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Parsha Perspectives for Today (Metzora, 5784/2024) - Leadership is Going Out to Where You are Needed
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The Torah and its messages are timeless. Join me as we draw from the weekly Torah portion to extract lessons and inspiration for today from a wide and diverse range of sources and personalities. For more content, visit http://www.rabbiefremgoldberg.org. - Introduction - Power of Words (R. Druck) - Kol Nidrei (R. Soloveitchik) - Being Alone (R. Druck) - Torah (R. Druck) - Abuse of Speech (Rachmastrivka Rebbe) - We Can Learn From Our Mistakes - Getting Back to Middle (R. Druck) - Indifference (R. Shaul Alter) - Anointing the Head (Chafetz Chaim)
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Good morning, Boca we're told we're
going to be a good morning for all of us
and we're here to wish all of us good
news.
Hostages should be home. Our soldiers
should return to their families in a
sweeping sweeping victory.
Want to thank our parsha series sponsors
for the year, Becky and Avi Katz and
family in memory of Becky's father
L'ilui nishmat David ben Menachem Manish
David Grossman. Today she is also
sponsored by Eliyahu Buzaglo in
commemoration of his father's yahrzeit,
Yosef ben Massoud Buzaglo's neshama
should have an aliyah. Thank you so
much. We are last parsha sheet till
after Pesach.
It's not my fault because there is no
parsha. So this is Shabbat Hagadol. We
still read parshat Metzora and then next
week is Pesach, Shabbat Chol Hamoed, and
then uh it will be Pesach the Tuesday
morning. Still Pesach, right? Pesach is
over Tuesday night. So we'll resume the
Tuesday
a week following uh Pesach.
We will resume. But this week we have
the privilege of learning and reading
and studying parshat Metzora, page 620
in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash.
If you enjoy parshat Tazria, you're
going to love parshat Metzora.
It's basically an extension, a
continuation of many of the same themes,
notably the halacha of the metzora, the
individual who used and abused the power
of speech. Didn't use it to uplift and
to construct and to support and to
inspire and to comfort, used it to
destroy and to denigrate and to
marginalize. And they used their power
of speech for gossip, for s- land uh
slander and to judge others. And the
individual, of course, it results in
tzaraat. So let's examine some more now
as the parsha continues in Metzora along
the same line, along the same theme.
We're going to start out with three
insights of Rav Druck in his Ravos Ish.
The first,
it says in the pasuk Zot tihiyeh torat
hametzora beyom tahorato. This is the
Torah of the metzora on the day that he
is purified. And what's the Torah of the
metzora? Vehuvah el hakohen. The Torah,
the law of the metzora is that he's
brought to the kohen. Perush hadvarim
ha'eleh metzora zeh she dibber lashon
hara al chavero. This individual spoke
ill about another. Kedei ragmar
be'erchin she'ozeh bo'in hanega'im that
these blemishes, this spiritual leprosy,
is the result of negative speech. How
does that happen? Why does someone speak
negatively about somebody else? Says Rav
Druck, the answer is omer la'atzmo, such
an individual says to themself,
Ma kvara asisi? What did I do that was
so bad? I didn't punch someone.
I didn't shoot someone. I didn't steal
from someone. I didn't injure or harm
somebody. It's words. Ma kvara dibarti?
Pesach hakol kama milim? I said a few
words. Okay, guilty as charged. Caught
me at a bad moment, a weak moment, a
negative moment. And I said something
negative. It was just words. Did I
really hurt anybody? K'i yesh lo dibbur
kaze umashma'ut gedolah ashar kol milim
ra'ui l'lakot kol kach?
I said some words. Inappropriate words.
I misused my words. But because of that
you got this whole thing?
Have to go chutz l'machaneh, live
sequestered, secluded, have to go
through a whole purification process?
Ach kach mashivah haTorah ve'omeret,
So that's what the Torah is responding
to. And the Torah says, Im k'veitzah al
rosh kama mashma'ut yesh l'milim az
vehuvah el hakohen. It's a brilliant
insight of Rav Druck. What's the law?
What's the halacha? The individual has
to be brought to the kohen. Why?
Why are you brought to the kohen?
Is it objectively or not objectively
tzaraat?
I don't know what the equivalent of
WebMD is for spiritual maladies.
But a person suspects they broke out in
tzaraat, go on
WebMD for spiritual maladies and check
it out. Google images for tzaraat.
Huh?
Yeah, I think I got tzaraat.
Or no, I don't think this is tzaraat.
Why do you have to be brought to the
kohen? And the kohen, Rav Druck Rav
Druck doesn't say this explicitly, but
the kohen actually has enormous power.
Because the individual was not defined,
doesn't have the status or identity of a
metzora, doesn't have to go through
the process of rehabilitation until
unless the kohen pronounces them tamei.
Power is all in the kohen's hands. So
much so the Rambam codifies what Chazal
tell us that if an individual is in the
shivat yemei hamishteh, they're in the
sheva brachot, they got married.
Can you imagine? Fashtehr di simcha.
Imagine what happens to sheva brachot.
The night after
one of my daughter's weddings, it was
during the corona wedding, we all wore
masks and separated and was small and
outdoor, all the things.
But the first sheva brachot the next
night, my son-in-law comes to me and he
says, "Abba,
I don't know how to tell you this and I
don't know what to do.
I can't smell and I can't taste
anything."
So I said, "You got to get you got to
get checked. We got to let everybody
know." Baruch Hashem, he was just a
tired, exhausted chassan who had a cold
and not corona. It was negative for
corona. Baruch Hashem. Baruch Hashem.
But can you imagine it would fashtehr
the whole simcha? The chassan has
tzaraat?
So the Rambam says, "No, no. The kohen
doesn't look, doesn't declare, doesn't
examine."
Would that helps?
I I know there were people who felt if
you didn't get tested for corona, you
didn't have it.
But that's not the way it works.
If you have a disease that is
contagious, it's not a function of
whether the doctor or the test declares
it. So by not going to the kohen, you
could avoid it?
And therefore a person could
celebrate their sheva brachot or
conversely mark a shiva or whatever the
case may be. Says Rav Druck, listen to
this insight. You know why vehuvah el
hakohen?
Because this individual thought, "It's
just words. What power do words have?
It's like gossip, I slandered, I spoke
negatively. It was just some words."
