Tazria – Page 4 – Peninim on the Torah

אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר... אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת

When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male… if a person will have on the skin of his flesh a seis, or a sapachas. (12:2) (13:2)

As happens often, I received a call from a father who was celebrating his son’s bar-mitzvah on Parashas Tazria, and he wanted something to say for a Dvar Torah. Obviously, I had written Parashas Tazria a few weeks ahead of time. After giving it some thought, I began to wonder: What is the connection between Parashas Tazria and bar-mitzvah? The question actually goes deeper. Tazria begins with the laws concerning a woman who gives birth, the korbanos she should offer after a period of time and other laws connected with birth. The Torah then moves on to the laws of…

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אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5774

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

Many people travel the road of life, remaining clueless about what is happening around them. We do not stop to think, to ask ourselves: What just happened? Why did it occur? What does it have to do with me? If nothing actually “bad” happens to us, we continue in our life with business as usual. Isha ki sazria – v’yalda zachar. We take so many things for granted. Chazal quote the pasuk in Tehillim 139:5, Achor vakedem tzartani, “Back and front, You have formed me.” This pasuk refers to the initial creation of man as an androgynous being, as male…

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תביא כבש בן שנתו לעלה ובן יונה או תר לחטאת... וכפר עליה הכהן וטהרה

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5774

She shall bring a sheep within its first year for an Elevation-offering and a young dove or a turtle dove for a Sin-offering… and the Kohen shall provide atonement for her and she shall leave purified. (12:6,8)

The new mother is required to bring a korban, sacrifice, to atone – for what? This woman just brought a new neshamah, soul, into the world. She should be the recipient of accolades. Yet, she must bring a korban to atone for herself. Chazal teach that Moshiach will not arrive until all of the neshamos that are “waiting” in Heaven are born. She, in fact, was mekareiv, brought closer, the geulah, Final Redemption. Still, she must bring a korban for atonement. Chazal address this question and explain that, because during the extreme pangs of childbirth she had uttered an oath,…

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אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5774

If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a seis, or a sapachas. (13:2)

The Torah details various forms of tzaraas, which is often incorrectly translated as “leprosy.” It is a spiritual illness that manifests itself in the body by displaying white spots on one’s skin, similar to leprosy. The Sifsei Kohen posits that the words seis and sapachas allude to two spiritual deficiencies which catalyze the tzaraas. Seis is connected to hisnasus, elevating/lording oneself over others, raising himself above those around him. Such a person walks with an upright gait as if to “push up against the Shechinah” Who towers over everyone, melo kol ha’aretz Kevodo, “The entire earth is filled with His…

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וראה הכהן את הנגע... וראהו הכהן וטמא אתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5774

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

The Kohen is looking at the same nega, plague, – once; yet, the Torah writes that he sees/looks twice. Why is there a redundancy? The Meshech Chochmah offers a powerful insight to explain that, in fact, the Kohen is instructed to have a “double take,” look twice: once at the plague; and once at the person who manifests the plague. In the Talmud Moed Katan 7b, Chazal quote the pasuk, “U’b’yom heiraos bo; ‘On the day that healthy flesh appears in it” (Vayikra 13:14).’ There are days during which you (Kohen) may view the nega, and there are days when…

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וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5773

On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:3)

Interestingly, the opening lines of Parshas Tazria relate to the Bris Milah that is to take place on a boy’s eighth day of life. This is juxtaposed upon the previous parsha, Shemini, which concludes with the words, “to distinguish between the contaminated and the pure.” The exhortation makes it incumbent upon us to learn how to distinguish between things that appear to be similar, such as between purity and the contamination. Horav Yehonasan Eibeshutz, zl, explains that specifically the mitzvah of Milah distinguishes between tamei, ritually impure, and tahar, ritually pure, and between the members of the gentile nations and…

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ובמלאת ימי טהרה לבן או לבת תביא כבש בן שנתו לעולה ובן יונה או תור לחטאת

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5773

Upon the completion of the days of her purity for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a sheep within its first year for an Elevation-offering, and a young dove or a turtledove for a Sin-offering. (12:6)

Upon completing her period of purification, the yoledes, woman who gave birth, brings two korbanos, offerings, because she seeks atonement for two types of sin. The Korban Olah, Elevation-offering, atones for any resentful thoughts she may have had against her husband or Hashem during the painful moments of childbirth. The Sin-offering atones for the possibility that, in her dire pain, she might have sworn never to have physical relations with her husband. The requisite of two atonements for one activity is rare. The following anecdote reinforces this idea, lending us insight into the character of one of this past century’s…

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בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה מושבו

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5773

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

The metzora is called this because the name is an acronym for motzi ra, (he) brings forth evil (speech). In the Talmud Arachin 16b, Chazal explain why the metzora is the only one of the tameiim, individuals who are subject to ritual contamination, who is isolated from the community. He was the cause of divisiveness between man and his fellowman; thus, he should also be separated from the society which he slandered. This presents a question. The first person to speak lashon hora, slanderous speech, was Chavah, who repeated the serpent’s critique of the Almighty. Exploiting a ploy favored by…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5772

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

Presenting various perspectives on the human condition, the Midrash cites the pasuk in Tehillim (139:5), “Back and front You have fashioned me,” as referring to human life. “Back” refers to the last day of Creation, while “front” refers to the beginning of Creation. If man is worthy and leads a life of virtue, he is told, “You preceded creation,” since it was all created for him. If he sins and is, consequently, found to be unworthy, he is told, “Even a gnat preceded you; even an earthworm preceded you.” Why really was man created last – after all other creatures?…

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Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In Tazria, 5772

“On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (12:3)

The mitzvah of Milah, circumcision, leaves an indelible mark on a Jew, one that is with him throughout his life. It is a mitzvah which connects generations, since one’s father is obligated to make sure that his son is circumcised. It is a rite of passage for a Jew, a mitzvah for which Jews throughout the millennia have died. Many stories demonstrate the Jew’s commitment to this special mitzvah. The following is a very poignant story, which demonstrates not only Jewish resolve, but Jewish commitment under the most trying circumstances. Horav Arye Levin, z.l., was accustomed to go to shul…

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אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר... אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת

When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male… if a person will have on the skin of his flesh a seis, or a sapachas. (12:2) (13:2)

אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר

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

תביא כבש בן שנתו לעלה ובן יונה או תר לחטאת... וכפר עליה הכהן וטהרה

She shall bring a sheep within its first year for an Elevation-offering and a young dove or a turtle dove for a Sin-offering… and the Kohen shall provide atonement for her and she shall leave purified. (12:6,8)

אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו שאת או ספחת

If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a seis, or a sapachas. (13:2)

וראה הכהן את הנגע... וראהו הכהן וטמא אתו

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

וביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו

On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (12:3)

ובמלאת ימי טהרה לבן או לבת תביא כבש בן שנתו לעולה ובן יונה או תור לחטאת

Upon the completion of the days of her purity for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a sheep within its first year for an Elevation-offering, and a young dove or a turtledove for a Sin-offering. (12:6)

בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה מושבו

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)

“On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.” (12:3)

YEARS

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