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FROM THE TORAH
Leviticus 12:1-13:59
In the preceding Sedra Shemini, the Eternal charges Moses and Aaron with rules to teach the Children of Israel: how to distinguish between the sacred and the common, the pure and the impure, the “clean” and “unclean,” what is permitted and what is forbidden, the authorized and the spurious, in the central sanctuary and in the smaller “sanctuaries” that constitute life throughout the camp. In this week’s Sedra of Tazria these distinctions are continued, as they relate to the essential mysteries of the body and environment in health and disease. Determination of infection is supervised by the Kohen.
Birth
PURITIES OF CHILDBIRTH
12:1-8
The Eternal charges Moses to impart to the Children of Israel that when a woman bears (Tazria) a male child, she shall be impure for seven days, like the period of isolation for her menstrual indisposition (cf. Leviticus 15:19ff.). On the eighth day (cf. Leviticus 9:1; 14:9) the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. For thirty-three days she continues in blood purification: she may not touch any holy thing nor enter the Sanctuary until the completion of her purification days. If she bears a female child, then she shall be impure for two weeks as during the period of her isolation, and for sixty-six days she continues in a state of blood purification.
At the completion of her purification days, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a dove or turtledove for a sin offering to the Kohen at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The Kohen shall offer it before the Eternal and seek propitiation for her that she may be purified from the flow of her blood. If her means do not suffice for a sheep, then she shall take two turtledoves or two doves, one for the burnt offering and one for the sin offering.
Detection of Tsara’at
TSARA’AT OF PERSONS
Basic Protocol
13:1-8
The Eternal speaks to Moses and to Aaron as follows:
If a person should have in his skin a swelling or an eruption or a bright spot such that it becomes a tsara’at-like affection in his skin, he should be brought to Aaron the Kohen or one of his sons the Kohanim to be examined. If the Kohen observes that the hair of the affected spot has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than his skin, it is the affliction of tsara’at, and the Kohen who examines him shall declare him impure.
If, however, the bright spot is white while the aforementioned symptoms are not present, the Kohen shall isolate the affection for seven days. If, after examining him on the seventh day, the Kohen observes no change, he shall isolate him for another seven days. If, upon examining him on the following seventh day, the affection has faded and not spread, the Kohen shall declare him pure, it is a benign rash, he shall wash his clothes and be pure. But if, thereafter, the affection has spread on the skin, it should be shown again to the Kohen. If the Kohen confirms that the rash has spread, he shall declare him impure, as it is tsara’at.
Chronic Affection
13:9-11
If, notwithstanding the symptom of whitened hair in a white swelling of the skin, there is also some healthy flesh in the swelling, it is chronic tsara’at and the Kohen shall declare him impure without isolating him, as he is known to be impure without isolation.
Entire Body
13:12-17
If the tsara’at should so erupt in his skin that it covers his entire body, the Kohen shall declare the affected person pure, as he has turned all white. But at such time as healthy flesh appears in it, the Kohen shall declare him impure, it is tsara’at. If the healthy flesh again turns white, he shall be examined by the Kohen, who upon confirmation shall declare him pure.
Inflammation
13:18-23
If he should have an inflammation in his skin which subsequently heals, but there then appears in the place that was inflamed a white swelling or a white bright spot streaked with red, he shall show it to the Kohen. If the Kohen observes that it appears to be lower than the rest of the skin and that its hair has turned white, the Kohen shall declare him impure. It is a tsara’at affliction that has broken out in the inflammation. But if the Kohen does not observe the two symptoms and it is faded, the Kohen shall isolate him for seven days. If it should spread in the skin, the Kohen shall declare him impure; it is an affliction. If the bright spot does not spread, it is the scar of the inflammation, and the Kohen shall declare him pure.
Burns
13:24-28
If there is a spot in his skin that was burned with fire, and the burned spot is bright, white streaked with red, or white, and the Kohen sees that the hair in the bright spot turned white and it appears to be below the other skin, it is tsara’at broken out in the burn, and the Kohen shall declare him impure. But if the Kohen does not observe the two symptoms and it is faded, the Kohen shall isolate him for seven days. The Kohen shall examine him on the seventh day: if it has spread in the skin, the Kohen shall declare him impure. It is the affliction of tsara’at. But if the bright spot does not spread in the skin and is faded, it is swelling from the burn, and the Kohen shall declare him pure, because it is the scar of the burn.
