Parsha Metzora                                                                                             Kahn family

This week’s Parsha, Metzora, continues with the laws pertaining to the process of declaring and purifying the person or physical home that has been infected with “Tzaraas”. Tzaraas  (tza-rah-as) is a disease of the skin, walls of the home, or hair discoloration. We learn that this disease is brought on by “Lashon Harah”, evil speech or a decline of spiritual cleanliness and focus.

A key part of the inspection, declaration and removal of this disease involves the Kohen. There are many lessons about human nature to be learned. It is beautiful to see how living by the Torah helps us navigate through this world with grace and meaning.

 When a person notices that they have a problem, in this case, a change in their skin, hair or walls of their home, they are to seek out the Kohen and ask for an examination. On the surface this involvement seems basic, but there is a deeper connection going on here, deeper than just a diagnosis.  Most people usually know when they are experiencing a change or a problem, but it is often difficult to come forward on their own and admit it. They often don’t admit it to themselves, let alone go for help. The Torah teaches us that we are humans and we all have problems. Humans may suffer from physical or emotional problems. The cause of our problems today is not always obvious, so therefore we can’t expect to fix them on our own. The cause for Tzaraas during Torah times was obvious, and still we needed to have someone (the Kohen) get involved to remedy the situation.

As the saying goes, “Tzaraas Happens”. In terms of our speech and interactions with others, it is human nature to say things that can be hurtful, misconstrued, none of our business, or not even true at all. When we want to fix situations caused by Lashon Hara, the lesson we learn is for us to find a person we trust to talk to about it, and get a fresh perspective.

 The next life lesson we see from the Torah is; it is most important that the act of attaining help comes first from ourselves. Sometimes we can fix things quickly with a short apology and sometimes we need to go into hibernation and leave town until the poison dissipates. A self-activating response to a problem leading to positive action is the key to healing.

During the time of the Torah we were so close to Hashem. The entire nation shined with physical beauty because the physical and spiritual were so in sync. When a person went off course or lost their spiritual focus, physical signs appeared on their bodies or homes. Today we don’t have such a barometer to measure and remind us the lowering of our spiritual awareness. Spiritual connections are hidden. Hashem leaves much more for us to figure out on our own. One may perceive our world of the “Hidden Hashem” as a lower level of existence.  I like to look at it as giving each generation what it can handle. In our generation, when we find the hidden beauty of Torah in such an openly confused world, we are able reach the highest highs and obtain true peace in ourselves, families, communities We can connect the soul that we are privileged to carry within us to our G-d who gifted it to us. This spiritual connection might be greater or equal to the feeling the Metzora had when becoming pure again.

When it comes to Lashon Harah, we are faced with a very difficult matter. I once heard, “words belong to you until they leave your mouth, then they belong to everyone…forever”. How do we deal with the difficulty of keeping our mouths shut and speak in a way that is holy in the eyes of Hashem?

The answer lies in raising the level of how we keep Shabbos. This Shabbos, let’s set an imaginary place at our tables for the Kohen of the past. Let’s also invite that same Kohen to sit next to us in Shul. Let’s recognize the need for conversation of love, truth with sensitivity, openheartedness, Torah, and connection. Leave the Lashon Hara talk in our minds and let only the words we want to last forever come out from our lips. Together, let's use these very special times to focus on healthy spiritual observance, healthy mind, healthy body and healthy relationships.               Shabbat Shalom!