The answer is, look at the words of the
kohen. The power of words, when the
kohen declares you tamei, your life is
upside down. If he didn't declare you
tamei, then your life continues as
normal. You see the power of words.
Words have the ability to create
reality. Gam ani noga'a acher mimama'as
hanega'im, kol zeh ein lo tamei ach
shehakohen motzi milim b'fiv ve'omer
tamei. U kiyutz'e bizeh betaharah,
dibburo shel hakohen, hu zeh um'tamei,
veh hu zeh um'taher. It is the speech of
the kohen that creates reality. L'fi
chachamim she'yesh kan shuv hanefel
umetzora talui b'tarah zeh she'nas lo
itzah kohen. And that's why the answer
is this individual vehuvah let's go to
the kohen.
Want to go to a kohen? WebMD? Google
images? Let me check it out. No, the
answer is it's not a function of
objectively do you have it? Vehuvah el
hakohen, the kohen has to declare it
because you're going to see the power of
words. So what's the torat hametzora?
Zot tihiyeh torat hametzora vehuvah el
hakohen. The answer, the antidote, the
message, the rehabilitation of the
metzora is vehuvah el hakohen. Go to the
kohen and see the power of words. Shared
with you before, this was Rav
Soloveitchik's insight why the holiest
night of the year,
Kol Nidre night, we call it Kol Nidre
night, but Yom Kippur night,
there's so many things that we could
say, so many parts of liturgy that would
move us. And what do we sing? What do we
say? Kol Nidre.
We list off these
really boring laws of oaths
and promises and pledges. And we do
hatarat nedarim collectively. And that's
the entrance into the holiest day of the
year?
Like sit on the floor and sing a cheinu.
Let's have a kumzits.
Kol Nidre?
Like people don't look at the English.
If you would if you would actually the
chazzan would sing,
"All oaths." You know, sing Kol Nidre
with that haunting melody in the
English. You'd be what in the world is
going on right now? That's how you start
Yom Kippur? Rav Soloveitchik said,
"Yeah. You're about to stand before
Hashem for 25 hours. You're going to
say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
I'm sorry. I could have, I should have,
I shouldn't have, I should have."
Words matter. Words mean something.
Words count. You want to know how you
see that words matter?
Nedarim. A neder. What's a neder? A
promise, pledge, an oath.
You know, right now, that chair is
permissible. But if I say that chair is
forbidden to me, like something that's
forbidden,
I can transform the status of the chair
and turn it into a piece of chazer
shmatz. It could be as forbidden to me
as pork. Could be as forbidden to me as
a cheeseburger. All through my words.
Words have power. Words have meaning.
Words can alter reality. We have to
remember
the power of words, not only in halacha,
but interpersonally. Our words matter.
Somebody calls you and says, "I'm
thinking about doing business with him."
Careful with your words.
What do you think? You're on the
shidduch resume. Tell me about him. You
could make or destroy a shidduch. You
could make or destroy a parnassah, a
livelihood. Words matter. They mean
something. So the individual who didn't
realize the power of words and misused
them to speak negatively of another,
what's the torat hametzora? The
antidote, the Torah of the metzora is
vehuvah el hakohen. Be brought to the
kohen. That is Rav Druck number one. Rav
Druck number two.
The Mishnah in Negaim tells us, Metzora
she'nichnas labayit kol keilim she'yesh
sham tamei'im afilu ad korotav. That a
metzora who enters the house, all the
utensils, everything in the house is
contaminated. Takes on the status of
tumah
even until the beams of the house. Rav
Shimon omer, ad arba amot keilim
neyatem'im. Rav Yehudah omer, im shakah
she'hadlikah ner. So there's a machloket
in Mishnah Negaim, 13th perek of Negaim.
Is it just when the metzora enters the
house, they contaminate everything? Or
is it only the four amot around them? Or
do they have to remain in the house long
enough to light a candle?
Metzora metamei makom moshavo. The
metzora contaminates the place they
dwell. B'kashar nichnas labayit
b'reshut, hakeilim she'bayit nitma'im.
So when they enter a house with
permission, when they're entitled to be
there, they contaminate. They transfer
their tumah, their impurity, on
everything in the house.
But how long? So Rav Yehudah says, "It's
It's called the place of their dwelling
unless they're in the house long enough
to light a candle.
Seems kind of arbitrary. Why don't you
say until they're they're long enough to
make a potato kugel?
They're long in the house long enough to
I don't know, check the stock market.
How Why do we arbitrarily choose the
definition of a being their dwelling?
How do you define in the house for the
length of a dwelling? Long enough to
light a candle.
Seems kind of arbitrary.
If nobody kicked you out of the house
and said, "Get out. You tell me. You
don't ruin everything." Within the time
it takes to light the candle, they're
out. So if love him why why does that
this length of time?
This individual part of the
rehabilitation is they have to live and
dwell where? Outside of the camp. Badad.
Alone.
On Tisha B'Av we read Eicha.
And we bemoan, we mourn, we grieve how
we were all alone. And it feels like it
again. It didn't for a moment, and
hopefully it can remain.
One of the most incredible miracles of
Motzei Shabbos
was not just knocking down 300 missiles.
Maybe you saw this write-up by a
physicist who said we don't begin to
understand what it means.
99% being
being knocked down, the miracle that it
is. Drones, ballistic missiles, all
kinds of concoction of missiles, all
mixed and layered over each other, and
yet knocking them all down. It's a
miracle. You know what else is a
miracle?
That Saudi Arabia and Jordan and UAE
These countries all helped. It's a
miracle.
So for a little bit we don't feel alone.
For for 5 minutes.
Hopefully it can last and it continue,
but the Jewish people know what it means
to be alone. It's painful to be alone.
It compounds whatever you're going
through to go through it alone. That's
why we have a mitzvah of big achlum
to show up, to show up, to be present,
to offer companionship, because that can
help provide strength and support when a
person is going through something that's
difficult. So this metzora, what do we
do? We say, "Go be alone. You're in time
out." Badad yesheiv. Alone. Chutz
l'machaneh moshavo, outside the camp.
Why?
Rashi says, cuz when they gossiped and
slandered another, you know what they
did? They made that person feel alone.
When you speak negatively about
somebody,
if you're the victim, if you're the
subject of lashon hara, you feel alone.
You want Does everyone believe that?
