Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Parashas Tazria-Metzora 5769

שבת טעם החיים פרשת תזריע-מצורע תשס"ט
Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim Parashas Tazria-Metzora 5769
Counting our way out of impurity towards purity and holiness
Introduction
We have just completed the celebration of the Pesach festival, and we are now in the midst of counting the Omer. In this week’s parshiyos we also encounter other forms of counting. One counting is when a woman after childbirth counts the days of her impurity. A second counting is when a metzora, one who contracts the spiritual disease of tzaraas, counts seven days from when he is cleansed before he is permitted to enter into the Israelite Camp. A third counting is when a woman has a flow and she then counts seven days and she is then purified. The Zohar states that the forty-nine days that we count from the bringing of the Omer are akin to a woman counting her days of impurity. The counting from the Omer then culminates in the festival of Shavuos.
Understanding the counting of the Omer and the mourning period for the students of Rabbi Akiva
One must wonder why it is so important to count the days of the Omer. When one wishes to know when an upcoming festival will occur, he merely has to look at the calendar and determine the correct date of the festival. We do not count the days until Rosh Hashanah and other festival that we celebrate throughout the year. Why, then, must we count from Pesach until Shavuos? Another perplexing idea that requires explanation is why immediately after the joy of the Pesach festival we enter into a mourning period over the twenty-four thousand students of Rabbi Akiva who passed away between Pesach and Shavuos. How are we to comprehend the juxtaposition of this period of joy with this period of mourning?
One must search out the impurities within himself
In order to glean a better understanding of the purpose in our counting, it is worth mentioning a fascinating idea presented by the Gerrer Rebbe, the Lev Simcha. It is said (Mishlei 2:3-4) im tivaksehna chakasef vichamatmonim tachpisena az tavin yiras HaShem vidaas Elokim timtza, if you seek it as [it were] sliver, if you search for it as [if it were] hidden treasures – then you will understand the fear of HaShem, and discover the knowledge of G-d. The Lev Simcha (Emor) writes that these verses can be interpreted to be alluding to the festivals of the year. Seeking like silver alludes to Pesach, as the word kesef, silver, also connotes desire, and Pesach is a time when HaShem showed His love for the Jewish People. Hidden treasures allude to the days of counting from the Omer, as the word vichamatmonim, can be read mem tes monim, counting forty-nine. The word tachpisena, if you search for it, alludes to Shavuos, as the days of counting the Omer are a preparation for Shavuos. The Lev Simcha goes on to find allusions to Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkos. It is fascinating that the word vichamatmonim alludes to the forty-nine days of counting from the Omer. The first letters of the word are mem and tes, which also form most of the word tamei, translated as impure. Perhaps the lesson contained in this hint is that one should always view himself as being in a state of impurity and that he must strive for purity and holiness. Hashem, in His infinite compassion, redeemed us from the impurities of Egypt, but we still have a long way to go until we are worthy of receiving the Torah. How, then, do we remove these impurities from our midst?
We are required to remove tainted character traits
The Gemara (Yevamos 62b) states that the students of Rabbi Akiva died because they did not treat each other with respect. It would seem from this Gemara that if the students of the great Rabbi Akiva were lacking in this area, then certainly we could use improvement on how we act towards each other. A person who does not respect his fellow man demonstrates an impurity of the soul. Shavuos is reflective of our gathering at Sinai kiish echod bileiv echod, as one man with one heart. It is not enough to merely study Torah. One must internalize the lessons in Torah, and Rabbi Akiva was the one who said viahavta lireiacha kamocha zeh klal gadol baTorah, you shall love your fellow as yourself, this is a great rule in Torah. The word gadol is associated with the tribute of chesed, kindness. It is no wonder that the first attribute that we refer to when counting from the Omer is chesed, and the last attribute is malchus, kingship. The Gemara (Gittin 62a) states that the true kings are the Torah scholars. For one to achieve a level of kingship he must be exemplary in the attribute of chesed. Thus, one must “search” himself during these days to filter out all the impurities within him.
Sefiras HaOmer is when we count towards Shavuos and when we count away from our impurities
We can now understand why we count the days from the Omer, and why we count specifically during the mourning period over the passing of Rabbi Akiva’s students. We are counting towards Shavuos, but even more significantly, we are counting the days until we can finally rid ourselves of the impurities that exist within our character. Thus, we can interpret the word matmonim to mean counting away from the mem and the tes, which spell out the two essential letters of the word tamei , impurity.
The Shabbos connection
Every week we have the ability to count the days of the week until we arrive at Shabbos. The weekday certainly has its share of impurities, both from the outside world and within us. Nonetheless, by preparing properly for the Holy Shabbos, we can always anticipate that we will arrive at Shabbos in a state of purity, when all harsh judgments depart and we can bask in the Kingship of HaShem. Hashem should allow us to count these days and they should culminate in joy, brotherhood, and a true purification of our hearts.
Shabbos Stories
The Shpoler Zeide (Rebbe Aryeh Leib, the Grandfather of Shpola) had a servant named Chelovno who told this story:
He once saw a man with a terrible skin disease that covered him from head to foot enter the Rebbe’s room with a petition-note. This man stayed with the Rebbe for a while and when he left, Chelovno said he saw that he was normal, without a trace of the skin disease!
After this, Chelovno brought a cup of coffee in for the Rebbe and was astonished to see that the Rebbe’s whole body was covered with the skin disease! “What happened here?’ yelled Chelovno. “Why did the Rebbe do this?”
The Rebbe, however, did not respond.
Later, Chelovno went in again and saw that the disease had completely disappeared from the Rebbe’s body, and asked the Rebbe to tell him what this was all about.
The Rebbe said, “When that man first came to me, I didn’t have any way to cure him. So I had to take the disease on myself; and he was healed. Afterward, I pleaded before God, blessed be He, ‘What have I done that I should be afflicted with this skin disease?’ Then, they healed me too!” (MiBeer Hatzaddikim, vol. 2, p. 45)
Rabbi Mordechai Kaamenetzky writes: Rabbi Paysach Krohn loves to tell the beautifully haunting story of the woman who left Rusk Institute with her child who was in a wheelchair. It was a wintry day and the chill that pervaded the young boy’s fragile bones declared its chilling presence with the icy frosting it left on the exposed metal of his wheelchair.
Waiting at the bus stop on the corner of 34th and 2nd Avenue, three large city busses whizzed by, unable to accommodate the mother and the child and his special chair. It was only after a half-hour wait that the mother flagged down a bus and insisted to the driver that he allow them to board.
As the poor woman struggled to lift the wheelchair into the narrowly impatient doors that waited to slam like the jaws of a tiger, the driver shouted at her, “Lady you'll have to wait for a bus with a lift! I gotta go!”
Immediately a few passengers jumped to her defense! “It’s freezing out there. We will wait!”
Embarrassed into submission, the driver acquiesced. As the mother and child settled in their place on the bus, one said to her, “Your child is not handicapped. It only seems that way. In truth it is the driver that has a handicapped mind!” [Reprinted with permission from www.Torah.org]
Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim
Parashas Tazria-Metzora 5769
I will be giving a class in Navi on Shabbos afternoon at Beis Haknesses HaGra 14561 Lincoln in Oak Park, an hour before Mincha
Have a wonderful and delightful Shabbos and a Good Chodesh
Prepared by Rabbi Binyomin Adler.
For sponsorships please call
248-506-0363.
To subscribe weekly by email
Please send email to ShabbosTaamHachaim@gmail.com
View Shabbos: Ta’am HaChaim
and other Divrei Torah on www.doreishtov.blogspot.com