Tazria
She Conceives
Leviticus 12:1-13:59
2 Kings 4:42-5:19
Metzora
Infected One
“Speech Impediments”
Leviticus 14:1-15:33
2 Kings 7:3-20
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
Having just given instructions about clean and unclean meats, acceptable and unacceptable for consumption (Leviticus 11), the Torah now turns to what was to be done after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), and with various skin afflictions (Leviticus 13:1-59) and fluid emissions (Leviticus 15:1-33) which can seemingly disrupt intimate communion with the Almighty. This week’s double portion Torah reading (for 2012), which usually occurs on most non-leap years, addresses these circumstances with explicit details, which have been subject to a variety of interpretations down through the centuries. While it is interesting to tally and analyze all of the different theories offered, and the practices which have been altered over the years to accommodate these commands in Jewish tradition, there is one particular view which has garnered a great deal of attention in Jewish examination. The material seen in Shemeni (Leviticus 9:1-11:47), as well as Tazria-Metzora, allows Torah readers an annual opportunity to consider the debilitating sin of lashon ha’ra or “the evil tongue.” Malicious gossip and unverified slander, are things which lamentably contaminate far too many who claim to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
There is debate among examiners as to whether or not the disease labeled “leprosy,” tzara’at in our Torah portion, is the actual leprosy of today. Our main point in reading the parashah should be to recognize how there would be a noticeable infection, which appeared on the skin of the afflicted. The prescribed method for dealing with the disease was handled by the Levitical priesthood, in order to assure that any potential spread of the disease was minimized. Once discerned as “leprosy” by the priest, the afflicted would be isolated for extended periods of seven days, and reexamined until a declaration of being “clean” could be issued. In the lengthy description of how to contend with leprosy in Leviticus 13, it is notable that cleanliness was achievable after the infection had ended, but when the infection remained, the afflicted was required to warn others with the cry of “Unclean! Unclean!” and remain isolated outside the camp:
“The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ‘When a man shall have a swelling in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and its hair hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. Behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day. Behold, if the plague has faded and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean…The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, “Unclean! Unclean!” All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside of the camp” (Leviticus 13:1-6, 45-46, WMB).
Leprosy and the Evil Tongue
With a detailed explanation of how to deal with leprosy, the Jewish Sages searched for some other passages in the Torah, in order to try and explain what could have possibly brought this affliction upon the Israelites. Many turned to the episode of Moses’ sister Miriam contracting leprosy, and sought out a reason for her contracting the disease. It is noted, how in association with her questioning the authority of Moses by speaking ill of him, she experienced a seven-day banishment from the camp until she could be received again:
“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman. They said, ‘Has the LORD indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?’ And the LORD heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth. The LORD spoke suddenly to Moses, to Aaron, and to Miriam, ‘You three come out to the Tent of Meeting!’ The three of them came out. The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. He said, ‘Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so. He is faithful in all my house. With him, I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the LORD’s form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?’ The LORD’s anger burned against them; and he departed. The cloud departed from over the Tent; and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. Aaron said to Moses, ‘Oh, my lord, please don’t count this sin against us, in which we have done foolishly, and in which we have sinned. Let her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.’ Moses cried to the LORD, saying, ‘Heal her, God, I beg you!’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.’ Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again” (Numbers 12:1-15, WMB).
In this passage, Moses’ older sister Miriam, and his older brother Aaron, not only spoke ill of his choice of a wife—but they also challenged Moses’ leadership and his intimate relationship with the Holy One. This angered the Lord, to the point of defending Moses to Aaron and Miriam, in categorical terms, about His familiarity with Him as His servant. As a result of Miriam’s actions, but apparently not Aaron because Miriam initiated the attack, the Lord afflicted her with leprosy, turning her skin white. The punishment for the leprous-induced sin was to place Miriam outside of the camp for seven days, paralleling what was to be done to a person afflicted with leprosy as noted in Leviticus 13. To confirm that there was indeed a connection for disobedience and coming against God’s anointed leader, there is a similar admonition found later in Deuteronomy 24, which makes a similar linkage:
“Be careful in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you. As I commanded them, so you shall observe to do. Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 24:8-9, WMB).
Consequently noting the parallels described in other passages of the Torah, the Jewish Sages have widely concluded that speaking evil against someone has serious repercussions—not only to the person being slandered or libeled—but the community itself infected by the lies and or distortions of the truth. Within the Books of Proverbs and Psalms, Bible readers especially see how an evil heart and its intentions would be directly connected to an evil tongue, which must be tempered and handled properly, lest it do serious damage to God’s people. Simply consider the following summary of some of the main things which the Lord considers to be an abomination to Him:
“There are six things which the LORD hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief, a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19, WMB).
