Friday, 24 April 2020

Parashas Tazria - Metzora

Our Parsha this Shabbos Rosh Chodesh is a Double Parsha of Tazria and Metzora .
Parashas Tazria starts out by discussing a Woman's Conception and the period of contamination for a male or female child afterwards . When a male gets born , he is to be circumcised on the eighth day . For a certain period , the Mother is to have a separation period of purity . Torah Tells us that if she has a male child , that period is half the time of a female child , thus for a male child , she is contaminated for 7 days and for 33 days , she shall remain in blood of purity , not being able to touch anything holy , or enter the Sanctuary , until her days of purity are completed ( thus a total of 7+33 = 40 days ) , and if she has a female child , she will be contaminated for two weeks and for 66 days , she shall remain in blood of purity ( thus a total of 14 + 66 = 80 days ) . Our Rabbis say that the time is doubled for a female child , because , it takes forty days for the lifeform to develop into a male and 80 days for the lifeform to develop into a female . How interesting that the forty days minimun , that it takes , is the same amount of time , that Moshe was up each of the three times on Har Sinai and also during the Mabul , The Flood in Noach's time , it rained for 40 days and 40 nights , which suggests that this period of 40 , is a time given to make that which is within it , purified .
When her days of purity are completed , the Mother is to bring an Elevation Offering and a Sin Offering . The reason for the two offerings , are because during her labor , she may have , due to the pain , sworn an oath never to live with her husband again and also , she brings an Offering , in lieu of Chava , for whose actions , women suffer in childbirth , and thus every child bearing Woman , can thus atone for Chava Eve . Also , she atones for any negative feelings she may have had against her husband and even negative feelings she may have had against HaShem , Chas Ve Shalom . This is when a Woman " Tazria , " - " Conceives . " We look all the time for Miracles from HaShem , and every day , HaShem Blesses us With Creation , a Most Amazing Miracle . We don't realize , the Wonderful Beautiful Miracle that HaShem Gives us , in childbirth . When it is time to bring the Soul to the baby to come , HaShem Calls the Malach Angel Layla , to bring the soul , either out of Shamaim or Gan Eiden or the Gaf ( a Holding Place of Souls ) , that soul that will go into that baby . Though the soul does not want to leave its Holy Place of rest , HaShem Instructs the Soul that in order to earn merit , that soul needs to come into a Physical Body and so gain merit and raise itself in holiness , by keeping HaShem's Mitzvos . What a Beautiful Miracle . Even while it is within its Mother , HaShem Performs so many Miracles for it . The very heat within the Mother , would be impossible for a human being to stand for so long , but HaShem Miraculously Protects it , For He Is At The Birth Of Every Life-Form In His Creation . The Position in which the Life-form lies , within the Mother , is a Miracle , for gravity alone would make it fall out , yet HaShem Miraculously Keeps it In , Until The Time Is Ready For it To Be Born . HaShem Directs Toward it , all its necessary food , and when it Is Born By HaShem , HaShem Miraculously Gives the Mother the power to feed it milk from her very own body , the healthiest of all , for her baby . The Life-form if it would have waste products , from its nourishment within , would under other circumstances , hurt the Mother , but HaShem Miraculously Takes Care Of That . The very act of conceiving a child , from a small part from the Mother , and a drop from the Father , for that to form a child , with all its faculties and everything it needs to grow into the adult , is such a great Miracle of HaShem . Oh yes , Conception is such a continuing Miracle of the Almighty , Praised And Forever Blessed Be His Beautiful And Beloved Name .
From this point on in this Parsha of Tazria and into the next Parsha of Metzora , Tzaraas is discussed and all its allied impurities that can come on the skin or body part of a person and also is discussed , Afflictions on Garments and if in Israel , on houses , where if it appeared on a house , if it came to having to remove stones from the house , the previous Canaanite tenants , who had hidden their precious items in the walls to hide from us , their hidden wares , would then be revealed .
HaShem Sends Tzaraas , for 10 different kinds of Aveirahs , being :- Idolworship , Murder , Immorality , Performing a Chillul HaShem - A Desecration of HaShem's Name , Robbery , Greed and having an evil eye , Making a Vain Oath , Conceit and Arrogance , Loshon Horah - Slander ( the main reason ) and Doing something not allowed by the person who does it - like a king performing the rites of a Kohein .