Head or Beard
13:29-37
If a man or a woman should have an affection on the head or in the beard, the Kohen shall examine it. If it appears to be deeper than the rest of the skin and there is thin yellow hair in it, the Kohen shall declare him impure; it is netek, tsara’at of the head or the beard. But if the netek affection does not appear to be deeper than the rest of the skin, yet there is no black hair in it, the Kohen shall isolate the netek affection for seven days. If, upon examination on the seventh day, the Kohen sees that the netek has not spread and does not have yellow hair in it and does not appear to be deeper than the rest of the skin, the subject shall shave himself but not the netek, and the Kohen shall isolate the netek for another seven days. On the following seventh day, if the Kohen sees that the netek has not spread in the skin and its appearance is not deeper than the rest of the skin, the Kohen shall declare him pure. He shall wash his clothes and be pure. But if, after his purification, the netek spreads in the skin and the Kohen sees it, the Kohen need not look for yellow hair; he is impure. If he sees that the netek has remained unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the netek is healed, he is pure, and the Kohen shall declare him pure.
Benign Affection
13:38-39
If a man or woman has many bright spots throughout their skin, the Kohen shall examine them. If he finds the whiteness to be dull, then a benign bohack has broken out in the skin and the subject is pure.
Baldness
13:40-44
A man who loses the hair of his head is bald; he is pure. A man who loses the hair of his head from the corner of his face is bald of forehead; he is pure. But if there should be in either of those baldnesses a white affection streaked with red, a tsara’at-like eruption, and the Kohen should see an affected swelling, white streaked with red, in his head baldness or in his forehead baldness, of the appearance of tsara’at in the skin, the man is afflicted with tsara’at, he is impure; the Kohen shall declare him impure. The affliction is upon his head.
Public Signs and Isolation
13:45-46
The clothes of one afflicted with tsara’at shall be rent, his head shall be bare, and his moustache shall be covered. “Impure! Impure!” shall be proclaimed. He shall be considered impure as long as the affliction is upon him. He shall dwell apart, outside of the camp.
TSARA’AT OF GARMENTS
13:47-59
If there is a tsara’at-like affection in a garment of wool or linen, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in a skin or anything made of skin, streaked with green or streaked with red, it should be shown to the Kohen, who, upon seeing the affection, should isolate it for seven days. If, on the seventh day, the Kohen sees that the affection has spread in the cloth or skin, it is a malignant tsara’at; it is impure. It shall be burned in fire.
If the Kohen sees that the affection has not spread, he shall order that the affected cloth or skin be washed and isolate it for another seven days. If, after the item has been washed, the Kohen sees that the affection has not changed color and has not spread, it is impure. It shall be burned in fire. It is altogether a pechetet. But if he sees that the affection has faded, he shall tear it out of the cloth or skin. Then, if the affection occurs again in the item, the affection is eruptive, and the item shall be burned in fire. On the other hand, if the affection has disappeared, the item shall be washed again and be pure.
FROM THE PROPHETS
For the first time in 21 years, many synagogue-goers will hear the Haftarah of Shabbat Tazria. For those born after 3 Nisan 5763 it will be the first time in their life. This is because the Haftarah associated exclusively with Sedra Tazria is often the object of a total eclipse by its frequent pairing with Sedra Metsora, when the Haftarah of Metsora preempts, or by the Haftarah of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh or of Shabbat Hachodesh. The next interval will only be until 5787.
Haftarah for Shabbat Tazria
II Kings 4:42-5:19
Herein is presented the comparison and contrast of two great persons of the late 9th century B.C.E. Elisha, “man of God,” is the disciple of the Prophet Elijah (cf. II Kings 2:1-15). Naaman is captain of the army of the King of Aram (cf. II Kings 5:1).
Elisha directs a gift to the people
4:42-44
During the famine (cf. II Kings 4:28) a man brings from Baal Shalisha to the man of God twenty loaves of bread from the first barley harvest along with fresh ears of corn. When Elisha directs the gift to be given to the people to eat, his servant objects: How can I set out this limited amount to feed a hundred people?! “Give it to the people to eat,” he insists, “as the Eternal has said: Give it to them to eat and have some left over!” So does he set it out to them, and they eat, and there is some left over.
