Growing from failure
“The righteous will fall seven times and get up…” (Proverbs 24:16) We’re not learning here that a righteous person is one who will repeatedly get up in the wake of failure. Scripture is teaching that it was the getting up, learning and growing from the mistakes that made him/her a righteous person. (R’ Yitzchak Hutner)
Why hyssop?
The Torah portion for this week, Metzora, deals with a skin affliction whose pathology was spiritual. The most direct cause was for negative speech: gossip and slander. Our sages taught that the corrupt character trait that fostered this kind of behavior was haughtiness and arrogance. Therefore, part of the spiritual rehabilitation process involved taking hyssop […]
Making the days count
On the second night of Passover, we are commanded to begin counting the days that will ultimately conclude with the holiday of Shavuot that marks the day we received the Torah on Mt. Sinai 3333 years ago. “You are to count seven complete weeks…until the day after the seventh week, when there will be a […]
Inner change
“This shall be the law of the metzora” (Leviticus 14:2) Why does the text here say, “This shall be the law of the metzora”? Wouldn’t it have been more appropriate to say, “This is the law of the metzora”? R’ Shmuel of Sochotchov points out that according to the Talmud, tzara’as is usually brought about […]
Redeeming speech
A Metzora was someone afflicted with a skin condition that was not an ordinary physical malady. The sages teach that it often came about as a result of speaking negatively of others. The Metzora’s process of purification includes two birds (Leviticus 14:4). Why two birds? If it is to atone for gossiping, shouldn’t it be […]
Judging others
The Torah teaches that an animal must have cloven hooves and chew its cud in order to be a kosher species (Leviticus 11:3). Scripture then goes on to name a number of animals that chew their cud, but don’t have cloven hooves: the camel, the hyrax and the hare (Leviticus 11:4-6). If you pay careful […]
The cruelty of understanding
“The sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire pan, they put fire in them and placed incense upon it; and they brought before Hashem an alien fire that He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before Hashem and consumed them, and they died before Hashem.” (Leviticus 10:1-2) This is […]
Connection
“Whatever crawls on its belly…” (Leviticus 11:42) The word for stomach/belly is “gachon”. The letter ‘vav’ in this word is always written enlarged in a Torah scroll. It happens to be the middle letter in the entire Torah, the center point. The meaning of ‘vav’ in Hebrew is a hook. The letter actually has the […]
Forever young
“A perpetual fire shall be lit on the altar; it may not be extinguished.” (Leviticus 6:6) According to the Talmud (Zevachim 91b) extinguishing even a single coal on the altar is a transgression. When we’re young, we have a healthy, enthusiastic and pure simple faith. We should never become jaded with cynicism as we get […]
There is hope for everyone
“…and he shall carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.” (Leviticus 6:4) Just as ashes can catch fire again. even that which is utterly corrupt and “outside the camp” can change for the better. Since God ultimately hopes that even the wicked be restored, we must not discard the ashes. We place […]