they need another seven days of quarantine. If a sign of טומאה tumah comes, then they have to sit בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה badad yeshev michutz l'machaneh. They have to sit outside the camp. And their clothing is torn, and they're not allowed to sit with other people who are impure. And if they merit and these signs of טומאה tumah heal, and the day of their טהרה tahara comes, now you begin with the process of rehabilitation. The birds, and the היסופ hyssop, and the washing of the clothing. And then you need seven more days, and then you shave all the hair of the body, and then you bring all these קרבנות korbanos. It's complicated and difficult. You gotta take off time from work. You gotta find the money to buy these ingredients and these animals, these sacrifices. And your entire body and being go through what can be a humiliating process. Shaving every hair on your body, it's wild. Why? Says Reb Zev in the name of רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom, you know why? אם יתנו לאדם להכניס לחדר הניתוחים שבבית חולים Im yitnu l'adam l'hachnis l'cheder hanituchim she'b'beis cholim. You're in the hospital and you have the opportunity to tour the operating rooms. And you look into different operating rooms and in one operating room there's two instruments. And in the next operating room there's 30 instruments. Where do you think the more complicated surgery will take place? Which patient do you think has the more complicated, life-threatening illness? The one that needs two instruments? The one that they've reserved that operating room for 20 minutes? Or the one that the operating room will need to be used for 8 hours? Obviously, the more complicated, the more difficult, the more complex, the lengthier, the more dangerous, lethal, the more intense it was that needs to be healed. Says Reb Zev in the name of רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom, the same is true over here. It's true that we have all kinds of טומאה tumah, all kinds of contamination. But what do you see from here? From the formula of rehabilitation of the מצורע metzora, you see that this is the most intense. This is the worst, the deepest form of impurity. מזה נבין עד כמה חמור חטא לשון הרע, שכדי להיטהר ממנו צורך תהליך לא פשוט Mizeh navin ad kama chamur chet lashon hara, she'kedei l'hitaher mimenu tzorech tahalich lo pashut. You see that לשון הרע lashon hara which seems benign and innocuous. לשון הרע lashon hara, okay, okay, so you gossiped, you slandered. The גמרא Gemara tells us there's nobody alive who doesn't fall prey or struggle at least with אבק לשון הרע avak lashon hara every day. Okay, so a little לשון הרע lashon hara. Okay. When I was a kid in Teaneck growing up, there was a guy in the שול shul who would say, I don't repeat לשון הרע lashon hara. So listen carefully the first time. Who doesn't talk a little bit of לשון הרע lashon hara? So you think it's benign, everybody does it. It's impossible to avoid it, so what's the big deal? So the תורה Torah comes along and says, it's a big deal. And how will I let you know it's a big deal? Because I'm going to make it the longest, the most expensive and the most complex recovery process. And you will know it's a big deal. That's what חז\"ל Chazal tell us in the מדרש תהילים Midrash Tehillim. קשה לשון הרע יותר משלוש עבירות, עבודה זרה, גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים, שההורג הורג נפש אחת והמספר לשון הרע הורג שלוש נפשות Kasha lashon hara yoser mi'shalosh avairos, avodah zarah, gilui arayos, v'shfichus damim, she'hahoreg horeg nefesh achas v'hamisaper lashon hara horeg shalosh nefashos. When you speak לשון הרע lashon hara, you kill three. When you murder, you only killed one. Who are the three who die in לשון הרע lashon hara? The subject, the listener, and the speaker. All three have compromised themselves. All three are harmed in the process. So a person who murders, it's terrible, of course, it's severe. They've murdered one life. But a person who shares לשון הרע lashon hara, they've compromised three lives. So therefore the מדרש Midrash tells us it's even more חמור chamur. It's even more קשה kasha משלוש עבירות mi'shalosh aveiros. And that's why, said רבי ברוכם Reb Boruchom, this process is so expensive and arduous and difficult to tell us how serious it is. פרק י\"ד פסוק ד' Perek yud daled, pasuk daled. Moving right along. וצוה הכהן V'tziva