Naaman accepts a cure through Elisha
5:1-19
Naaman was of great status before the king of Aram, as he had led the king’s army to victory. He was a mighty hero who also suffered from tsara’at (cf. Leviticus 13:1ff.). His wife’s servant, a young captive girl from the Land of Israel, beseeches her mistress to urge her husband to seek his cure from “the Prophet in Samaria.”
Naaman is granted leave from his king, who gives him a letter of introduction for the king of Israel. So Naaman proceeds to the king of Israel, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten different suites of raiment. The letter reads: “I am sending you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his tsara’at.” When the king of Israel reads these words, he becomes alarmed, to the point of rending his garments, thinking, “Am I God, with the power of life and death, that this king is challenging me to cure his servant of his tsara’at? Surely he is seeking a cause against me!”
When Elisha hears this, he offers through the king of Israel to receive Naaman, “that he may know that there is a Prophet in Israel!” Naaman arrives thereupon at Elisha’s door with his horses and chariot. Through his own messenger Elisha advises Naaman: Go bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your skin will return to normal, and you will be pure.
This advice angers Naaman. He had expected Elisha to come out, call upon the Name of the Eternal his God, wave his hand at the spot, and thereby cure him. Moreover, he complains, the rivers of Damascus, the Amanah and the Pharpar, are better than all of the waters of Israel: I should be able to bathe in them and be pure! So Naaman turns around and leaves.
But his servants argue before him: If the Prophet had asked you to do something more elaborate, would you not have complied (in order to find relief from your affliction)? Why not, then, become pure by simply bathing! So Naaman reconsiders and follows their advice, wherepon his flesh becomes as pure as that of a young child. Then Naaman and all of his entourage proceed to the man of God, with Naaman declaring: Now I know that the God of Israel is the only God in the entire world! Please accept a gift from your servant. Elisha responds explicitly that he would not accept a gift, even after a second request by Naaman.
Thereupon Naaman, for his part, requests a favor: two mule-loads of earth (to bring home from the Land of Israel) because he will never again offer a burnt offering or a sacrifice to any god (of foreign soil) but only to the Eternal. He further asks in advance that the Eternal forgive him when he accompanies his master to the Temple of the idol Rimmon and is forced to bow down to it in support of his idolatrous master—to which Elisha answers, “Do what you have to do for the sake of peace.”
FROM TALMUD AND MIDRASH
Leviticus Rabbah 14:1
The Place of Man
First:
“This (which precedes) is the Torah (Instruction)
for beasts and birds and every living creature
that moves in the water and swarms upon the earth,
to distinguish between what may be eaten
and what may not be eaten.”
(Leviticus 11:46-47, end of preceding Sedra Shemini)
Then:
“If a woman conceives and bears a child,
male…or female…son or daughter…
this is the Torah for her who has given birth
to a male or to a female.”
(Leviticus 12:1-7, beginning of present Sedra Tazria)
Said Rabbi Simlai: Just as the creation of humans (Genesis 1:26-27) came after the creation of animals (Genesis 1:20-25), so does the Torah of humans (Leviticus 12:1-7) follow the Torah of animals (Leviticus 11:46-47).
“A Psalm of David:
Eternal One, You have searched me
so that You know me…
You beset me [tsartanee]
behind [achor] and before [kedem],
and You place Your hand upon me.”
(Psalms 139:1-5)
Rabbi Yochanan interpreted:
“You uphold me [n’tsartanee]
preceding [achor] and future [kedem];
otherwise You place Your hand upon me!”
If a person is virtuous,
he inherits two worlds:
this world (the preceding) and the world to come (the future);
but if not,
he will have to give a full accounting of his deeds before the Eternal
and risk God’s hand upon him!
Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman interpreted:
“You formed me [y’tsartanee]
behind [achor] and before [kedem]…”
When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first person,
He made it androgynous (with both components combined)!
Resh Lakish interpreted:
“You formed me [y’tsartanee]
behind [achor] and in front [kedem],
and You placed Your hand upon me.”
When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first person,
He made it with two faces (one on each side, behind and in front),
then He sawed it in half to produce two humans:
one male and one female!
Rabbi Elazar interpreted:
“You created me [y’tsartanee]
after [achor] and before [kedem]…”
Man was created after the other creations since the first day (Genesis 1:1-25)
and before the other creations on the last (sixth) day of creation,
wherein God called for the earth to produce,
“every kind of living creature, cattle, moving things and wild beasts”
(Genesis 1:24),
“living creature” necessarily referring to Man,
who then preceded “cattle, moving things and wild beasts!”