How could they just stand by and accept
that and listen to that? Is this what
everyone's saying about me? You see
somebody posts online, or you heard a
conversation at a Shabbos table, or
somebody says something that gets back
to you, they said, you feel very very
alone. So the individual gossip made
people feel alone. Part of their
rehabilitation is they have to go
outside and be alone. And be alone.
The whole notion of lighting a candle is
to illuminate, to dispel the darkness,
to create connection.
Why do we light the candles on Friday
night?
The whole hadlakas neiros Shabbos is
shalom bayis. That's why a person with
limited resources, they can buy either
Shabbos candles or Chanukah candles.
Chanukah candles commemorate a miracle.
Miracle, pirsum haness.
Yet which do you spend the money on?
Where do you allocate it? The Shabbos
candle or the Chanukah candles?
I'm the only rabbi speaking about
Chanukah on Erev Pesach.
Shabbos candles. Why? Because Shabbos is
shalom bayis. Lighting the candles is
shalom bayis.
Coch omer l'metzora.
When you light a candle in a home and
you have shalom bayis, this is no longer
your dwelling place.
You who sow You who sow
disruption, you who sow dispute and
divide and division,
you don't belong in a house with a
candle that's lit. So that's why says
Rav Druck, where do we come up with this
arbitrary measure? How long is it to be
in a house that you consider dwelling
that that you would contaminate and
transfer impurity? The time it takes to
light a candle, because he didn't light
candles, he extinguished candles. He
created machlokes through his speech.
Third, Rav Druck, and then we'll move
on, all in the opening pasuk of our
parsha. It's a short parsha.
The Medrash Rabbah says, "Zos tihiyeh
toras hametzora,
Yesh l'cha midrash, zos tihiyeh toras
hametzora u'l'rasha amar Elokim." What's
the connection between This is the law
of the metzora, and to the wicked Hashem
said,
"Why are you talking about my chukim?"
So says Rav Druck the following.
The individual who gets diagnosed, the
kohen diagnoses him with tzara'as,
his skin, the surface has revealed the
pnim, what's inside. And what's inside
is pretty rotten. If you could sit and
be so judgmental and hypercritical and
slander and gossip and hurt and harm and
marginalize others,
it's pretty rotten inside. You're pretty
rotten inside.
Negaim are the result of seven
violations: lashon hara, shfichas damim,
gossip, murder,
false promises, promiscuity, arrogance,
theft, looking with a a critical eye.
Because the rasha is wicked, Hashem is
not really interested in his Torah. What
does it mean his Torah? You know, the
rasha always has like the world
according to me. Here's the way I see
it. Here's my principle.
Here's my perspective. You know what
Hashem says?
I don't really care. I'm paraphrasing
Hashem there.
Hashem says I I don't I don't I don't
really care about your perspective and
your policies and your principles and
your approach to life. So therefore it
says, "Zos tihiyeh toras hametzora b'yom
taharaso." Eimasai taharaso shel
hametzora miskabeles l'Kodesh Baruch Hu?
Rak b'yom taharaso.
When is the metzora and his principle
and his Torah accepted to Hashem? Only
on a day that he becomes pure.
Quotes a pasuk in Tehillim. The Medrash
is connecting that pasuk here. Hashem
says, "What do I care about your
perspective? What do I care about your
principled stance? What do I care about
your view of life? You're a rasha,
you're rotten in your core. Your
judgment, your negativity, your gossip,
I care about your view of life? I don't
really care. When will I care again? Zos
tihiyeh toras hametzora, when? Only
b'yom taharaso. Yesh l'cha midrash, Rav
Druck continues and he says,
You know, a rasha also has the ability
to manipulate and distort and pervert
the Torah of Hashem, to see the world
through their eyes, through the prism of
their view, and then to make the Torah
conform, to distort the Torah, so it's
called the toras toras hametzora. This
toras hametzora.
Why does someone gossip and slander? Cuz
here's the world according to me. You
know those people? We all know those
people. They have something to say about
everyone. This one is stingy and this
one is selfish and this one is this and
this one is that.
I warned you. You know what the problem
is about hanging around such people?
They're also talking about you.
So when you listen and you're an
accomplice to them, when you're at their
Shabbos table, and you're willing to sit
there and be a spectator while they're
sharing their opinion about the whole
world and everyone in it,
next Shabbos they're having someone else
over, and they're talking about you.
So be careful.
Be careful who your friends with, and be
careful who you're a passive spectator
to, because while it's easy and it's fun
and you're earning social
commodity by listening,
next Shabbos they're talking about you.
That's the toras hametzora. Toras
hametzora.
Torah is unlike every other discipline
in the world, because Torah penetrates.
Torah molds, Torah fashions person, it
turns somebody into a ben Torah. That's
why chachma b'goim ta'amin, believe that
there's wisdom. Chemistry, biology,
physics, there's all kinds of wisdoms in
the nations of the world. But wisdom can
be academic, conceptual, separate and
apart from personality and performance.
Torah is supposed to mold us and shape
us into a ben Torah, a bas Torah. Torah
is supposed to actually change us,
transform us.
That's why the Mishnah Avos says, mem
ches,
There are 48 ways that Torah is
acquired. Why? There are 48 personality
traits, 48 ways we work on ourselves.
You can't acquire Torah, it can't
penetrate, it doesn't mold and fashion,
it doesn't transform you unless it comes
with also better a better personality.
Before we were united
and together,
we couldn't have Torah, it was the
prerequisite.
So a person who's self-centered, who's
selfish, who's narcissistic, person who
sees the world and has an opinion and a
judgment of everyone and everything in
it,
they're not actually observing Hashem's
Torah. Whose Torah are they observing?
Toras hametzora.
It's the toras hametzora. They've
interchanged, they've changed
their Torah for Torah.
And that such a person needs to be
such a person needs to be outside the
camp. They need to realize what's
happened and they need to come back to
embrace the Torah of
not to have the Torah of the Torah three
of drugs we opened with. We turn to the
Torah of those. The Torah of the Torah.
passed away this year. And he says two
ideas. The word
He quotes the Torah of
who is the Torah of him?
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah.
He says the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah. Where does the word come
from? The Torah is
The Torah is
a conjunction of two words
of the Torah. The Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah. Our
words create reality.
We didn't appreciate this
as much until this generation that we
can now. You know why? I'm not going to
try it right now because your phones are
going to all respond and light up and
things are going to happen.
You ever you ever on talking at the
table be careful because the technology
in the other room are going to turn on
the blender. You got to be careful.