hakohen, they take all these different ingredients. One more אש תמיד aish tamid. One more רב דרוק Rav Druck. ארז Erez. Why? Why does the מצורע metzora bring this cedar and hyssop in the process of recovery? Says Rashi, לפי שהנגעים באים על גסות הרוח l'fi she'hanegaim baim al gasus haruach. Why is one struck with with צרעת tzaraas? What did one do wrong? Where did someone go wrong that they then get צרעת tzaraas? What precipitated it? In other words, צרעת tzaraas is the symptom, but it's not the disease. It's so important when you study פרשת תזריע ומצורע parshas Tazria u'Metzora. צרעת Tzaraas is the manifestation. צרעת Tzaraas is the presenting symptom. But it's not the illness. What's the disease? So Rashi tells us, לפי שהנגעים באים על גסות הרוח L'fi she'hanegaim baim al gasus haruach. You know what the disease is? Arrogance. Arrogance. Person who gossips or slanders, the person who bullies, person who uses their words wrong, wrongly, they abuse the power of speech, such an individual is arrogant, egotistical, they think they're the center of the universe. So that's why, says Rashi, ושני תולעת ואזוב. מה תקנתו ויתרפא? ישפיל עצמו מגאוותו כתולעת וכאזוב Shni tolaas v'eizov. Ma takanaso v'yisrapeh? Yashpil atzmo miga'avaso k'tolaas u'k'eizov. What do they use for the purification process? Cedar wood, crimson thread, and hyssop. These are all lowly. They're all considered to be very lowly. From the worm. Says Rav Druck, מבורך כי תקנתו ורפואתו של מצורע שישפיל עצמו מגאוותו, ובכך יתקן את הגאווה וגסות הרוח שהם נסחלקו שבהם לעבור עבירות ולקה בנגע צרעת Mevu'ar ki takanaso u'refuaso shel metzora she'yashpil atzmo miga'avaso, u'v'chach y'saken es ha'gaava v'gasus haruach she'hem nischalku she'bahem la'avor aveiros u'lka b'nega tzaraas. צרעת Tzaraas is the symptom. צרעת Tzaraas is the manifestation. But what's the illness and disease? It's arrogance. נגעים באים על גסות הרוח Nega'im ba'im al gasus haruach. So that's why what's the response? מדה כנגד מדה mida k'neged mida. What's the best thing for an arrogant person? Is to be brought low. Brought down. I don't mean brought down that you destroy their life, the way people describe I'm going to bring them down. But brought down means humbled. To be humbled. That's why, says Rav Druck, מה שהתורה מנישה על ישב בדד מחוץ למחנה mah she'haTorah manisha al yeshev badad michutz la'machaneh, this individual who thinks they're the life of every party, they monopolize every conversation, they need the spotlight to always be on them, this individual, you know what will bring them down? You know what will humble them? You know what will rehabilitate them? בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה Badad yeshev michutz la'machaneh. You think you're the life of the party? You monopolize every conversation? You suck all the energy out of the room? You know what you need to do? בדד ישב Badad yeshev. You need to sit alone. שאר הטמאים יושבים יחד עמו She'ar ha'tme'im yoshvim yachad imo. You can't even sit with the other people with צרעת tzaraas. In a leper colony, the lepers can be together. The danger and fear of the contagiousness of leprosy, obviously doesn't affect those who already have it. So in a leper colony, lepers can sit together. But here when you have outside the camp a group of מצורעים metzoraim, each of whom have spoken gossip, slander, each has abused the power of speech and they now suffer from צרעת tzaraas, can they at least enjoy one another's company? The answer is no. Because part of the rehabilitation process is aloneness. Not necessarily loneliness, but aloneness. מה נשתנה משאר הטמאים, יושב בדד Mah nishtana mi'she'ar ha'tme'im, yoshev badad. Other forms of טומאה tumah, someone's טומאת מת tumas meis, someone became contaminated by contact with a corpse, can they be together with someone else who has טומאת מת tumas meis? Sure. יולדת, זב וזבה Yoledes, zav v'zava, can they be together? Yeah, why not? And yet, this מצורע metzora, you over here, you over there, you over there. No contact. Solitary confinement. All alone. Aloneness. Aloneness. You know why? הוא הפריד בלשון הרע בין איש לאשתו, בין איש לרעהו Hu hifrid b'lashon hara bein ish l'ishto, bein ish l're'eihu. With your לשון הרע lashon hara you got between a man and his wife, a woman and her husband, you got between two coworkers, you broke off a שידוך shidduch, you spoke negatively about a neighbor, you harmed a business deal. Not talking about