The Parsha of Metzora goes through the cleansing process for Tzaraas of different types , mentioned in Parashas Tazria . The very word Metzora , has within it the words , ' Motzi Sham Ra , ' - ' the defamer . ' Such is what a Loshoner is .
The main sin that Tzaraas Is Sent for , is Loshon Horah . Parashas Metzora also mentions the discharges that are impure for a male and for a female , including within this Parsha the Laws of Niddah for the Woman and the Parsha ends reminding us that the Children of Israel shall be separated from their contamination , so that we not die , not to contaminate HaShem's Sanctuary that is among us . So ends the Parshas .
As I mentioned , the main sin that Tzaraas is sent for is Loshon Horah , for basically defaming someone or others . Tzaraas is not modern day Leprosy . Both are very different . Modern day Leprosy comes out with black swellings , whereas , Tzaraas Afflictions are impure when they are white or flesh exposed within or two white hairs . Tzaraas is very much A Spiritual Affliction Sent By HaShem , to manifest Physically, for wrongs done . In that day and time , the Sins we did , Were Manifest Upon us , on our bodies , or out of mercy sometimes , first on one's garment or house , only in Israel ( but not in Yerushalaim ) . A person who may have been miserly , claiming he has nothing to give others , but in reality does have , may have Tzaraas Appear On his house in Israel , so that he would have to remove first all his possessions from the house before the Kohein comes and possibly declares his house Impure Tamei . Thus all would see that he was being miserly and does have what to help others . The possessions had to be removed first , so that they would not be declared Tamei along when the house is declared Tamei , for once the House is declared Tamei , then all things within it , are too .
Loshon Horah is a very grave sin . It hurts without warning . A person who Loshons , is an abomination to HaShem and HaShem Says , that such a person cannot abide in Creation , alongside HaShem , for such a person , denies The Way HaShem Creates a person His way , and the Loshoner , tries to refashion that person , in his own negative image . Thus the Loshoner , is akin to an idol worshipper , who makes himself out to be a creator , of the person loshoned , in his own negative view and image , Chas Ve Shalom .
The very first one to do the sin of Loshon Horah , was the Nachash , the Snake , in Gan Eiden in the Beginning , with the Angel Samael within it . Samael blasphemed and Loshoned HaShem , and so , caused Adam Ve Chava to Sin and Eat that which they were not commanded to eat and so , was the woman punished with painful childbirth and impurity , which both Adam Ve Chava now had ( impurity ) . So Parashas Tazria and Parashas Metzora , do have a link together with regards the impurity of conceiving , for the Woman , and Tzaraas and Metzora , Loshoning , which was first committed by the Nachash Snake with Samael .
What was the snake's punishment ? To crawl in the very dust that was its words , for such are the words of Loshon Horah and slander , that is akin to speaking dust . The snake's tongue was also split and separated , just like Loshon Horah and Slander separates people from others , who are spoken badly about . The Snake , which once stood upright and regal , was made to crawl on its belly and from it's arrogance and conceit , a trait of the one who commits Loshon Horah , it was forced to be lowered and was humbled .
Loshon Horah hurts three people , the Loshoner , the Listener to the Loshon and the Victim who is the one spoken about . A story is told of a man who came before a Judge , for he had bad mouthed his neighbor and it had caused harm to his neighbor and the perpetrator was seeking and pleading with the Judge , for a way to make up for it and atone . The Judge told him to take pieces of paper and to write upon them words about himself , and to go out into the street and to throw them into the wind and to come back to the Judge the next day . The man did this and came back to the Judge the next day and asked the Judge if he can now be forgiven . The Judge told him , only if he can go back to where he threw the pieces and collect every single one of them . The man said that is impossible , as by now , the wind has carried them to places he can not possible collect them back from , or know of where . The Judge responded that so is it the same with Loshon Horah and Slander , for it is impossible to retract what one has said , and it is impossibly to possibly know how far , in the wind , has a person's slanderous words traveled and they can never be retrieved or retracted , for rumours carry , and even when the truth comes out , not every one will believe it . No wonder , a bird is one of the offerings brought for Cleansing from Tzaraas , as birds often chirp and chatter , in the open , just like Loshon Horah chatters constanly in the open - so say our Rabbonim .