Today we have speech recognition.
You can do you could sit on your couch,
sit back in your recliner and tell your
phone what to do, turn on the oven, get
the mixer going.
You can talk into your phone and your
Tesla will come pick you up because it's
raining outside. I stood next to
somebody who did that.
Tesla with the automatic driving. You
can if it's raining under the canopy,
you don't want to get wet. You tell the
car to come pick you up. We're living
like George Jetson time. We're living in
future. We're living in crazy times. So
every day in our we say the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah.
You spoke and you created a world. The
Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the You know who else
creates and destroys worlds? We do.
We do.
We can create and destroy worlds with
our power of speech. So we always gave
that as like a nice rabbi
idea, right? We can create and destroy
with our words. Be nice. Sticks and
stones, whatever. Words can hurt me.
Words create. But we see it in reality
today. Words create. Words can launch
wars.
Apparently the word don't doesn't mean
anything. But other words can do things.
Other words can do things and mean
things.
So this individual who abused their
power of speech, they were the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah. They brought
evil into the world. They brought it.
They fashioned. They created evil in the
world. The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah is called the first.
The Jewish people are called the first.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah people are considered to be
great and precious before him. The Torah
of the Torah of the Torah of the Torah
of the Torah. The Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah
including those
who we would call a Russia.
Because after all we're children. The
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the who loves a child
unconditionally and says him
I have to and I do love this child
who is complicated to love who brings
shame and challenge and difficulty, cost
me enormous amount and makes me worry
and I love him or her unconditionally.
You're my father, you need to love me
even when I misbehave, even if I bring
you shame. That is the most heartfelt
prayer that there is. So even this
Russia could loves because we're his
children. The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah. Because of the Torah of the Torah
of the Torah of the Torah of the Torah
of the Torah of the Torah of the Torah.
When you speak about one of God's
children negatively
you're making him sad.
You're making him sad about you.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah was getting tremendous
he had his own egg, he had pleasure and
joy and
from all of his children even the
Russia, even the child, even the fifth
child.
You know at the next week we'll talk
about the four sons.
There's a fifth son. The fifth son is
the one who doesn't even make it to the
Torah. Maybe they come for they don't
want to come to the Torah. But the
parent still says but you're all home.
Put on a no
earrings, piercings, tattoos, whoever
you brought home with you, but you're
here. And I have
I'm focused on the pleasure and the joy
and the Torah. And then you go and you
gossip and you marginalize and then you
go you critical and you speak Torah. And
now for you turn this Torah
into
the Torah. The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
So if you abuse the power of speech by
speaking negatively, how do you repair
the power of speech by speaking Torah
positively.
The vocabulary and the language of
Torah. And that says the
that says the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah that's
what our opening is telling us. The
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of The Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah The
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah.
So what's the answer? The Torah of the
Torah of the Torah
The Torah needs to learn the speech the
vocabulary of Torah. Where do they
learn? How do you learn how to talk like
a Torah?
You know the speech that's beneath us,
below us. We grew up with that. It's a
very Jewish idea. It's the Torah of the
Torah. The Torah of the Torah. It's
beneath you to speak like that. I but
the you know it used to be they'd say
the see what do they call it? FCC.
Who the regulates the public channels?
FCC. Their standards already are
nothing. Today in the middle of the day
you could have curses on regular TV.
Ah but it didn't it didn't make it to
the list so it's not really obscene or
profane. Yes it is. A Torah doesn't use
that word. A Torah doesn't speak like
that. A Torah doesn't speak like that.
The profanity we have our own list. You
know it's it's beneath us. There's a
Torah there's a Torah to our
There's a Torah to our how we speak, how
we carry ourselves, how we dress, who we
are. This Torah who is Torah
who gave birth and brought wickedness
and evil into the world by speaking
negatively about a peer or fellow Jew or
sibling. So now they need to learn the
proper vocabulary. How do you learn the
proper vocabulary? It's the vocabulary
of the Torah of the Torah it's the
Torah. And how do they go learn it?
Where do they learn it from? Rosetta
Stone? Where do you go learn the
vocabulary of Torah, how to speak Torah?
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah. You
go to the Torah because the Torah is the
teacher of every generation. They're the
light of every generation. Go to the
Torah. That's the
Torah of the Torah. The Torah of the
Torah has another interpretation. The
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah. The Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah.
Why does it introduce with this whole
expression this phrase the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah? Why not just start
with
the law which is
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah on the day of his
becoming pure bring him to the Torah.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the
So says the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah states we continue you take two
birds and
a cedar tree and the last and he says
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Why do you
take two birds? What do birds do? Chirp
chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp
chirp.
And what did this person do? Chirp chirp
chirp chirp chirp. What do birds do?
They tweet. What did this person do?
They used Twitter too much. They tweeted
things they shouldn't have tweeted.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Why else do they come?
Arrogance. And there the comes to
humble. The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah. The Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah And
these materials are lowly and we have to
humble the person. The Torah of the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah of the Torah So these aren't
random. You don't use the two birds and
the cedar and the
of the worm. You're not using all these
just some random recipe, concoction,
some formula, some prescription. Each of
these ingredients should make the be
mindful and pause and say
I'm I'm just a lowly worm food. That's
what I'm going to be in the end of days.
Who am I to sit in judgment of others?
And the birds they I can't chirp so
much. I got to be much more thoughtful
and regulate how I speak, what I speak.
The Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah of the Torah of
the Torah of the Torah So that's what
it's telling us. The Torah of the Torah
of the Torah Don't just superficially go
through this as if it's some punishment.
But doesn't give arbitrary punishments.
Whenever prescribes a response, a
reaction, a reality, it's always
connected to me. There's something to
learn. There's an ability to be
transformed by and that's why it's the
Torah of the Torah of the Torah of the
Torah learn what is the deeper message
and deeper idea in two birds and the and
the
and the and the
and so on and so forth. The Torah of the
Torah of the Torah base.
Moving
along. Gimel.
The coin goes forth from the outside of
the camp to go look and behold and he
sees taka it is it is tsaraas.
And as we just said, once the coin
diagnoses it and says taka it's tsaraas,
he has to say taka. He doesn't have to
say taka. He just has to say tamei.
For the person being purified, two live
clean birds, cedar wood, crimson thread,
and hyssop. Specifically those
ingredients. Says Rabbi Soloveitchik.