Resh Lakish interpreted:
“You created me [y’tsartanee]
after [achor] and before [kedem]…”
Man was created after [achor], that is, on the last (sixth) day of creation,
and
Man was created before [kedem], that is, on the first day of creation,
wherein “the spirit of God hovered” (Genesis 1:2) over the human King Messiah (cf. Isaiah 11:2)!
If a person is virtuous, it may be said to him:
You, a person, like the Messiah, preceded all of the work of creation;
but if a person is not virtuous, it may be said to him:
The mosquito preceded you, even a worm preceded you!
Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Tanchum interpreted:
“You beset me [tsartanee]
as last [achor]” of all the works of creation
and
“as first [kedem]” of all to be punished in the Flood,
as “every being was destroyed, from man to beast…” (Genesis 7:23)!
Rabbi Yochanan added:
Even the praise of Man for the Holy One, blessed be He,
comes after praise by beasts:
“Praise the Eternal from the heavens…
praise the Eternal from the earth,
you crocodiles, and all deeps…
beasts, and all cattle,
creeping things and winged birds,”
and only after them,
“kings of the earth and all peoples!”
(Psalms 148:1-10)
Leviticus Rabbah 15:4
Have no fear!
“Judgments are issued against scorners,
and flogging is for the back of fools.”
(Proverbs 19:29)
The laws of tsara’at are promulgated against transgressors…
It is common in the world that one riding upon a donkey may strike it for its disobedience and also even when it is not disobedient. But with respect to the laws of tsara’at, the judgments and the punishments are executed against transgressors alone.
This may be likened to one who visits the king in his palace and is terrified when she sees various instruments of torture. “Have no fear,” says the king; “those are used against my slaves, but you have come to eat and drink and be happy!” Thus, when Israel heard the laws of tsara’at, they were frightened. Moses reassured them, “Have no fear; these laws appertain to the other nations, but you are destined to eat, drink and be happy, as was said, ‘If a person should have in his skin…’ (Leviticus 13:2), not ‘If a person among you should have….’”
“Many are the pains of the wicked,
but the one who trusts in the Eternal—
lovingkindness will surround him!”
(Psalms 32:10)
Rabbi and Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosi were studying the Megillah of Lamentations on the Eve of Tisha B’av which was also Erev Shabbat. They had to stop in honor of the Sabbath and decided to resume their study the following Sabbath afternoon where they had left off, at the verse, “Our very breath, the anointed of the Eternal, was captured in their pits, under whose shadow we determined to live among the nations” (Lamentations 4:20). On his way home Rabbi suffered a minor injury and ascribed to himself the verse, “Many are the pains of the wicked” (Psalms 32:10).
Rabbi Ishmael son of Rabbi Yosi said to Rabbi: Even if we were not planning to study that verse (cf. Lamentations ibid.), you could have ascribed it to yourself (Margoliot: “This happened to you, Rabbi, because of our sins,” as the righteous suffer for the sin of the generation, for thus is written, “Our very breath, the anointed of the Eternal, is captured because of the pits (the sins) of his generation”!), and now that we are planning to study that verse, how much the more so!
But Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Tanchum of Bozrah in the name of Rabbi Jeremiah parsed the same verse:
“Many are the pains,
but the wicked one who trusts in the Eternal—
lovingkindness will surround him!”
Even the wicked, if he repents—the Holy One, blessed be He, will accept him!
Leviticus Rabbah 15:5
The Sins of the Parents…
Before the laws of tsara’at, in our Sedra we find, “When a woman bears a male child…” (Leviticus 12:2), then the laws of tsara’at begin: “If a person should have in his skin a swelling…” (Leviticus 13:2). Why does woman’s bearing a child lead into the laws of tsara’at?
Rabbi Tanchum son of Rabbi Chanilai taught: We may learn the answer from the allegory of a she-ass who was injured and was then cauterized: her son came out with a flame mark. Who caused the foetus to come out with a flame mark? The fact that the mother was cauterized! Likewise, who caused the human foetus to be afflicted with tsara’at? His mother when she did not attend to the days of her impurity!
