Shalom.
This is Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg, Ezra-Habonim, Niles Township Jewish Congregation in Skokie Illinois. This video is a brief explanation of the Rabbinic view of the parasha Tazria and Mezora which are often read together. On the face today, it looks like Tazria and Mezora discussed skin disease often translated as leprosy, but probably more on Hanson’s disease or some other kind of non-Hanson’s disease, leprosy like psoriasis or eczema of some significant effect.
Mezora is basically about houses that have every kind of fungus like people are experiencing today. In ancient times, when somebody has this disease, you have then present yourself to the priest, the cohen. He would determine when you were cured, when you can reenter society and we read every year people say so what is the great significance of having all this space in the Torah devoted to skin disease and house fungus? With the rabbis, of course, later interpreted very spiritual metaphorically. It actually is a story in the book of Numbers, chapter 12 where Miriam and Aaron are gossiping about their brother Moses complaining about them. And Miriam as a result of it gets the same skin disease. And the rabbis then said, “Well clearly, the Torah is associating skin disease with gossip and slander as a punishment.”
Now, whether you believe this or not, literally, it is an interesting opportunity to talk about the Jewish values about speech ethics. In fact, when you parse the word Mezora which is a name of the second parasha into its four letters and the two mensatic and rage high in, you got the words, mozira to bring forth evil, which again, hinds up the same idea.
Judaism basically teaches that people should never gossip or defame or slander anyone else. In fact, there are many positive statements like the honor of the fellow should as dirty as was the honor of yourself, love thy neighbor as thyself, hill up to all those who are hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. And the Talmud said that God simply came to abide in the world of its people gossip. What people will do is tell stories, but it should be curtailed. The rabbi said that when you slander or gossip you kill three people and the person at the bottom you gossiping, the person to whom you are speaking, and the person who is speaking.
And they told this marvelous story about our fellow who came to a rabbi and said he slandered someone and he wanted to take a back and the rabbi said, “Well, take a feather pillow and then come back to me.” The man did, he is now to break open the pillow. The feathers blew out in the air and the rabbi has come back in a week and the man has come back in a week okay. Came back in a week, the rabbi said, “Now go and gather up the feathers.” The fellow said, “Obviously, I cannot. They have been blown around for a week.” Rabbi said, “That is the problem with gossip and slander.” It is when we come to this Torah parasha every year, that the great opportunity to curtail or gossip or slander or malicious talk, to judge everyone charitably and with great countenance and to think the good and not the bad, unless clearly proven, otherwise, but is definitely not tell tales as the Torah says were fearless, if you loot but do not gossip and slander and malign others.
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