with each of these scenarios when it's permissible, and when you have a responsibility to share. Talking about when it was clearly לשון הרע lashon hara. So בדד ישב badad yeshev. Because, and this is so important to understand, that צרעת tzaraas is only the symptom, the illness is arrogance. How do you heal arrogance? With humility. So this individual is מחוץ למחנה michutz la'machaneh. They sit alone. Aloneness is a time to reflect, and to think, and to feel, and to crave connection and contact. Now you know what you made the other person feel. When you are the subject of לשון הרע lashon hara, you feel so alone in this world. And there's nothing more punishing than that. That's why in the prison system, what is the worst, most severe punishment? Solitary confinement. It's the worst. And the person who is the victim, the subject of לשון הרע lashon hara, they feel all alone. They question all their relationships and friendships. They wonder who was talking about them, who was listening to it, who was sharing it, who believes it? And they feel so alone. And so the one who violated, the one who did that, has to know what that feels like. So we put them all alone. We make them sit all alone. We make them know and experience what that's like to be all alone. What that means to be all alone. You know, we just finished a period, I hope we finished. I hope and I דאווען daven that we finished. A period of aloneness, of quarantining. We didn't have צרעת tzaraas, but for two years, people are quarantining. Diagnosed, you have to be alone, it's contagious, you can't go near, you can't make contact. Thank God we have technology. I don't know today, could the מצורע metzora Facetime another מצורע metzora? Could the מצורע metzora living מחוץ למחנה michutz la'machaneh Facetime their family? It's an interesting שאלה shailah. I don't know. On the one hand, physically they're not together. On the other hand, the vision is that they are separate and alone. I don't know. I don't know what the answer would be הלכתית halachically. We had the gift of technology and never fully be alone. But there were people alone for a יום טוב Yom Tov, or in a hospital and they couldn't take visitors, and all of us, most of us, went through periods of quarantining, even if we didn't have Corona ourselves, but we were exposed to people who did, and then we had to quarantine and lockdown. And we know what that loneliness is like. That should make us much more empathetic people. If we come out of Corona and we don't understand and value being together anymore, then what was it for? What did we go through? Then we didn't learn its lessons. If we don't feel more empathy and sympathy for people who are alone, having now known what that's like, then what did we take from it? What did we learn from it? How did we grow from it? What was the point of it all? Maybe we can look back from it and understand and appreciate that there was something to learn from that experience, not only to have suffered through. רב וולבה Rav Wolbe also has an insight here. The great משגיח mashgiach, רב וולבה Rav Wolbe. ולקח המטהר שתי צפורים V'lakach ha'mitaher shtei tziporim. For the person being purified, two clean, live birds. Rashi notes that these birds are part of the process. Why? Tweet, tweet, tweet, chirp, chirp, chirp. Person acted like a bird. In the פסוק pasuk in בראשית Bereishis, when we were first crafted and created by Hashem, when he first mixed the materials and the ingredients together to create man, how did he bring us to life? How did he make us living, vibrant, dynamic, animated beings? ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים Vayipach b'apav nishmas chayim. ויהי אדם לנפש חיה Vayehi ha'adam l'nefesh chayah. We became alive instead of just being a גולם golem. We weren't just a corpse. What gave us life? What brought us to life was he blew into our nostrils the soul of life. And Rashi explains that although the Torah refers to animals also as living beings, man is superior. Man is the pinnacle of creation. Why? What do we have over animals? The ability, the power of speech. Now, I know the whales and the dolphins, they make high-pitched noises to each other. And some dog owner here is going to write me an email or tell me afterwards, you don't understand, my dog speaks to me, my cat understands me, my parakeet can imitate me. I got it. But it's a very primitive, primitive