Rabbi Avin taught a similar lesson but implicitly with respect to both parents: It may be compared to an herb garden with a fountain in it. As long as the fountain flows, it produces mildew. Likewise, whoever goes near his wife when she is impure makes children with the skin affections of tsara’at! On this Rabbi Avin cited: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Jeremiah 31:28)! and the children may cite concerning their parents: “Our parents sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7)!
Leviticus Rabbah 15:6-7
The Blessing of the Giver
“When a woman bears a child, at the completion of her purification days…
if her means do not suffice for the prescribed offering of a sheep,
then she shall take two turtledoves or two doves…
—by all means she should bring the offering to the Kohen!”
(Leviticus 12:1-8)
Why, then, does there follow immediately:
“If a person should have…a tsara’at-like affection in his skin,
he should be brought to Aaron the Kohen…”
(Leviticus 13:1-2)
The Holy One, blessed be He, is teaching us (by this juxtaposition)—
I first said to you: Bring the offering of childbirth to the Kohen;
and if you do not bring it, then I shall make you appear before the Kohen
by reason of the tsara’at-like affection!
Similarly, the Eternal instructed Moses:
“Whatever holies the Children of Israel bring to the Kohen shall be his ;
whatever a person gives to the Kohen shall be his!”
(Numbers 5:9-10)
–and then immediately following He says:
“Any man whose wife goes astray…”
(Numbers 5:11ff.)
The Holy One, blessed be He, is teaching us (by this juxtaposition)—
I have said to you: Bring your gift to the Kohen;
and if you do not,
then I shall make you appear with your wife before the Kohen
by reason of your suspicion of adultery!
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish explained this
in reference to the Eternal’s repetition:
“Whatever holies the Children of Israel bring to the Kohen shall be his”—
shall belong to that particular Kohen;
“whatever a person gives to the Kohen shall be his”—
shall redound to him (the giver) as a blessing!
(Numbers 5:9-10)
Thus does Rabbi Levi teach:
Blessings bless those who bless, and curses curse those who curse—
“Whole and honest weights and measures shall there be for you” (Deuteronomy 25:15):
Why add the words “for you?”
If you have “whole and honest weights and measures,”
then property to buy and sell shall there be “for you!”
“There shall not be for you differing weights and measures…”
(Deuternomy 25:13-14):
Why add the words “for you?”
If you have “differing weights and measures,”
then your property will dwindle until there shall not be anything “for you,”
anything for you to buy or sell!
Rabbi Yochanan interpreted the mitzvah of challah, a loaf of dough set aside for the Eternal (Numbers 15:17-21), to be followed immediately by the Eternal’s warning against idolatry—
“If you go astray and fail to perform any of these commandments…”
(Numbers 15:22ff.)
—teaching us thereby that whoever upholds the commandment of challah, it is as if he is stamping out the sin of idolatry, and whoever foregoes the commandment of challah, failing to set aside the gift due to the Eternal, he has ignored his God and thereby perpetrated the sin of idolatry. How is that? Like the merchant who deceives with dishonest weights and measures, he will eventually have nothing left to buy or sell, as the Eternal charged Moses to say to the Children of Israel:
“You shall not make with Me gods of silver,
and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.”
(Exodus 20:20)
Interpret:
“You shall not make with Me gods of silver or gods of gold”—
and if you do—“you shall not (be able to) make (anything) for yourselves!”
If he does, he will not have enough left to make even idols of wood or stone, whereas “challah” or “whatever a person gives to the Kohen shall be his”—shall redound to him (the giver) as a blessing (Numbers 5:10)!
Leviticus Rabbah 15:8,9
The Ultimate Purifier
“If a person should have in his skin a swelling
or an eruption or a bright spot
such that it becomes a tsara’at-like affection in his skin,
he should be brought to Aaron the Kohen
or one of his sons the Kohanim to be examined…”
(Leviticus 13:2-3)
A person can recognize all afflictions except for his own. Rabbi Meir adds: Also except for his relatives’.
So who examined the afflicted areas of Miriam when she was punished with tsara’at (cf. Numbers 12:1-15)? If you say Moses, he was not a Kohen! If you say Aaron, he was a relative! Said the Holy One, blessed be He: I am the Kohen; I isolate her, and I purify her! That is what is meant by the words, “And the people did not continue on their journey until Miriam was readmitted” (Numbers 12:15). How could that be, when, “At the command of the Eternal, the Children of Israel would journey; and at the command of the Eternal, they would encamp” (Numbers 9:18)? The people was bound to the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence waited for her!
