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Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

כנגע נראה לי בבית

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“Something like an affliction has appeared to me in the house.” (14:35)

Otzar Chaim has a wonderful thought regarding the teshuvah process and how the Kohen or rav can achieve the greatest success with the sinner. In the Mishnah Negaim  2:3, Chazal state that in a house which is dark – and, therefore, difficult for the Kohen to see the nega, plague – we do not open the windows to increase the light and make the nega more accessible. We can derive a profound lesson from this halachah. It is a message to the Kohanim, rabbanim, and anyone whose function it is to rebuke, to reproach, to guide and mentor: Do not search…

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Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

ועץ ארז ושני תולעת ואזב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“Cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop.” (14:4)

The sin of lashon hara has its roots in arrogance. The sinner possesses a moral flaw, a character deficiency which allows him to think  that  he  is  better,  more  intelligent  and  more  virtuous than others. He is the savior that is going to rid the world of those whom he perceives to be corrupt. He overlooks one thing: his own haughtiness, which breeds contempt for others, provokes him to think ill of them, catalyzing him to speak callously about them. The teshuvah, repentance, process takes this into consideration by making him bring cedarwood, crimson thread and hyssop along with his sacrifice,…

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Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification.” (14:2)

One who is determined to correct the sin of lashon hara is confronted with two paradoxical issues. On the one hand, Chazal teach us that the Torah goes out of its way not to reveal any failing whatsoever, even in regard to an inanimate object. The Midrash teaches us that Hashem did not reveal the specie of the Eitz HaDaas, Tree of Knowledge, because an aveirah, sin, was actualized through it. We see this idea in regard to an animal with whom a woman had an immoral  relationship: it is killed. While we understand that the woman should be put to…

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Home -> 5762 -> Metzora

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum
In Metzora, 5762

“This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification: he shall be brought to the Kohen.” (14:2)

The Kohen has the first and last word in regard to negaim, plagues. Toras Kohanim states that it is a gezeiras haKasuv, Biblical edict, that  the  rendering  of  tumah  and  taharah,  impurity  or  purity, is solely in the hands of the Kohanim. Sforno adds that the Kohanim are the ones who teach and guide the people in the spiritual dimension. Interfacing with them all will encourage the metzora, afflicted sinner, to repent and mend his ways. While the Kohen is the decisor concerning negaim, Chazal say that “one can see/inspect all negaim, except his own.” Even a simple, clean-cut plague cannot…

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