communication. It's not the power of thought and mindfulness, self-awareness, and the power of speech. Speech is a tool that gives a person the ability to connect with others. Speech, philosophers describe, make man a social creature. We can connect with each other and we can create, connect with Hashem. You know, the מפרשים meforshim point out that ויהי אדם לנפש חיה vayehi ha'adam l'nefesh chayah, in the תרגום Targum says, לרוח ממללא l'ruach m'malela. We had the power of speech. That's what differentiated us from animals. We were given the gift of speech. That's what differentiated us. With whom were we meant to speak? When Adam is created, all there are are animals. So with whom is he meant to speak? And the answer is there was someone to speak to, namely, Hashem, God. What do you see about the power of speech? The original intent for the power of speech, the original motivation for the power of speech is to speak to Hashem. Ah, now that we have the power of speech to speak to Hashem, it's pretty convenient that we could also speak to one another. But if you ask, what's the main driver, what's the main reason for the power of speech? It's not to speak to one another. It happens to be that we can also speak to one another, but the main reason for the power of speech is to speak to Hashem. So it's not that I speak all day and I talk, talk, talk, yap, yap, yap, tweet, tweet, tweet, all day. And then, oh, I should find time to דאווען daven, even though I don't really connect to it, but I have to. It's that I should use my power of speech to talk to Hashem, to unburden myself on him, to confide in him, to thank him, to ask him for things. That's why I was given that gift of the power of speech. Oh, now that I have the power of speech to talk to Hashem, I should also use it discerningly, judiciously, to talk to the people around me. הלכה Halacha dictates that when you say שמע Shema and שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei, we have to be משמיע לאוזנו mashmia l'ozno. The הלכה halacha is you're supposed to say it, not to yourself. Even though שמונה עשרה Shemoneh Esrei is called the silent עמידה Amidah, one is still supposed to hear themselves. One shouldn't be so loud that they disturb the person next to them, but they should be so loud that they can hear themselves. Why? Because that's real speech. When you say something out loud, when you make it real, now you're confronting the real words you said. You don't bluff your way through them. They're not just in your head or your heart, but you enunciate and you say them. Rav Wolbe says that's the פשט pshat in the משנה mishnah in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. ג' ג' Gimmel gimmel. The משנה mishnah says, שניים שיושבים ויש ביניהם דברי תורה, שכינה שורה ביניהם shnayim she'yoshvim v'yesh beineihem divrei Torah, Shechinah shora beineihem. Two people sitting and learning, the divine presence dwells among them. I have to tell you a קאצקער Kotzker. I don't have a קאצקער Kotzker on פרשת מצורע parshas Metzora, but I have a קאצקער Kotzker on this משנה mishnah in פרקי אבות Pirkei Avos. I love this קאצקער Kotzker. I love this קאצקער Kotzker. The משנה mishnah says, שניים שיושבים ואין ביניהם דברי תורה shnayim she'yoshvim v'ein beineihem divrei Torah, two people sitting and they're not studying דברי תורה divrei Torah, so what does the משנה mishnah say? Something terrible about them. שניים שיושבים ואין ביניהם דברי תורה Shnayim she'yoshvim v'ein beineihem divrei Torah, two people sitting and they're not studying Torah, it's like a table of whatever. But two people who are sitting and studying Torah, שכינה שורה ביניהם Shechinah shora beineihem. כאילו אכלו מזבחי מתים k'ilu achlu mi'zivchei meisim. But two people who are sitting and studying Torah, shh, then Hashem comes and he joins them, he pulls up a chair. He says, you mind, you have room for another? And then you have the divine presence there yourself. So the קאצקער Kotzker says we're reading it all wrong. Don't read it שניים שיושבים ואין ביניהם דברי תורה shnayim she'yoshvim v'ein beineihem divrei Torah. Read it שניים שיושבים ואין ביניהם shnayim she'yoshvim v'ein beineihem. Two people who are sitting and אין ביניהם ein beineihem. There is nothing between them. No one feels superior to the other, better than the other, no one's driven by their sense of ego or self. אין Ein. What is between them is אין ein. דברי תורה Divrei