Where does the coin go to see this
individual?
Where does he go?
Listen carefully. Listen carefully.
The coin goes outside the camp. Listen
what Rabbi Soloveitchik says.
When we explore this parsha we find a
peculiar phenomenon. The coin here
assumes the role of diagnostician and
nurse.
Only the coin has the right to pronounce
the sick person clean or unclean. It's a
task the coin would not normally be
expected to perform given the lengths
that he has to go to avoid impurity. How
peculiar.
The coin is a special warning. Coin
can't go to the cemetery or the hospital
that has a morgue. Coin can't be in the
same home with a dead body. Coin can't
come in contact with a sherds. The coin
is a special warning. Beyond guard. Be
careful.
Even a pregnant woman she has a sonogram
and finds out she's having a baby boy
perhaps can't go to the hospital. It's a
whole discussion in halacha.
Does she have to have a home delivery?
She knows it's a boy cuz that boy
already is a coin and maybe the fetus
coin is already warned and cautioned not
to become impure even in utero. Maybe
even already in the womb.
It's a whole discussion. Do you rely on
the sonogram to determine if it's a boy?
Does she have to undergo a sonogram?
Maybe ignorance is not bliss. She has to
know where she can go if she's carrying
Can a pregnant woman It's a whole
question. Should a can a pregnant woman
go to a cemetery or a funeral? Rabbi
Shachter holds that the Baba Meisa she
can go.
Others are more cautious. Maybe GB
mysticism, superstition.
But if Does she have to check whether
she's carrying a boy before she goes to
a cemetery or a funeral? Whole
discussion. So the coin is warned. Stay
away. Be careful. Be vigilant. No tuma.
Until the metzora. Then we say, go.
Go me chutz l'machaneh. Go to the
leprosy camp.
Go into the place of tuma. Go check out
this
this leper.
It's a task you'd never think to assign
that would ever be assigned to a coin.
Why is this job assigned to the coin?
Furthermore, there are many forms of
impurity. The Torah. Anyone with the
required knowledge can help with the
purification. Yet, tsaraas is assigned
only to the coin. Send the
dermatologist. Send the Levi or Yisrael.
Send somebody who's not cautioned to be
careful about impurity.
Continues Rabbi Soloveitchik. Let us
analyze the situation of the metzora and
the treatment of leprosy in biblical
times. The phobia related to leprosy in
olden times is similar to the phobia of
modern malignancy. The greatest fear was
the fear of discovery. One took sick and
the outward symptoms caused others to
suspect he had leprosy. Immediately the
sick man lost his human dignity. He
became isolated from the community.
People were afraid to associate with him
or even greet him. He was often killed
or at the very least driven out of town.
From time to time he offered a meager
supply of food thrown to him like food
thrown to a dog. He was treated harshly
for the sin of having contracted the
disease.
Might as well be talking about corona.
You remember in the early days of
corona.
I I remember
my son-in-law got corona during
Chanukah.
He stood outside looking through the
window while we looked while we looked
at the Chanukah candles.
He slept in the guest room detached from
the house. We put food outside his door.
He could come and take it.
But God forbid, you know, with gloves
and distance and mask and don't open
your door till we leave.
You remember the way we were?
And how that made people feel?
Pesach's coming up. We'll never forget
Pesach 2020. People had seder all alone.
Now
we should be taking stock. There should
be a review. We should be evaluating
what we did right, what we did wrong. We
did the best with what we knew at the
time and we deferred from the experts
and that's our job to listen to.
But they are the experts and we with
them should be looking back and
learning from it.
But there were people who were all
alone. That pain of being alone. There's
no question that it hastens people's
death.
The the loneliness of it. The loneliness
of it. Of being alone. So that was
leprosy. People who got leprosy there
are people alive old enough to remember
leper colonies.
What happened when a person got leprosy
and how they were made to feel?
What is the Jewish approach? Says Rabbi
Soloveitchik. The first thing the Torah
demands, bring the coin. The leper was
thus instantly removed from the mob
psychosis. The coin diagnosed and
pronounced the tuma as tsaraas. But the
leper was not subsequently cut off of
society. He was in communication with
the coin as one of the heads of the
community. In fact, the metzora could
request being seen by the coin gadol
himself. A man who was not permitted to
attend the funeral of his closest
relatives. And yet
if the coin gadol was summoned
he had to go to the leper. The Torah
legislated to prevent the loss of human
dignity. The coin went to the leper
outside the camp to demonstrate that he
was his friend. The metzora was isolated
from everyone except the leader who must
do everything possible to heal him and
bring him back to society. The coin
assures the man, you are needed. You
will get well. You will return. We love
you. We haven't forgotten you. The coin
acts for the needs of the people. The
message of parshas metzora is that even
someone who holds the exalted office of
kehuna must not abandon his fellow Jew.
He must have his compassion for
everyone, even someone as dangerously
ill as the leper. Not only the coin but
the prophet as well was charged with the
role of being such a friend. The prophet
had to deliver the word of Hashem but
was also charged with the mission of
helping individual man, of being a
nursing father to the people of Israel.
Moshe himself said to the people, come
to me to seek Hashem. Compassion is the
essential attribute of the spiritual
leader of klal Yisrael. What an insight
of Rabbi Soloveitchik.
What a message it would send.
Everybody was isolating. Everyone was
withdrawing. Everyone was with recoiling
from this leper. And who went?
Dafka the coin who was so vigilant and
so careful who he was exposed to. He
went. Even the coin gadol who didn't go
to the funeral of his own direct family
if summoned, went to go see the metzora.
Why?
Because you know what leadership's
about? Not making someone feel alone.
Basher hu sham. Going where they are to
offer that love and that non-judgmental,
uncom- unconditional companionship.
It It makes me think when you read that
insight of the Rav, it makes you think
of the disco rabbi, Rabbi Grossman. So
sein gezunt un stark.
Rabbi Grossman who never compromised an
iota
chasidish Yid of who he is and how he
dresses and how he conducts himself but
got the name disco rabbi
cuz he'd go in Manhattan with Rabbi
Riskin. She should also be well. And
would go into the discos on Friday night
on Shabbos
and befriend the Israelis who were
there.
And chalila I'm not calling that a leper
colony.