Even in Dovid Ha Melech's time , a man slandered Mefiboshes , son of David's beloved friend Jonathon , and this ended up starting the punishment that ended in the final split of the Tribes of Israel after Shlomo's Son Rechavam separated the kingdoms . Slander is a very grave sin . Even Shlomo Hamelech said in Mishlei , that " Death and Life are in the hands of the Tongue . "
It is no wonder , that the Punishment for Loshon Horah , is impurity and forced distance from other people and obvious signs of impurity , for that is exactly what the Loshoner did to others , by making them look impure and wrong to others , and by their evil talk and tongue , caused distance between others , so now the one afflicted by Tzaraas , for Loshon Horah , must be alone and isolated and call out Tamei Tamei Impure Impure . We lost our Holy Temples because of Loshon Horah and Groundess Hatred among our brethren . A Sword can kill one , but a word can kill many . " Loshon Horah " - " Evil Tongue Speech " is Murder to the one spoken about . In fact , Loshon Horah , has within it the breaking of every one of the Ten Commandments . It blasphemes HaShem's Name , for it attacks HaShem's Creation , the way HaShem Made a person . It is like Idol worship , for it puts the Loshoner , in the place of one who wants to recreate another person , in a way HaShem Didn't , for HaShem Is The Only Creator . To Loshon , is to doubt HaShem and His Creation as Creator . To Loshon , is to take HaShem's Name in Vain , showing no respect For What And How HaShem Created things . To Loshon , is to show HaShem that the Loshoner is arrogantly trying to make his own false creation , thus denying HaShem As Creator , which is exactly the opposite of what Shabbos Testifies , that we keep Shabbos , which also acknowledges that HaShem Created the other six days . If one can Loshon others , then one can be brought to the stage of Loshoning one's own Parents , thus dishonoring them , Chas Ve Shalom . Loshoning can kill a person's character and other's opinion of the one Loshoned , and also embarrasses them , causing blood to drain from their face , which Halachically , is akin to murder . Loshon Horah brings about unfaithfulness by others , to the one Loshoned , which is akin to adultery . Loshon Horah , causes theft of a person's real character , akin to kidnapping their real character . Certainly , Loshon Horah causes the bearing of False Witness against the one Loshoned , putting them wrongly , in a way that they are not . Loshon Horah causes hatred of the one Loshoned , by those who listen to it and the listeners can thus be caused to covet the one Loshoned . Thus Loshon Horah Evil Tongue , breaks all the Ten Commandments , and thus every Law of HaShem Given on Har Sinai . Also , seeing as HaShem Created the World with Ten Pronouncements , Loshon Horah Directly Attacks HaShem's Creation , and the Fact that HaShem Created the World With Ten Pronouncements , for as I mentioned , it breaks every one of the Ten Commandments . So is the Punishment for Tzaraas , for ten types of Aveirah as I mentioned .
HaShem Put the tongue behind the barriers of the teeth and gums , in and of the mouth , so as to keep it in check . The tongue is the only muscle in the body that has horizontal freedom . HaShem Thus Gave us Barriers to the tongue , the Teeth and Gums of the Mouth to help us keep it in check . Yet HaShem Allowed us the easiest ability to earn Mitzvos with our Speech in Holy Talk , By Allowing the tongue muscle , the freedom to speak . So HaShem Wants us to Guard our Tongue , But Still Mercifully Gives us a way to easily earn many Mitzvos , by using the easy moving tongue , made in a resting horizontal position , to be easily able to speak words of holiness of Torah . We must thus not change it around , but must ensure that we take HaShem's Safeguards , and Guard our Tongue from Loshon Horah , but Easily Speak holy words , by learning much Torah , and thus make this World a World of Torah Love and Harmony , where HaShem Can Be Made Welcome with Love always .
So , if we stop Committing Loshon Horah and start all keeping HaShem's Commandments , we will stop being afflicted with Tzaraas , and we can go back to the Beginning , where child birth was painless and there was no impurity . It is within our reach . All we have to do , is What HaShem Wants us to do . All we Have to do , is follow HaShem , in our total love and obedience . Gan Eiden and Shamaim are so reachable . If only we would just reach up to HaShem , and all of us Obey Him . HaShem Made us In Total Love . Let us follow HaShem in total love . May All of Creation , thank and follow HaShem with love .
I wish HaShem With all my Love , A Very Sweet And Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh And Chodesh Tov Iyar With Deepest and Sweetest Love , and to all my fellow Jews , and to all of Creation , a Very Sweet and Beautiful Shabbos Kodesh and Chodesh Tov Iyar with love .

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