Torah. That's Torah. שניים שיושבים ויש ביניהם Shnayim she'yoshvim v'yesh beineihem, when two people are sitting and they feel a sense of יש yesh between them. Feeling of יש yesh, there's a feeling of יש yesh, they exist and there is someone and there's something and they're better and they're greater, then there's no Torah. The קאצקער Kotzker reinterprets the whole משנה mishnah very, very beautifully. Back to Rav Wolbe. So Rav Wolbe says, why should it be that two people sitting and studying Torah, שכינה Shechinah is ביניהם beineihem? What about one person? Is there no value? Sit and learn on your own, is there no value? It has to be with another, with a חברותא chavrusa? So Rav Wolbe says, certainly when one person studies Torah on their own, they fulfill a מצוה mitzvah. But if you want the שכינה Shechinah to be שורה shora, you have to use the power of speech positively, which is to articulate Torah. When a חברותא chavrusa are going to talk Torah between them, when you say a דבר תורה dvar Torah out loud and you share it with another, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu pulls up a chair. When you learn on your own in your head to yourself, you've done a מצוה mitzvah. But Hashem says, you're good, you got it, keep going. But when you articulate, when you verbalize, when you express the Torah, when you bring it into this world, when you use your power of speech and your words for Torah, then הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu pulls up a chair. You see this also with the power of וידוי vidui. You see this with the power of וידוי vidui. וידוי Vidui is the core component of תשובה teshuva. תשובה Teshuva without וידוי vidui is not תשובה teshuva. המצוה הזאת Ha'mitzvah ha'zos... We're gonna read in ספר דברים Sefer Devarim. We read that המצוה הזאת ha'mitzvah ha'zos, it feels so far away, בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו b'ficha u'vilvavcha la'asoso. The Ramban says, what מצוה mitzvah is it? בפיך b'ficha is it's the מצוה mitzvah of וידוי vidui. וידוי Vidui, confession, confess to Hashem where we've gone wrong and what we want to fix. Why do I have to say וידוי vidui? חטאתי עוויתי פשעתי Chatasi avisi pashati and say וידוי vidui out loud. Can I just think in my heart, Hashem, you could read my heart? You know I'm sorry. I have regret and remorse, I feel bad. Why do I have to say it out loud? The answer is only what we say out loud, only what we articulate, only what we confront is it real. Only then do we take it seriously. Only then is it meaningful. Only then is it meaningful. So this is the power of speech. The power of פרשת צרעת parshas tzaraas reminding us, reminding us of it. The power of speech. פרק י\"ד פסוק ח' Perek yud daled, pasuk ches. Just so we could say we turned the page, we didn't turn the page, still on the same page. וכיבס המטהר בגדיו וגילח כל שערו ורחץ במים וטהר ואחר יבוא אל המחנה וישב מחוץ לאהלו שבעת ימים V'chibas ha'mitaher es begadav v'gilach kol se'aro v'rachatz ba'mayim v'taher v'achar yavo el ha'machaneh v'yashav michutz l'ohelo shivas yamim. Says the חיד\"א Chida, רב חיים יוסף דוד אזולאי Rav Chaim Yosef David Azulai, says the חיד\"א Chida. Why does he have to cut all of his hair off, shave all of his hair? Why is that part of the process? Are we trying to shame, we're trying to bring shame? Humiliate, embarrass this person, maybe? That's consistent with the idea that they were arrogant and they need to be made humbled. Maybe, maybe. But the חיד\"א Chida has a deeper idea. חיד\"א Chida does is, עיקר המכשול בחטא הלשון נובע מצרות עין ikkar ha'michshol b'chet ha'lashon nove'a mi'tzarus ayin. Where does לשון הרע lashon hara come from? You have a judgmental eye, a stingy eye. האדם סובר שפלוני בהצלחתו, נוטל ממנו את פרנסתו Ha'adam sover she'ploni b'hatzlachaso, noteil mimenu es parnasaso. You say, you know why I'm gonna gossip about them? Because they're doing so well, I want that money. They stole my פרנסה parnassah. Or I deserve the honor, not them. So you go over and you say the honorees of the dinner? Eh, it's nice they chose them. Eh, I'm sure they volunteered, but do you know about them? Do you know what I saw them do? Do you know what I heard about them? They're not so great. Those nice things they said on all those videos? Eh, they had to. Trying to raise money. Needed honorees. But you know the truth about them? Where does it come from, לשון הרע lashon hara? Because