Said Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Chama son of Rabbi Chaninah: Moses was quite distressed over this commandment. Does it befit the honor of Aaron my brother, he thought, to examine skin affections for tsara’at? The Holy One, blessed be He, responded: Don’t you think that he is well compensated from the twenty-four different gifts to which the Kohanim are entitled (e.g. first fruits: cf. Deuteronomy 26:1-10)? This is expressed in a proverb: If you enjoy the palm’s heart, expect to be struck by its stick!
In this world the Kohen examines for spots of tsara’at, but in the world to come, says the Holy One, blessed be He: I shall purify you! This is what is written: “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be pure…” (Ezekiel 36:25).
Numbers Rabbah 7:5
Big Naaman
“Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram,
was a big [gadol] man with his master,
and highly esteemed…a mighty hero…”
(II Kings 5:1)
Since we are told that he was “highly esteemed,” in what other way could he have been “big?” He was arrogant: “big” in his own eyes because of his military prowess, and for that reason “he was afflicted with tsara’at” (ibid.). (Arrogance is one of eleven or more reasons that the Rabbis adduce as causes of tsara’at. For some of the others, see below.)
Yalkut Shimoni II Kings 229
Bully Naaman
“Naaman was a mighty hero who also suffered from tsara’at.”
(II Kings 5:1b)
Why did he suffer from tsara’at?
“His wife’s servant, a young captive girl from the Land of Israel…”
(II Kings 5:2)
Because he captured a young girl from the Land of Israel!
And thus do you find it promised for the future:
“This shall be the plague
by which the Eternal will strike all of the peoples…:
Their flesh shall be consumed as they stand on their feet (like tsara’at!),
their eyes shall be consumed in their sockets (like tsara’at!),
and their tongue shall be consumed in their mouth (like tsara’at!).”
(Zechariah 14:12)
For what cause? Because they lorded it over Israel:
“This shall be the plague
by which the Eternal will strike all of the peoples
who fought against Jerusalem…”
(Ibid.)
And indeed you have seen
in what manner the Holy One, blessed be He,
exacted punishment against that wicked nation:
“Announce in Egypt (interpreting as in the past)…
Why are your mighty swept away [nischaf]?
Not one of them remains standing,
because the Eternal has thrown each one down!”
(Jeremiah 46:15)
Interpreting their being swept away [nischaf]
as the affliction of tsara’at:
“And for tsara’at…as a swelling or as an eruption [sapachat]…”
(Leviticus 14:55-56)
Talmud Sanhedrin 107b
The Mixed Career of Gehazi
“Four men afflicted with tsara’at
were sitting at the entrance gate of the city…”
(II Kings 7:3)
What were the four men afflicted with tsara’at doing there?
“One afflicted with tsara’at…shall dwell apart, outside of the camp.”
(Leviticus 13:45-46)
Mishnah Kelim 1:7: Cities surrounded by a wall are held separate from the rest of the Land of Israel in that they are considered as “the camp” (cf. Leviticus 13:46) for purposes of removing those afflicted with tsara’at. (Rav Ovadia of Bartinoro, 15th cent. Italy: When Joshua conquered the Land, he sanctified cities that were then surrounded by a wall to be like the Camp of Israel for that purpose.)
Rabbi Yochanan taught that the four men afflicted with tsara’at
were Gehazi and his three sons.
How did this occur?
The prophet Elisha enabled the cure from tsara’at of Naaman, commander of the Aramean army (cf. II Kings 5:1ff.). Grateful to the man of God, Naaman offered to reward him, but Elisha would take no gift: “As surely as lives the Eternal, before Whom I stand, I shall accept nothing” (II Kings 5:16), and although he continued to offer, he continued to refuse. But after Naaman departed, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, on his own caught up with Naaman and falsely represented to him that Elisha had sent him regarding two of his associates who needed gold and clothing. Naaman was unknowing but generous in responding to Gehazi’s deception, providing him with more than he requested. Gehazi carefully hid what he had extracted from Naaman, but prophetic vision enabled Elisha to perceive what Gehazi had done.
Numbers Rabbah 7:5: Elisha sanctified the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, by not wanting to take anything from Naaman, but Gehazi, who ran after the unsuspecting Aramean and swore falsely that his master had sent him to request money, profaned the very Name of Heaven that Elisha had sanctified!