But it means to go to uncomfortable
places. To go to places that ordinarily
we would be vigilant not to be exposed
to. To go basher hu sham and to connect
and to be able to show love and to offer
companionship and to be where the people
are. The Tolna Rebbe
the healing
Tolna Rebbe
also has a similar idea on our parsha.
He talks about
going out. Vayaitzei ha kohen mi chutz
l'machaneh. The coin goes out. V'hinei
nirpa nega tsaraas. The psikat zu
treisa. In a different context in
parshas Balak, comments the word
v'hinei. V'hinei.
V'hinei. V'hinei nirpa nega. Look at
back at pasuk gimel. V'hinei nirpa nega.
When the coin goes out where the metzora
is, v'hinei and behold, he's able to
hear the heal the nega. The word
v'hinei. What does v'hinei ordinarily
mean?
Ein v'hinei ela
simcha. Joy.
What's the joy? You're going to a leper
colony.
You're going to the disco.
You go where the people are in order to
connect.
V'hinei. There's joy. There's a gishmak.
There's a gishmak?
So v'gam hinei hu yotzei likras achiv
v'sameach b'libo. You see this elsewhere
in sefer Shmos. Aaron going out to greet
you, he will see you and rejoice in his
heart. Hinei hu yotzei v'ra'acha
v'sameach b'libo. You see that v'hinei
comes with simcha.
The situation of tsaraas is when the
coin's love for every Jew is manifest.
This love does not come to there the
fore during normal times. When
everything goes smoothly and the coin is
together with his fellow kohanim basking
in the glory of the Beit Hamikdash. You
know when you see it?
When the coin leaves the Beit Hamikdash.
When he goes mi chutz l'machaneh to work
with the metzora. That's when the
powerful love the coin has for every
Jew. That's when it can be seen and
measured. That's when it's manifest. The
Torah alludes to this manifestation of
the coin's love. Nega
The final letters of the words v'huva
ela kohen, aleph lamed nun
says the Tolna Rebbe, are the first
letters in David Hamelach's description
of his love for Yonasan.
Nifleta avascha li me'avas nashim. Your
love was more powerful to me than the
love of women. The Mishnah Avos tells us
the bond between David and Yonasan is
the quintessential ava she'einah t'luyah
b'davar. You want to know a love between
two friends that is not dependent on
anything.
There's no dependence. There's no
conditions. There's no because you do
for me. There's just love and loyalty.
Is the love of David and Yonasan. This
is the level of love the coin must feel
for the metzora when he goes out to camp
to work with him. Likewise, the word min
nega tsaraas min ha tsaru'a al- alludes
to me'avas nashim in David Hamelach's
expression of his love for Yonasan. This
is the love and love the coin has. And
the Tolna Rebbe concludes.
He says, today we don't have metzora'im.
We don't have this diagnosis spiritual
lepers.
But we have a a of lost souls.
We have a lot of people who are trying
to find their way. And you know how we
bring them back? When we go find them.
When leaders, Dafka, the Kohanim of our
generation, shower genuine love to these
individuals,
to not send them away or leave them
isolated and alone, but to go where they
are,
to go into the meetings and recovery,
rehab, to go into the disco, and to go
wherever they are, just as a Metzora
sent away. The Gemara Megillah says,
"B'Mida she'hu modeh, ba modeh dem lo."
Kodesh Baruch Hu treats a person the way
they treat others. So, if we show our
love even for those Jews who are far and
distant, and work to bring them closer,
Hashem is going to bring us closer. He's
going to show his love for us, says the
Tolna Rebbe. And all this, a very
similar idea both between the Tolna
Rebbe and Rav Soloveitchik, same idea of
"V'Yatzah Kohen el M'chutz l'Machaneh."
You see the responsibility in the
definition of leadership, where they're
willing to go.
You know, I I was one of the early
Rabbis to use social media, not to post
dessert,
or about my kid's fever, or about my
vacation, or about my birthday, but to
share Torah
articles, to connect inspirational
messages. And I got a lot of criticism
at first. The world's caught up.
All segments of the Torah world.
Agudah has a Twitter handle. Satmar has
a Twitter handle. I know that because
after we went to see the Satmar Rebbe 2
weeks ago, they posted the pictures and
talked about how great the Achdus
Satmar headquarters.
The world has moved along. But what was
the rationale? What was the reasoning?
Not to chalila compare those who engage
the technology as being M'chutz
l'Machaneh, but ba'asher sham, to engage
and to connect and to try to uplift and
inspire, and to bring light where people
are, and to find them, and to find them
there. V'hinei Nirpa. We said the word
"V'hinei Nirpa." We said the word
"V'hinei" always connotes joy, Simcha.
What's the Simcha?
So, the
Rav Moshe Shick goes back to the Emoras
Tahoros.
He says,
"Emes she'ker refuah l'negah t'li
b'machshava b'tshuva. K'she ya'aseh
tshuva k'ro'i v'yischareit al avonosav
b'leiv nishbar, v'hu ohev yoshev l'vein
mizah, l'm'rirus d'kasa ruach, a'dei zeh
adrabah yiskavein al avocholi. Eich
yitachein she'tihyeh tshuva siman
l'refuas negah?" You know, when a person
feels that they're isolated and alone,
they're living M'chutz l'Machaneh,
they've been put in time out by the
community,
then they beat themselves up, they knock
themselves down, they feel enormous
shame and sadness. "V'ulai emes ki k'she
ya'aseh adam tshuva amitis k'ro'i,
but really the opposite can occur.
Occur. When a person says, 'I made
mistakes, I went wrong, I brought about
this own reality, but I'm going to learn
from it. I'm going to grow from it. I'm
going to bounce back from it.'
There's not win or lose, there's win or
learn.
So, this Metzora says, 'I'm going to
learn.'
And Ivdu es Hashem b'Simcha. I have a
lot of Avodah to do to bounce back, but
I'm going to do it b'Simcha. Because
when a person tries to bounce back with
sadness, they only knock themselves
further down. The only way to climb up,
the only way to bounce back, is
b'Simcha. And that's why the word
"V'hinei" is used here.
V'ra'ah Kohen.
K'she yirah tzadik Kohen l'shon Simcha.
And what will bring him the Simcha? When
he looks up. V'yatzah Kohen el M'chutz
l'Machaneh. Who's there? Who's there?
I go to prison to visit people.
You know what it means?
Because they look up and they say,
"That's how someone's spending their
time." That means something. It matters.
