This shall be the law of the Metzora on the day of his purification: he shall be brought to the Kohen.
We begin with our standard question: As this mitzvah is only applicable when the Beis HaMikdash stood, of what value is this passage to us? For, as it is our wont to mention, it is axiomatic that the commandments of the Eternal Creator have eternal relevance.
Now, for some local observations: 1) The term תאז is typically understood as a טועימ, an exclusion (i.e., this, to the exclusion of that). What is excluded here? 2) What is the significance of the usage of תרות here? 3) Why is an individual afflicted with תערצ called a ערוצמ instead of the more grammatically sensible עורצ? Chazal* addressed this question, explaining that ערוצמ is a contraction of ער םש איצומ , a slanderer, who is subject to this punishment. The difficulty with this is that slander is but one of seven types of sins that prompt צתער** how is this contraction relevant to them? 4) Why does it say that the Metzora is “brought to the Kohen” if immediately thereafter*** we are told that the Kohen goes out of the camp to see him?
It would seem to me that these verses contain significant guiding principles for our Avodas Hashem in general, and Torah study in particular.
The Talmud famously instructs, הלכ תסנכהלו תמה תאצוהל הרות דומלת ןילטבמ , We cancel Torah study to allow for funerals and weddings.**** In its straightforward sense, we are being instructed in our religious priorities, that funerals and weddings take precedence to Torah study. On a more profound level, though, what intersection do these three mitzvos share?
The primary objective in studying Torah is to facilitate the realization of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) within our material world. In line with the depiction of the Shechinah in a feminine fashion, one allegorization of Torah study utilized for this lofty goal is תסנכה הלכ, lit. “bringing the Bride” into this world. Of course, a bride cannot be expected to sit on a chair sullied with filth. It follows that if the individual engaged in Torah study is sullied with sin, the Shechinah is not receptive to dwelling upon him. As Tehillim***** puts it, עשרלו רמא םיקלא המ ךל רפסל יקח , And to the wicked one G-d says, “What right do you have to speak of My statutes?” As such, it behooves the conscientious student of the Torah to preface his study with repentance for his errant deeds, purging himself of his impurities so that his study will be of the due quality to allow the Shechinah to come in its wake. This introspective process can be allegorized as תאצוה תמה, lit. the “removal of the corpse,” which, as the highest form of ritual impurity, is symbolic of the spiritual filth that man is sullied with through his sins.
We can now decode the rabbinic dictum: ןילטבמ דומלת הרות תאצוהל תמה תסנכהלו הלכ , Torah study must be put on hold to allow for personal refinement that will make it a worthy means for drawing down the Shechinah. In other words, the quantity of Torah study must cede before the preparatory steps that allow for its greater quality.
Our verse can be rendered as providing this instruction. תאז היהת תרות – we had questioned the necessity of the first and third words. As mentioned, תאז implies טועימ (which, besides for “exclusion,” can be taken as “minimization”). Hence: Torah study is to be minimized. For what end? ערוצמה, or the איצומ ער , to allow for the ejecting of the evil within the student. םויבו ותרהט , when that process is successful and he has been rendered pure. Then, אבוהו לא ןהכה , he shall be brought to the Kohein, the teacher of Torah, to engage in its study.
Regarding the last question that we raised, let us preface with an exposition from the Alshich. In the instructions that preceded the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, Moshe was told, ךל לא םעה םתשדקו םויה רחמו וסבכו םתולמש 'וגו תלבגהו תא םעה ביבס רמאל ורמשה םכל תולע רהב 'וגו אל עגת וב די 'וגו , Go to the nation and sanctify them today and tomorrow and they shall launder their garments… and you shall demarcate around the nation saying, “Take care for yourselves not to ascend the mountain… no hand shall touch it.”****** The Alshich was troubled as to why the instruction to refrain from touching the mountain shifts from the plural to the singular (עגת). He explains that these verses are a template for how one should go about elevating the masses. Firstly, one may think that it is appropriate to begin with their external deportment, introducing them to ascetic practices such as immersions and dressing in white. To this, the Torah precedes “sanctify them” to “and they shall launder their garments” – first their inner self needs to be refined and sanctified, only thereafter can that elevation express itself outwardly. Secondly, he ought not wait for them to approach him. “Go to the nation” – the influencer must take the initiate. Thirdly, he shouldn’t suffice with addressing them publicly; rather, his addresses should be followed up with personal contact with as many individuals as he can reach. Hence, the shift from the plural usage to the singular.
