Tazria – Peninim on the Torah

The Kohen shall look at the affliction on the skin of his flesh….and declare him contaminated. (13:3)

The Kohen is the only individual which the Torah authorizes to render a decision regarding a person’s tzaraas. This is consistent with the pasuk in Devarim 21:5, “And according to his word, shall be every grievance and every plague.” Indeed, if for some reason the Kohen is not proficient in the area of negaim, plagues, Chazal state in Toras Kohanim, that a talmid chacham, Torah scholar, should be asked to observe the plague and instruct the Kohen “shoteh” in the decision to be rendered. The Kesef Mishneh notes the use of the word “shoteh,” fool, to describe a Kohen who…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (13:46)

The metzora receives retribution commensurate with his nefarious deeds. He has spread rumors, slandered people, broken up friendships, and caused the destruction of families. It is, therefore, appropriate that he have the “opportunity” to feel some of the pain of solitude himself. Let him see how it feels to be alone, away from friends and family, a pariah whose seclusion is self-inflicted. He is being compensated for what he has done to others. Sometimes it is necessary for an individual to experience the hurt that he has caused others before he is motivated to expiate his sin. We can infer…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male. (12:2)

The Midrash comments concerning this pasuk. Chazal cite the pasuk in Tehillim 139:5, “hb,rmh oseu rujt” “Back and front, You fashioned me.” Resh Lakish says “back and front” refers to the first day of Creation. If a person maintains his commitment to Torah and mitzvos, he is told, “You came before the entire work of Creation.” If, in contrast, he lives a life alienated from Torah, he is told, “Even a gnat preceded you; even an earthworm preceded you.” While man was created chronologically last, he is first in importance–if he has earned this honor. If, however, he falls from…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5757

When a woman who conceives and gives birth to a male…on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:2,3)

The commentators, each in his own unique manner, offer various reasons that one is required to perform the bris milah on the eighth day. One of the fundamental reasons is to make sure that the child has lived through a Shabbos. The kedushah, sanctity, of the seventh day/Shabbos infuses a holiness into the child which prepares him for entrance into Klal Yisrael. Horav Mordechai Gifter, Shlita, notes that while on the one hand we infer the remarkable kedushah of Shabbos, we also note that milah bizmanah, a circumcision performed at the designated time, the eighth day, overrides Shabbos. One may…

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The Kohen shall look at the affliction on the skin of his flesh….and declare him contaminated. (13:3)

He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (13:46)

When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male. (12:2)

When a woman who conceives and gives birth to a male…on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:2,3)

YEARS

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