It lifts spirits. It gives hope. Person
is beating themselves up has reason to,
who needs to work to bounce back.
But if they're all alone, they'll only
fall into a deeper depression.
When V'yatzah Kohen el M'chutz
l'Machaneh, and in every respect, we're
all Kohanim
in different ways. To family, to
friends, we're all those leaders. When
we go out, when we go to people are
V'hinei Nirpa Negah Tzara'as.
Heals the Negah Tzara'as. V'hinei, the
fact that we showed up. When you show
up, and you check in, and you visit, and
you care, and you connect,
the simple V'hinei,
the simple connecting is enough. That
lifts the person's spirits.
I already made the Bracha before we
began.
Not that you would have thought I
didn't, but
I felt the need to say that for some
strange reason, anyway.
Okay.
Uh ba ba ba ba V'huva.
Why does it say V'huva, not V'lo ba?
Why V'huva, not ba? Is also a question,
but moving along.
Perek Yud Daled, Pasuk Daled.
We read the Kohen M'tzora Kohen. The
Kohen commands. This individual now has
been diagnosed as having Tzara'as. The
way back is two live clean birds, cedar
wood, crimson thread, and hyssop. Back
to Rav Druck, l'havdil bein kodesh
l'chol. says the following.
Rashi tells us,
the Pitpusei D'varim, the birds chirped,
he chirped Eitz Erez, she'negain
b'maggas ruach, arrogance. You got to
bring the cedar and the the worm and the
hyssop, because a person has to lower
themselves from their Ga'avah.
Einam uvah mishum tzarich shnei d'varim
l'havdil bein metzora l'zav. Why wasn't
Tola'as or Ezov enough?
Why do you need two ingredients? You
need the Ezov, the cedar wood, and you
need the Tola'as. You need the crimson
thread. Why did he Why did he need Why
did he need both of these things in
order to be able to bounce back? Both of
them are about humility and modesty,
rather than being arrogant.
So, why did he need both?
Kol ha'meichamin yesh b'chol ha'olam
l'kashlacha l'hashpil et atzmo. Zeh
Tola'as v'zeh gam Ezov. L'sheim
ha'kodesh tzarich l'havdil bein shnayim.
And furthermore, he says,
Hinei d'varim tzarich l'havdil bein
shnayim pasuk rishon u'pasuk rishon
v'acharei. And the order that we go in.
First is Eitz Erez, which is the
tallest. Then the Ezov, the hyssop,
which is lower. And then the Tola'as,
the worm, which is the lowest. So, we
should have gone in the order of
lowering himself from the highest, the
cedar, to the hyssop, to the worm. Nima
a'seider uv'kesav Eitz Erez, shnei
Tola'as, v'Ezov. We seem to go out of
order. So, Rav Druck quotes his Rebbe,
Moreinu v'Rabbeinu Moreinu v'Rabbeinu
Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zatzal,
answer to a difficult Rambam.
Won't get into specifics of the Rambam
and how he answered the Rambam, because
I want to get on to other ideas. But
with Rav Chaim's answer to a complicated
Rambam, Rav Druck answers our question.
Gam kashya she'ein rishona. Nima tzarich
l'havdil bein shnei Tola'as v'gam Ezov?
V'zeh k'mei'achar refuah she'ya'ash
b'atzmo t'chilah ad l'kotzer ruach.
She'nishtahav tzarich v'rak acharei kein
yachol l'hachzir et atzmo l'midah
beinonis. Because when you want to get
better, first you have to go to the
extreme.
First you have to go all the way down to
being worm food, and then you can bounce
back and say, "But I'm a little better
than worm food. I'm an Ezov,
hyssop." K'she meto b'Torah meto
a'seider refuas shel metzora.
In other words, sometimes, if you've
acted in extreme, you got to go to the
opposite extreme to bounce back to the
middle. And that's why it went out of
order, because we're not going in order
from the height to the middle to the
lowest, we go all the way to the lowest,
and we bounce back to the middle,
because in rehabilitating ourselves,
sometimes,
you have to go to the opposite extreme
in order to be able to come back to the
middle. Want to tell you an amazing
Gerrer Rosh Yeshiva,
shlita, an incredible idea from Moreinu
v'Rabbeinu Rav Shaul Alter. He says the
following. As part of the Metzora's
purification, we're on Pasuk Gimmel
Aleph.
Shh. Turn the page. Baruch Hashem.
We are on Chevreh Proud. We turn the
page.
V'heimei Kohen b'Parshas Ish Metzora o
sam
lifnei Hashem Pesach Ohel Mo'eid. The
final stage of purification is that this
Metzora comes to the Beis Hamikdash,
comes to the Mishkan, and the Kohen
stands him
The one who purifies shall place the
person being purified along with them
before Hashem at the entrance of the
Tent of the Meeting. Pesach Ohel Mo'eid.
The Kohen who purifies places
the person being purified at the
entrance of the Ohel Mo'eid. What is the
word "lifnei Hashem" like the is this
place? The gate of Sha'ar
Nikanor.
Look at Rashi Yud Aleph. Lifnei Hashem
b'Sha'ar Nikanor.
What's the Gemara Sotah Daf Zayin? V'lo
ba'Azarah atzmah. Af she'hu M'chutz
l'Kippurim.
Now, the Kohen can't actually bring him
into the Azarah. Why not?
He's not clean. So, where does he bring
him? To the entrance. Which entrance?
The entrance that's called Sha'ar
Nikanor. Called Sha'ar Nikanor.
The Gemara Pesachim Daf Pei Hei
discusses why Nikanor Why Sha'ar Nikanor
was not sanctified.
The Metzora couldn't enter the Azarah,
but he could stand in that gate. Why was
he allowed to stand in that gate?
Because the gate was not pure.
Why was the gate not purified? The
Gemara says it was for this very reason.
In order that a Metzora would stand
there and put his thumb into the Azarah,
and the oil and the blood would be
sprinkled on his thumb into the Azarah.
So, he needed to be able to stand there.
So, wonders Tosafos,
Zog Tosafos Yevamos Daf Zayin Amud Beis,
why couldn't Sha'ar Nikanor be
sanctified, and the Metzora would stand
outside Sha'ar Nikanor and stick his
thumb in? Why did you have to leave the
gate itself
not pure, so he could stand in the gate
and stick his thumb in, make the gate
also pure, and he'd stand outside the
gate and stick his thumb in? So, you
know what Rabbeinu Tam answers? Listen
to this.
