In last week’s article, we discussed tzara’at – the Divine Punishment of an “eruption” – a nega – on the home, clothing and/or skin. Tzara'at is not a naturally occurring disease in the sense that its cause is not exposure to disease nor is it communicable. Rather, tzara'at is a Divine Punishment brought on by sin. Rashi explains that this punishment is prominently associated with two sins - lashon hara – sins of speech – and gasot haruach – arrogance. Sins like lashon hara and gasot haruach are members of a unique class of sins - sins that stem from a character flaw in the person.
In this week’s parasha, Rashi teaches a foundational principle about tzara'at: the process of atonement for the one who has tzara’at – the metzora – is designed to enlighten him or her as to how to improve him or herself. When the metzora identifies what seems to be tzara’at, he or she approaches the kohen for a determination. Using Rashi’s understanding that tzara’at and the process of dealing with tzara’at is a remedy for a character flaw, let us explore how this requirement on the metzora to approach the kohen.
Perhaps one reason why the first step of curing the tzara’at is for the metzora to approach the kohen is that the process of fixing a character flaw does not begin until the person recognizes that there is an issue.
One example of this idea is apparent from the Laws of Repentance as codified by the Rambam. Maimonides writes, “When a person violates any of the mitzvot in the Torah, whether positive or negative, whether intentionally or unintentionally, when he repents and returns from his sin, he is obligated to confess before Hashem may His name be blessed.” The halacha assumes that there can be no authentic change in a person until he or she expressly admits that there is a problem by confessing his sin.
Another example emerges from a comparison of Shaul HaMelech and David HaMelech. The prophet Shmuel instructs King Saul to fight with Amalek and to destroy every last remnant of their nation – in accordance with the mitzvah to eradicate Amalek. King Saul sinned by sparing the life of the king of Amalek – Agag. When the prophet Samuel confronts Shaul, Shaul gives all types of excuses. As a result of not admitting his mistake immediately, Shaul lost his kingship.
Compare King Saul’s reaction to the following incident involving King David. David HaMelech wanted to marry Batsheva, a married woman. He sent her husband Uriah to the front of the battlefield. He died. David HaMelech immediately married Batsheva, his widow. Nattan HaNavi approached David HaMelech and explained his sin to him through the use of a metaphor. When Nattan HaNavi came to David, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nattan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Nattan then told David that he – David – was that rich man. King David’s response was, chatati la'Shem – I sinned against Hashem. King David did not lose his kingship. Apparently, realization of sin is the first step of rehabilitation. Denial only reinforces the negative impact of the sin.
This concept that admitting a sin is the first step to improvement is even evident in the famous 12-step process championed by Alcoholics Anonymous: We admit that we are powerless over alcohol—that our lives have become unmanageable.
The lesson of the metzora and his first step to recovery is a powerful lesson for all of us. May each of us examine ourselves and emulate the metzora in taking the first step to repentance – admitting mistakes that we have made.
In this week’s parasha, Rashi teaches a foundational principle about tzara'at: the process of atonement for the one who has tzara’at – the metzora – is designed to enlighten him or her as to how to improve him or herself. When the metzora identifies what seems to be tzara’at, he or she approaches the kohen for a determination. Using Rashi’s understanding that tzara’at and the process of dealing with tzara’at is a remedy for a character flaw, let us explore how this requirement on the metzora to approach the kohen.
Perhaps one reason why the first step of curing the tzara’at is for the metzora to approach the kohen is that the process of fixing a character flaw does not begin until the person recognizes that there is an issue.
One example of this idea is apparent from the Laws of Repentance as codified by the Rambam. Maimonides writes, “When a person violates any of the mitzvot in the Torah, whether positive or negative, whether intentionally or unintentionally, when he repents and returns from his sin, he is obligated to confess before Hashem may His name be blessed.” The halacha assumes that there can be no authentic change in a person until he or she expressly admits that there is a problem by confessing his sin.
Another example emerges from a comparison of Shaul HaMelech and David HaMelech. The prophet Shmuel instructs King Saul to fight with Amalek and to destroy every last remnant of their nation – in accordance with the mitzvah to eradicate Amalek. King Saul sinned by sparing the life of the king of Amalek – Agag. When the prophet Samuel confronts Shaul, Shaul gives all types of excuses. As a result of not admitting his mistake immediately, Shaul lost his kingship.
Compare King Saul’s reaction to the following incident involving King David. David HaMelech wanted to marry Batsheva, a married woman. He sent her husband Uriah to the front of the battlefield. He died. David HaMelech immediately married Batsheva, his widow. Nattan HaNavi approached David HaMelech and explained his sin to him through the use of a metaphor. When Nattan HaNavi came to David, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him. David burned with anger against the man and said to Nattan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Nattan then told David that he – David – was that rich man. King David’s response was, chatati la'Shem – I sinned against Hashem. King David did not lose his kingship. Apparently, realization of sin is the first step of rehabilitation. Denial only reinforces the negative impact of the sin.
This concept that admitting a sin is the first step to improvement is even evident in the famous 12-step process championed by Alcoholics Anonymous: We admit that we are powerless over alcohol—that our lives have become unmanageable.
The lesson of the metzora and his first step to recovery is a powerful lesson for all of us. May each of us examine ourselves and emulate the metzora in taking the first step to repentance – admitting mistakes that we have made.
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