I would add other perspectives that can be gleaned from this passage, following the same theme. A major function of the tzaddik is to elevate as much as he can within this world. In order to do so, he needs to lower himself to his subject’s inferior level so as to be capable of lifting it up with him. Now, the relationship between higher and lower levels of spirituality can be compared to that of a person and the clothing that surrounds him; the more inward one turns, the more intense the spirituality.******* It follows that the righteous of the generation relate to the masses as their clothing, so to speak. As the Yerushalmi******** put it, Shmuel ha-Navi saved his generation by “donning Israel’s cloak,” by identifying with the sinful level of the masses.
This, then, is the meaning of unrefined masses, םתולמש םעה וסבכו לא ךל םתשדקו , undertake the spiritual journey of conforming to the , for by doing so the tzaddik sanctifies and elevates the “clothing” element of society.
The passage continues with the demarcation of the mountain. The significance of this can be gleaned from an idea developed by the medieval Otzar HaKavod of R. Todros ha-Levi (cited by the Maharsha). In a famous passage in Chagigah,********* we are told of the four sages who “entered the Orchard” – code for engagement in a mystical trance experience. Ben Azzai “gazed and died,” meaning that through his soul’s intensive cleaving with the supernal spheres it simply disconnected from its body.********** Ben Zoma “gazed and was struck,” meaning that he was unprepared for the experience, frying his mind. R. Akiva, however, avoided this pitfall by only advancing as far as his mind was fit to endure. He thus emerged from the experience whole.
We thus see the importance of not pushing oneself to levels of spirituality that he is not ready for. Thus, םעה תא תלבגהו, every individual needs to be in touch with his current ceiling in his spiritual capacity, רהב תולע םכל ורמשה , and take care to ascend the heights of spirituality in a manner constructive for him. For, as in the unfortunate example of Ben Zoma, one who overdoses will get nowhere very fast. Hence, די וב עגת אל , the language switches to the singular, reflecting the highly personalized manner in which these limits must be determined.
A third lesson reflects an explanation that I heard from the Besht. The Talmud tells us that עשו כרשב";י ולא עלתה בידם הרבה, many students followed the example of R. Shimon b. Yochai [in his exclusive focus on Torah study] and were unsuccessful. The Besht noted that the emphasis here is that they were merely following another’s example, mimicking him. Since the spiritual goal sought was unnatural to them, they were unsuccessful in obtaining it; worse yet, by abandoning what was natural to them, they were deprived of that as well, leaving them in spiritual limbo.
Thus, די וב עגת אל , is in the sense of the rabbinic expression תעגמ ודיש םוקמ דע , as far as one can reach.*********** The warning is that if one overreaches in his aspirations, his hand will be incapable of reaching even his obtainable goals. The ultimate, tragic result will be הריי הרי וא לקסי he shall be stoned or cast down, the double expressions conveying the twofold failure.
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*Erechin 15b.
** Ibid., 16a.
*** Vayikra 14:3.
**** Megillah 3b.
***** 50:16.
****** Shemos 19:10-12.
******* Recall the metaphor that we cited in Vayikra about the nobleman who donned peasant ware in order to rehabilitate the wayward prince.
********Ta’anis 2:7.
********* 14b.
********** This may be the intent of the Zohar’s (Acharei, 70b) take on Koheles (4:2) “’And I praise the dead who have already departed’ – those who have departed from this world in the service of their Master,” referring to those whose consciousness disconnected from their bodies in an ecstatic engagement with the higher realms. Cf. Rambam’s (Hil. Teshuvah 8:2) and Ramban’s (Sha’ar ha-Gemul) explanation of the future reward as Divine cognition.
*********** Pesachim 8b.