A Gentle Push
In this week’s Parshah we find an interesting mitzvah. The Torah writes, Take care regarding an affliction of tzaraas, to be most careful and to do according to everything that they shall teach you, the Kohanim the Leviim, as I have commanded them — you shall be careful to do. And immediately afterward it states, Remember what Hashem, your God, did to Miriam etc. Now, we all know what happened to Miriam. She mistakenly said something negative about Moshe Rabbeinu and was afflicted from head to toe. Furthermore, the entire nation did not travel while Miriam was outside the camp. Seemingly, the Torah is telling us that we better be careful not to speak lashon hara, for even the great Miriam was punished so harshly. But this does not seem to fully explain the entire passage. If this was the only intended meaning here, why would the Torah state this warning specifically in the context of tzaraas, with no direct mention of evil speech; and furthermore, this point could have been made in a more concise fashion: “Be careful of tzaraas because of Miriam”, without mentioning listening to the Kohanim at all?
The answer is that the Torah is teaching a different lesson as well. A person may find himself in a machlokes and fall to sin with evil speech. When he sees the tzaraas on his body, he will be terribly embarrassed and think to himself, “I cannot show this to the Kohen! He will pronounce me tamei, and everyone will know that I sinned!” He therefore may attempt to hide the tzaraas, and avoid the problem! Regarding this pitfall, the Torah warns us not do so! Listen to the Kohanim, and follow all that I have commanded them to do, for if you attempt to hide and ignore my message, I will do to you as I have done to Miriam, who was not able to hide her shame! Miriam was afflicted in a way where her symptoms were impossible to ignore. Hashem is warning us here to listen to His message and avoid being exposed in an even more open way.
And the Torah is talking here to us as well. Sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes we have done something that needs to be rectified. Hashem will send us a message, by calling our attention to our shortcomings, urging us to correct them. A person must keep his eyes open for these subtle messages and use them as a springboard for further growth. But if we choose to hide from our flaws and weaknesses, this will serve to halt our growth! Hiding behind an appearance of spiritual perfection and bolstering it with one’s ego will only cause Hashem to send a harsher and more painful message! If the tzaraas wasn’t enough, the next message will be louder and clearer.
Additionally, there is a positive angle to this concept. A person should always be focused on growth in a way that when something small doesn’t go his way, he takes the message to heart. He understands that these things do not happen by coincidence, and that Hashem is demanding something of him. When we live with Hashem in this way, He will not need to send us harsher and more painful messages to spur on our growth.
A Gut Shabbos!
A Project of the YSI Alumni Association
Written by R’ Moshe Weiss