5771

The Zohar
	Words Sharp as Swords
	From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai; translation & commentary by Simcha-Shmuel Treister

Tzaraat is a unique skin affliction was caused by gossip and evil talk. The slander that the Snake told Eve caused death to be pronounced upon the world. Until they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve were spiritual beings. Eating from the Tree caused them to shrink to mortal proportions.

One should be afraid of slander; a slanderers' tongue is called a sharp sword. Just as malchut is a place of harsh judgment and must be dealt with very carefully, so too we must be aware of the consequences of misusing the mouth which relates to the sefira of malchut.

The Holy Ari
	Unabashed Evil
	From the Writings of the Ari as recorded by Rabbi Chaim Vital; translated and edited by Moshe Yakov Wisnefsky

The afflication of tzaraat is not a medical condition, but reflects a spiritual-mental affliction, a faulty attitude in life. This attitude results from the intrusion of some form of un-G-dly ideas or perspective into a person's way of thinking, that eventually renders him depressed, negative, anti-social or afflicted by some other negative emotion. The purification process, then, must reflect how the individual disassociates himself with these negative ways of thinking.

As part of his purification he must take two birds, the chirping personifications of pointless and self-serving indulgence, and kill one and set the other free. In this way he utterly dissociates himself from this evil, and is ready to begin his life anew in the image of holiness.

Mystical Classics
	Cleansing Soul Garments
	From Torat Moshe by Rabbi Moshe Alshich; adapted by Eliyahu Munk

Clothing represents acquired characteristics. Until such garments, i.e. characteristics, have been "washed", the total rehabilitation of the metzora has not been completed. His subsequent return to "the camp" is also a reference to the "higher" world to which the soul has now been restored.

Chasidic Masters
	Eating Humble Pie
	By Binyomin Adilman

Leprosy, came as a punishment for arrogance. Rashi teaches that the remedy included scarlet wool and hyssop so that he relinquish his arrogance and consider himself as lowly as a worm, used to dye the scarlet wool, and as hyssop, a low scruffy shrub.

Cedar, which is tall and stately and symbolizes pride, was needed to teach the leper the proper way of humility. Humility and submission do not require that the body be bent over in the process; of paramount importance is inner humility and acceptance.

Contemporary Kabbalists
	The Holy Leper
	Adapted by Yosef Marcus from a discourse of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

What is referred to in Torah as "tzaraat" is not leprosy or any other physical disease. It is a miraculous physical manifestation of a spiritual ailment that appears as a white spot on the skin (or clothing, or walls of a home).

Man has four titles in the Torah. They are the following (in descending order): "Adam", "Ish", "Gever", and "Enosh". The Torah's use of the word "adam" in reference to the metzora is an indication that this individual is on a sublime spiritual level.

Ascent Lights
	Spiritual Repairmen
	By Shaul Yosef Leiter

One of the priests' tasks was to determine if a sign on a person, garment, or house was, in fact, tzaraat, a spiritual type of leprosy, or if it was pure. Rebbe Michel of Zlodotchov writes that the priests' involvement is a hint about the perfectly righteous in each generation, whose purpose it is to direct us toward better paths of closeness to G-d. Similarly, the idea of tzaraat, a physical ailment with a spiritual root that is identified by a priest, exists today in that a completely righteous person, a "tzadik", can "see" our sins and can help us fix them. The purification for both tzaraat and our sins is teshuva.

Mystic Story
	From Upper Galilee to Lower East Side
	By Yerachmiel Tilles

“Tell me,” the kibbutznik asked the chasid, “Does the Lubavitcher Rebbe have supernatural powers?”

Shabbat Shalom.