So, Sha'ar Nikanor was left unsanctified
in order to protect the Metzora from the
sun and the rain.
Because it would be uncomfortable for
the Metzora if he had to stand outside
in the sun
and bake.
Could get hot and humid in Har Habayis
in Yerushalayim in the summer.
It could rain. The winter a sideways
rain would knock this mitzvah over.
Says the show alter, that's truly
amazing. Think about it. So Ross comes
as a punishment for one of these seven
severe sins. Lashon hara, murder,
swearing falsely,
hoarding and theft, stinginess. So you
might have said, you know, this
individual, let him bake in the sun. Let
him get a sunburn. Let him get soaking
wet from the rain.
Let them gain atonement through their
suffering. It should be a kapara. Let
him get cut. Let It'll be a kapara for
them.
But the Torah teaches otherwise.
We must concern ourselves with the
comfort even of a sinner, even of the
Russia, even the person who misbehaved,
that we also care even about them.
That's the sensitivity that we have to
have. Never grow so callous that you
become indifferent even to the person
who's displayed their own indifference.
Because that callousness is a poor
reflection on us. So the Torah is
worried that even that lowlife, even
that is rough, even that baal lashon
hara, even that Russia who violated one
of these seven things
also deserves a shade,
also deserves not to not get wet. So
much so Shaar Nicanor is not purified so
he could stand there and stick his thumb
in. We can understand why this took
place specifically in Shaar Nicanor, not
one of the other entrances to the Beit
Hamikdash. Says the show alter, why?
Because Hazal the Gemara Yoma tells us
that Nicanor's great mesiras nefesh. Who
was Nicanor that he has a Shaar named
for him?
Nicanor was a person
and he displayed tremendous mesiras
nefesh selflessness to bring doors to
the Beit Hamikdash. Where did those
doors come from?
Egypt.
Elevating them to great kedusha from
their origins in the most impure land.
He transformed them.
This is very appropriate for Erev
Pesach. He took these doors from the
land of tumah, Egypt, and he transformed
and elevated but by using them where
at the entrance to the Beit Hamikdash.
The most fitting place for the doors and
purify them to kedusha is the place that
shows concern for the well-being of
every Yid regardless of their spiritual
standing. Where the kedusha of the Beit
Hamikdash is sacrificed to ensure the
comfort even of sinners is where these
doors obtained through mesiras nefesh
should be elevated to kedusha. There's
an important lesson in this too, says
the show alter, that a person has to
draw others close despite the cost of
his own individual growth. We saw this
about the Cohen, told me to have in the
Rav. The Cohen goes out. Cohen goes out
even to the place that the leper is.
Similarly here, we go out to make it
comfortable even for the metzora. We
work to raise others even if it might
bring us down.
It's like the lesson of the parah
adumah. The pure become impure while
purifying the one who is impure. Sadikim
said that just as the broom gathers dirt
when it sweeps the room, so too one who
helps others may find themselves
somewhat soiled.
Just like the broom gathers dirt when
it's used to clean. You clean the room.
What's left with the dirt with the
broom?
It's dirty. So too when you try to clean
someone, something, you can absorb the
dirt.
Where there's mesiras nefesh for another
Yid, there's the purification of klal
Yisrael, of klal Yisrael.
And that's uh and that is the the
message of Shaar Nicanor and dafka why
Shaar Nicanor and why even though
Tosafos answers,
we're worried about his comfort. It
shouldn't rain. It shouldn't be too cold
even for this lowlife metzora.
Okay, one more idea.
Perek Daled Pasuk Yud Ches.
I know some of the shamashim going to
rush and retire. A metayer. The keeper
of the coin is not a sham. This
sprinkling, this anointment, this
rehabilitation process, it also includes
that the oil that's on the coin's palm,
he puts on the head of the person being
purified. Why? Why on the head? You know
who was bothered by this question? The
Chofetz Chaim. Chofetz Chaim was
bothered.
La'asos gam rosh even on his head? We
don't find this with any chazarah in the
mikdash. Anytime there's an anointing in
the Beit Hamikdash of which there are
others, we don't find ever the anointing
on the head. So why here is there
anointing on the head? Says the Chofetz
Chaim, "Given that a metzora over gamma
kamatz lashon hara, the metzora
accepted. Why did they come to speak
negatively or hear negative talk about
somebody?
Vadai chashav berosh machshavah's rosh
acharei ro. Because they were thinking
negatively. It starts up here and then
it comes down and out through the lips."
Lekach niska gam rosh letahara. So
therefore, not only do the lips need to
be purified, but the head needs to be
purified. Lehachgiach lashon hara lo
machal be'ashlita al hapeh.
Lashon hara is not just about the mouth.
Where is the real battle with not
gossiping about others?
It's not with the lips and the power of
speech because before a person speaks,
hopefully,
not always and for some not often, but
hopefully before a person speaks, what
do they do?
They think. So where is the place of
purification in the place of thinking?
And that's why the Chofetz Chaim says,
"Unusual, but this is the one place
where Where do we anoint and where do we
purify? The head." To remind us, think
before you speak
and have pure thoughts about people,
positive thoughts about people. And ayin
tov, a good and positive
eye about others before you speak.
That's why dafka That's why dafka the
sprinkling happened where? It happened
on the head not only on the lips. The
Hizartem Bnei Yisrael was going to share
one more insight, but we are going to
end here
a little bit early because there's a
Shabbos Hagadol drasha that needs a
little bit work still.
Wishing everyone a chag kasher
vesameach. Should be a good Yom Tov
that's filled with simcha because the
hostages are home.
God forbid they're not. We are
participating in a campaign as are
others. You'll be able to get it at the
shul or download yourself a poster
that is of the hostages. Set a seat at
the Seder table
with no one on it. Put the poster on it
and we should go through our Seder
looking at that seat with the collage of
hostages remembering
that we daven that they come home, to
bring them home
with the hashtag hashtag let our people
go. Here we are thousands of years after
yetzias Mitzrayim and we're still saying
let our people go. What Moshe and Aaron
had to demand of Paroh, we demand every
moment of every day to Hamas, let our
people go. So please God, we won't have
an empty chair. The chairs will all be
full because the hostages will be home.
God forbid they're not. Set aside a
chair. Let our people go. Chag kasher
vesameach.
Thank you, brother.