when you think someone else has something you deserve. You deserve the honor, you deserve the money, you deserve the happiness, you deserve the marriage, you deserve the נחת nachas. And you're jealous and envious and judgmental, so you end up gossiping about the other person. So what is shaving your head? How is that rehabilitative? How does that repair or teach you not to be that way? So, remember what Hashem told איוב Iyov. שלכל שערה ושערה יש מקום גידולה ונקבה, ואם יוצא שתי שערות מנקבה אחת, האדם עלול להתעוור She'l'chol se'ara u'se'ara yesh makom gidula u'nekeva, v'im yotze shtei se'aros m'nekeva achas, ha'adam alul l'his'aver. הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu, איוב Iyov פרק ל\"ח פסוק כ\"ט perek lamed ches pasuk kaf tes in איוב Iyov. He says that every hair comes out of a separate pore in the skin. And if two hairs would come out of one pore, a person would go blind. Every hair has its own, every follicle comes out of its own pore. כדי להזכירו ענין זה, נצטווה לגלח את כל שערו. שיבוא ויראה שאין מאומה לקנא בזולתו, שכן אף אחד לא לוקח מהשני כלום Kedei l'hazkiro inyan zeh, nistaveh l'gale'ach es kol se'aro. Sheyavo v'yireh she'ein me'uma l'kanei b'zulato, she'kein af echad lo loke'ach me'hasheini klum. One hair is not infringing on another hair. Each follicle has its pore to come out of. And similarly in life, הקדוש ברוך הוא HaKadosh Baruch Hu nourishes and provides and gives each of us what we need, and there is no competition and one is not drawing from the other, but each one has exactly what it needs. When I end with one last thought. I was gonna tell you an amazing פיאסצ'נה Piaseczna, April 13th, 1940, the פיאסצ'נה'ס Piaseczna's דרשה drasha in the Warsaw Ghetto. But we don't have time. So instead, I'll tell you one other thing. One other thing. כי תבואו אל ארץ כנען. פרק י\"ד פסוק ל\"ד Ki savo'u el eretz Kna'an. Perek yud daled, pasuk lamed daled. Now I'll turn the page. Turn a couple pages to really impress you. Page 624. צרעת Tzaraas of the house. We have צרעת tzaraas of the body, we have צרעת tzaraas of the clothing, and we have צרעת tzaraas of the home. ודבר השם אל משה ואל אהרן לאמר, כי תבואו אל ארץ כנען אשר אני נותן לכם לאחוזה, ונתתי נגע צרעת בבית ארץ אחוזתכם Vayidaber Hashem el Moshe v'el Aharon leimor, ki savo'u el eretz Kna'an asher ani nosein lachem la'achuza, v'nasati nega tzaraas b'veis eretz achuzaschem. I'll tell you two. One is רב ישראל זלמן Rav Yisrael Zalman, our second רב ישראל זלמן Rav Yisrael Zalman of the day. He says, do you know why ארץ כנען Eretz Kenaan is called ארץ כנען Eretz Kenaan? ארץ כנען Eretz Kenaan, כנען Kenaan comes מלשון הכנעה mi'lashon hachna'ah. הכנעה Hachna'ah means humble, lowly, modest. הכנעה hachna'ah. התנאי לירושת הארץ היא הכנעה והבנה שכל ישיבתינו בה היא Ha'tnai l'yerushas ha'aretz hi hachna'ah v'havanah shekol yeshivaseinu ba hi from Hashem. You need to be humble to merit Israel. Arrogant, ego inflated people who are self-assured, that's why it says אחוזתכם achuzaschem. I'll give you צרעת tzaraas. You, when you enter כנען Kenaan, you were supposed to practice הכנעה hachna'ah. But what happened instead, you thought it was ארץ אחוזתכם eretz achuzaschem. This land, you're not entitled to it. It's not coming to you. You didn't earn it. You don't own it. Hashem says it's my land. I gift it, I lend it, but practice some הכנעה hachna'ah. Practice some humility and modesty if you want to keep it.That's what went wrong in this פסוק pasuk, says רבי ישראל זלמן מלצר Rav Yisrael Zalman Meltzer, that we entered ארץ כנען Eretz Kenaan and we were meant to have הכנעה hachna'ah, and instead we saw it as אחוזתכם achuzaschem. We saw it as our own, we acquired it, we worked for it, we showed off about it, we flexed about it, and that's why Hashem says you have to be humbled. So the פסוק pasuk says when we enter the land, not only do you get this ailment on the skin or clothing, but even on the home. And רש\"י Rashi suggests that as opposed to those who get who get צרעת tzaraas on the skin, with נגעי בתים nigei batim, one should consider it to be a בשורה טובה besorah tovah. Wah, good news! Did you hear? Your house has Chinese drywall. You have to demolish the whole thing. Is that great news? Mold, there's a leak in a pipe in the wall, you're going to have to fight an insurance company. Great news, you have to demolish the rooms. That's great news. רש\"י Rashi tells us why. What happened? When they