When Gehazi returned, Elisha saw that tsara’at had broken out upon his head. O wicked one, Elisha responded, “may the tsara’at of Naaman adhere to you and to your offspring forever,” and Gehazi emerged a metsora, as white as snow (II Kings 5:27)!
“Elisha went to Damascus…”
(II Kings 8:7)
For what purpose?
Said Rabbi Yochanan: He went there to convince Gehazi to repent, but he would not repent. Gehazi offered as his reason for not repenting: Thus have I learned from you, that one who sins and causes others to sin, can never repent.
What then was his sin in causing others to sin?
Some say that he suspended a magnetic stone over Jeroboam’s calf idols (cf. I Kings 12:28ff.) between heaven and earth, and some say that he engraved the Divine Name in its mouth, causing the cow to declare, “I am the Eternal your God” and “You shall have no other gods besides Me” (cf. Exodus 20:2-3, first two of the Ten Commandments).
Others note that after Gehazi departed from Elisha (cf. II Kings 5:27), the population of Elisha’s disciples grew so numerous that they had to construct new quarters at the Jordan (cf. II Kings 6:1-4). This suggests that before Gehazi departed, while he was still with Elisha, he was driving disciples away from Elisha!
Our Rabbis taught:
Always let your left hand push them away while your right hand draws them near, not like Elisha, who drove Gehazi away with both hands!
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said that for three things—the evil impulse, a child, and a woman—let your left hand push them away while your right hand draws them close.
Talmud Ketubot 105b-106a
Gifts
“Naaman to Elisha:
Please accept a gift from your servant.
Elisha responds explicitly that he would not accept a gift,
even after a second request by Naaman.”
(II Kings 5:15b-16)
A certain man brought Rabbi Ishmael son of Elisha the priestly gift due him of first fleece (cf. Deuteronomy 18:3-5). “Whence do you hail?” he asked his visitor. “From such-and-such a place,” he answered. “And between such-and-such and here there was no Kohen to whom you could have given it?” “I have a lawsuit that needs to be heard, so I thought that at the same time I would bring my required gift to you!” “I am disqualified from hearing your case,” he said, and he refused to accept his gift of first fleece. While he was arranging for a pair of other Rabbis to hear the man’s case, he thought to himself: If the man wanted, he could plead this way, or if he wanted, alternatively, he could plead that way—Oh, banish the thought of accepting a bribe, for if I, who did not accept the gift, or if I had, it was a priestly gift due me anyway, am upset even thinking about it, how much the moreso would be the despair of one who actually accepted a bribe!
A similar approach was made to Rav Anan, but the attempted gift was a bale of delicate fish, not apparently a priestly due, and Rav Anan, similarly, disqualified himself from hearing the man’s case, and he refused the gift. But then the man asked, “Would the master at least agree not to refuse me the opportunity of offering first fruits (cf. Exodus 23:19), in accordance with the teaching:
“A man brings from Baal Shalisha to the man of God
twenty loaves of bread from the first barley harvest
along with fresh ears of corn…”
(II Kings 4:42)
But was Elisha entitled to those first fruits?
(No, he was not a Kohen!)
Why, then, did he not refuse the gift
as he refused the attempted gifts of Naaman?
All of this is to teach us:
When one brings a gift to a Torah scholar,
it is as if he is fulfilling the offering of first fruits!
What, then, should Rav Anan have done?
Rav Anan accepted the teaching and the man’s gift at face value and sent a message to Rav Nachman, asking him to take over the man’s case “as I, Anan, am disqualified from acting as his judge.” As Anan did not specify the reason for his disqualification, Rav Nachman was free to speculate simply that the litigant was related to Anan and therefore the cause of Anan’s disqualification. He was about to hear a case of relief for orphans but postponed that case out of respect for the relative of a Torah scholar (Anan).
Until all of this happened, Elijah was a regular visitor of Rav Anan, whom he was teaching the esoteric Seder Eliahu. But as soon as all of this happened, Elijah stayed away. Whereupon Rav Anan occupied himself in fasting and praying for divine mercy until Elijah came back. But when he came back, he frightened him, so Rav Anan spent the rest of his learning Seder Eliahu eclipsed in a box.
SHABBAT SHALOM!
Sedra Summary 