Further abominations to the Lord would be those who secretly slander a neighbor, those who speak arrogantly against the righteous, and lying lips:
“A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil. I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is arrogant and conceited” (Psalm 101:4-5, WMB).
“Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt” (Psalm 31:18, WMB).
“Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who do the truth are his delight” (Proverbs 12:22, WMB).
Of course, there is always the Biblical assurance that the Lord will deal specifically with the false witness. The following are warnings from Proverbs about its incumbent punishment:
“A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free” (Proverbs 19:5, WMB).
“A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish” (Proverbs 19:9, WMB).
Further examination of the Torah demonstrates how the problem of falsifying facts is quite real, and would need to be dealt with accordingly in the community of Ancient Israel, especially when resolving conflicts or judging iniquities or sin. In Deuteronomy 19, readers encounter instruction regarding how a false witness who rises up in a case will be purged, in the same manner as a convicted criminal:
“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you. Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you” (Deuteronomy 19:15-20, WMB).
Note how malicious witnesses were to receive the punishment they had intended for the falsely accused, in order for the evil to be purged and eradicated from the community. After all, the strife spread by evil hearts speaking wicked things, must be minimized, in order to maintain goodwill among the people of God. Proverbs 6:14 admonished, “in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord” (WMB).
The Messiah’s Directions
Regrettably, humanity’s challenge with the inherent inclination to speak falsely about others, or simply slander or libel people for a bevy of reasons, continues this verbal malady down through the ages. But beyond the wisdom found in the Proverbs and Psalms, there are additional comments made by Yeshua the Messiah, which addressed not only how to avoid speaking ill of others—but also helped clarify how the Heavenly Father is most concerned about the intentions of the heart, rather than rote adherence to vain human traditions. Yeshua spoke directly to the need for people to conduct self-examination, as opposed to constantly judging others with the apparent design to straighten them out:
“Why do you see the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:41-45, WMB).
Yeshua described the hypocrisy of self-righteous criticism of others, by summarizing the connection between the evil heart and the evil words of the critic. Once again, as noted in the Proverbs and Psalms, the issue is the heart, and how a wicked heart can generate evil comments.
In another encounter later in Yeshua’s ministry, He was confronted by some Pharisees, who were criticizing the Disciples’ apparent disregard for following a ritualistic hand washing method of the elders. In this exchange, Yeshua got right to the heart of the matter, as He revealed the true heart intentions of His critics. Here, Yeshua quoted from Isaiah, who prophesied that people would honor God with their lips, while their hearts were far away. Yeshua then went on to explain that what was truly in the hearts of the wicked, would be evidenced by what they said:
“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Yeshua from Jerusalem, saying, ‘Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.’ He answered them, ‘Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, “Honor your father and your mother” [Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16], and, “He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death” [Exodus 21:17]. But you say, “Whoever may tell his father or his mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,’ he shall not honor his father or mother.” You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine rules made by men” [Isaiah 29:13].’ He summoned the multitude, and said to them, ‘Hear, and understand. That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.’ Then the disciples came and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?’ But he answered, ‘Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.’ Peter answered him, ‘Explain the parable to us.’ So Yeshua said, ‘Do you also still not understand? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly and then out of the body? But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man’” (Matthew 15:1-20, WMB).
When asked by Peter to explain the parable, Yeshua categorically stated how a person was not necessarily defiled by what he or she ate, or for that matter how one washed their hands. The significant defilement to be on guard against came from the wickedness found in the heart, and its manifestation proceeding forth from the mouth.
Clearly, the issues of the heart are what matters most to the Holy One of Israel. Yeshua issued a very sobering word, about how everyone will eventually be held accountable for what they say, revealing what is truly in their hearts:
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in that which is to come. Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:32-37, WMB).
This is a sobering reminder to all who seek the Holy One of Israel, in that there will come a point in time, when there will be some sort of accounting for all which one not only does—but also what one also says. The reality of this should not be taken lightly.
This week, as we read and consider the separation from the Lord, notably to be experienced by skin afflictions—perhaps the Sages were wise to make the much more direct connection between the wickedness of the heart and what proceeds out of the mouth. For certainly, the many words of Yeshua confirm how the Lord is most concerned about the heart intentions of His people. Hence, if you find yourself considering wicked thoughts which may come forth as statements from your mouth, it would be appropriate to confess those sins and repent of them immediately. Certainly, learn how to be very careful with what comes out of your mouth!
In the case of the leper, or Miriam, a seven-day period was adequate to be allowed back into the community. But we might question if we have ever taken seven seconds, or seven minutes, or seven hours—to truly repent before the Lord for wickedness in our hearts, which might have come forth from the mouth. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for each of us to make those confessions, and personally help to clean up the camp—so that any speech impediments will be minimized, and then eliminated.
