Leviticus 12:1–15:33
FALLING UPWARD
In this week's parsha we learn about the diagnosis
and treatment of "tzoraas" (a leprous disease, which one would suffer because of
some moral failing) by a kohen. The kohen might observe a whitish sore on the
person's skin, and, if he diagnosed it as "tzoraas", he would declare the person
"tamei" [inadequately translated as "unclean" or "impure"]. In general, the
whiter the sore, and the larger the area it covered, the more "tamei" the person
would be; but -- and here is a remarkable thing -- once the sore covered the
whole body, the person became "tahor" ["clean", "pure"] again! (Lev. 13:13)
How can we explain this? The Gemara (Sanhedrin 97.) quotes R' Yitzchak as saying that the Messiah will not come until all the governments of the world will have become heretical. His pupil Rabba says: Where did he learn this from? From the above verse. (meaning: everything will be bad before good can come.)
Well, that was not much of an explanation of our original puzzle! If anything, it made it more puzzling.
I cannot claim to give a complete explanation, since the laws of purity and impurity are difficult to understand, but perhaps we can give some clue to the situation.
There is a story in the Gemara (Avoda Zara 17.) about a certain Eliezer ben Durdaya, who visited every house of sin that he could. One day he heard of a prostitute who lived overseas, and was very expensive. He collected the money, and sailed "across seven seas" to visit her. While they were together, she suddenly started to berate him about his lifestyle, saying "Eliezer ben Durdaya, there is no hope of forgiveness for you!" (Many questions arise here: What moved her to admonish him thus? How could she know that there was no hope of forgiveness for him? And who was she to talk? But let us leave these questions aside for now.)
Eliezer, hearing this from her, fled to the countryside. He said to the mountains and valleys: "Pray for mercy for me!" But they responded: "We cannot, we are busy praying for mercy for ourselves." He made the same request of the sun and moon, and the stars, but they gave the same answer. Finally he exclaimed: "I see that my salvation depends on no one but me!" He lowered his head between his knees screamed out with cries of anguish and died. At that moment, a heavenly voice said: "Rabbi Eliezer ben Durdaya, there is a place for you in the world to come."
Continue reading.
How can we explain this? The Gemara (Sanhedrin 97.) quotes R' Yitzchak as saying that the Messiah will not come until all the governments of the world will have become heretical. His pupil Rabba says: Where did he learn this from? From the above verse. (meaning: everything will be bad before good can come.)
Well, that was not much of an explanation of our original puzzle! If anything, it made it more puzzling.
I cannot claim to give a complete explanation, since the laws of purity and impurity are difficult to understand, but perhaps we can give some clue to the situation.
There is a story in the Gemara (Avoda Zara 17.) about a certain Eliezer ben Durdaya, who visited every house of sin that he could. One day he heard of a prostitute who lived overseas, and was very expensive. He collected the money, and sailed "across seven seas" to visit her. While they were together, she suddenly started to berate him about his lifestyle, saying "Eliezer ben Durdaya, there is no hope of forgiveness for you!" (Many questions arise here: What moved her to admonish him thus? How could she know that there was no hope of forgiveness for him? And who was she to talk? But let us leave these questions aside for now.)
Eliezer, hearing this from her, fled to the countryside. He said to the mountains and valleys: "Pray for mercy for me!" But they responded: "We cannot, we are busy praying for mercy for ourselves." He made the same request of the sun and moon, and the stars, but they gave the same answer. Finally he exclaimed: "I see that my salvation depends on no one but me!" He lowered his head between his knees screamed out with cries of anguish and died. At that moment, a heavenly voice said: "Rabbi Eliezer ben Durdaya, there is a place for you in the world to come."
Continue reading.
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