demolished the walls of the house, what did they find? The practice of the כנען Kenaan was to hide their wealth in the walls of the home. So when the כהן kohen confirmed the person's home was indeed afflicted, what happened? It had to be dismantled, it had to be demolished. And when you took apart the walls, what did you find? These hidden treasures. So you thought it was bad news that your house had צרעת tzaraas. You thought, woe is me, there's a leak in the pipe, I've got mold. But no, it's בשורה טובה besorah tovah. Great news. You're going to discover riches and wealth, treasures hidden in the wall. Now it's very puzzling to understand. Why would Hashem reward someone who has this ailment? נגעי בתים Nigei batim come from חמדת ממון chemdas mamon. The גמרא Gemara tells us in ערכין Erchin, the again, the underlying illness, the symptom is צרעת tzaraas on your house, but the disease is חמדת ממון chemdas mamon, greed, craving more material things. Why would Hashem reward this person? Why would he give him good news? The person who spoke לשון הרע lashon hara, the arrogant person, has to suffer humiliation, loneliness, aloneness. But this person with the חמדת ממון chemdas mamon, this person who was greedy and craved money endlessly, Hashem in fact rewards them. Good news! You're going to have to dismantle your house, but here's the good news. You're going to find treasures hidden in the walls.What's the story? So think about the following, I once heard. The person who's done these חטאים chata'im, whose house is afflicted, is forced to first go to the כהן kohen and announce that he thinks his house has this plague. And now what does he have to do next? He has to take all the possessions from his house and lay them in the yard. He has to empty out the house. So when you empty out the house, you're going to have to take everything out of the house. It's exhausting, it's tiring, it's time-consuming. But you know what else it does? Everything you take out of the house and you take inventory of everything you have, you know what it makes you realize? Just how blessed you are. Wow, I forgot I even have this. Oh, I didn't know I had that. How many of these do I have? Wow. I'm incredibly blessed. I'm incredibly blessed. As the owner goes through the process, maybe there's embarrassment and humility, maybe it'll make them more modest, maybe it has that rehabilitative process. But you know what else it does? It makes a person realize how rich and blessed and how many treasures they have. Why do I share that with you to end the פרשה parsha class today? Because I think that one can bring the same attitude towards cleaning for פסח Pesach. That instead of feeling I have צרעת tzaraas, I got to clean for פסח Pesach. I'm afflicted with this illness and ailment, נבך nebach on me, I have to go through my whole house, I'm miserable, I have to clean, say, wow, how rich and how wealthy and how lucky and how fortunate. Look how much I have to clean. I don't live in a studio apartment, one room with one space that I can clean by looking around and I'm done in four seconds. Wow, ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, how many rooms I have to clean. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, how many pieces of furniture. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, how many possessions. ברוך השם Baruch Hashem, how much חמץ chametz I have that it could have made its way around the house. The same attitude, the בשורה טובה besorah tovah, the good news that נגעי בתים nigei batim could have represented, we don't have to empty our possessions to the front yard or the backyard, we don't have to demolish or dismantle, but when we do go through and check our house, when we take an inventory in life, it's an opportunity not to complain or feel miserable, but it's an opportunity to count our blessings and to feel just how lucky and fortunate we are. Wishing everyone a חג כשר ושמח chag kasher v'sameach. Tomorrow morning, 10 minutes until 8:15. 8:45 is Living with אמונה Emunah. And tomorrow night we're going Behind the בימה Bima with coach of Auburn, coach Pearl. You may remember he had a great news conference recently where he spoke, he was asked about Ukraine, and he spoke to all about spoke all about פורים Purim and his Hebrew name. He's our guest tomorrow night on Behind the בימה Bima. Until next time, stay healthy, stay happy, and stay holy.
