by rabbi judah dardik
Tazria-Metzora 5767
Leviticus 12:1-15:33
II Kings 7:3-7:20
If you thought Passover was a challenge, wait until you see the expectations of this week’s Torah reading. Among the primary subjects is the response to becoming a “metzora” (one who is afflicted with a skin malady by the name of “tzara’at,” often mistranslated as “leprosy” but clearly not the same as the bacterial Hansen’s disease known by that name today). The Talmud in Tractate Erchin page 15B says that the word “metzora” is a contraction of the phrase “motzi shem ra” (“one who slanders”) and identifies destructive speech about others as a leading cause of this ailment.
What we are then talking about is a physical manifestation of a spiritual illness. People who spoke ill of others were exposed by HaShem through the onset of tzara’at on their skin or clothing or houses and had to leave the camp for a number of days.
This gave them a chance to think over how they referred to others in conversation.
More to the point, the Torah makes clear that even one whose skin shows signs of this malady does not yet have the status of being a metzora, nor do they have to leave the camp until a kohen (priest) declares it to be tzara’at.
The first Mishnah in the third chapter of Tractate Negaim explains that the role of the kohen was not simply to diagnose an existing condition. Rather, it is the words of the priest that create that status. A verbal declaration creates this reality — a lesson to the one who had spoken that words used to characterize others are not harmless but rather do change and impact their lives.
The categorizations of Jewish law take the vision a step further. When confronted with the suggestion (either internal or from a listener) that one is gossiping, the first response of many people is, “But it’s true!” In fact, it has to be true to qualify as lashon hara (gossip), because any admixture of fiction or falsehood renders the story to be motzi shem ra (slander) instead.
Our tradition eschews negative assessments and storytelling about others, whether they are embellished or even if they are true.
The challenge represented by the Jewish ethics of speech is probably becoming clearer by now, and Passover is looking quite a bit easier to navigate by comparison. Cleaning house, giving up bread for a week and making a wonderful seder evening or two doesn’t take as much work as avoiding discussion about others.
The Talmud (Bava Batra 164B) suggests that despite all the wonderful and righteous people in the world, no one gets through life without at least some degree of stumbling on this one.
The situation gets substantially more tricky as one considers the real-life situations that arise in families, places of work and communities. It is easy to recognize juicy gossip told for salacious purposes. But what about warning someone of the ill intent of another, or trying to talk to a friend when you think they are making a poor relationship decision?
What about cautioning someone you care about from entering a business relationship when they don’t realize whom they are dealing with? What if you just need to talk over a situation that involves others with a friend to get some guidance? The list goes on and on, and life is not so black and white.
Jewish tradition has a guiding principle here as well. While the full exposition and detail are beyond the scope of a column, it is worth noting the concept. In the Torah’s vision, the name of the game is “constructivity.” Is this conversation happening for constructive purposes? Am I sharing this to protect and help the listener, or to get back at the subject? If I see that my point has been heard or isn’t applicable, will I let it go now? Am I here to help the other person, or forward my own agenda?
Daunting indeed — it is tempting to feel fortunate that we don’t have this system today. But in truth, aren’t we worse off, since there is little to curb our verbal excess and mistakes? Imagine a world in which other people only were mentioned in conversation for constructive purposes.
It would be a very different world indeed.
Rabbi Judah Dardik is the spiritual leader at Oakland’s Beth Jacob. He can be reached at rabbi@bethjacoboakland.org .
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California