The 'leper' who 'saw from there' - and Operation Defensive Shield
The Parasha in our everyday life - Metzora - 5782
In memory of my dear brother, Sgt. Meir Shenvald HY"D who fell on the 9th of Nisan 5755
Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald - Rosh Yeshivat Hesder 'Meir Harel' Modi'in
Human society is a necessary framework for human existence, but it is not without complexities. Humans need societies to exist. Yet human beings are very different from each other, and as a result the interpersonal interactions and relations within human society cause friction, tension, competition, envy, and even rivalry and hatred. Interpersonal interactions occupy a significant share of human discourse. People talk about each other, get interested, identify, but often also judge each other, analyze, gossip, and even enjoy telling bad things about each other, and slander, thereby damaging the social system to which they belong.
Human society creates a common social system that influences the mood of the individual.
דרך ברייתו של אדם להיות נמשך בדעותיו ובמעשיו אחר ריעיו וחביריו ונוהג כמנהג אנשי מדינתו
"It is a natural tendency of man to be influenced in his ideas and conduct by his fellows and associates, and to follow the usage of the people of his state." (Mishneh Torah Human Dispositions 6:1)
There is a blessing in this. However, the more cohesive society is, the more it may lead to the unification of opinions, and the 'captivity' of a wrong opinion without the ability to be free from its shackles, and to delegitimization to those who dare challenge it, as he who dares, is expected to be differentiated and expelled from the society as a 'leper'! Sometimes only those who are not part of that society, and come from outside, can recognize its mistakes, without fear. "What you see from here, you don't see from there!"
Parashat Metzora deals with this human complexity, its failures, and ways to correct it.
זֹ֤את תִּֽהְיֶה֙ תּוֹרַ֣ת הַמְּצֹרָ֔ע...
"This shall be the ritual for a leper" (Vayikra 14:2)
תּוֹרַת הַמּוֹצִיא שֵׁם רָע.
"This shall be the law for a leper (metsora)" - the law of the one that gives out a bad name (motsee shem) [to another]. (Vayikra Rabbah 16:2)
ד"א מות וחיים ביד לשון ואוהביה יאכל פריה' - אל תאמר הואיל ונתנה לי רשות לדבר הרי אני מדבר כל מה שאני מבקש, הרי כבר הזהירה התורה אותך נצור לשונך מרע [ושפתיך מדבר מרמה] (תהלים לד יד), שמא תאמר שאתה מחסר, אין אתה אלא משתכר, ורוח הקדש מצווחת שומר פיו ולשונו שומר מצרות נפשו (משלי כא כג), אל תהי קורא כן, אלא שומר מצרעת נפשו.
Defamation causes leprosy, but it has a general principle in relation to interpersonal discourse:
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge it shall eat the fruit thereof (Prov. 18:21). Do not say: Since I have a license to speak, I am therefore speaking whatever I want. See, the Torah has already enlightened you (in Ps. 34:14 [13]): Keep your tongue from evil [and your lips from speaking deceit]. Perhaps you will say that you are suffering a loss. Are you not profiting instead? So, the Holy Spirit proclaims (in Prov. 21:23): The one who guards his mouth, and his tongue guards his soul from trouble (tsarot). Do not read this. Instead < read >, "Guards his soul from leprosy (tsar'at)." (Midrash Tanchuma Buber Metzora 4).
The punishment and amendment ways for the leprous are also related to the correction of the damage to the society's interrelationships:
"וְהַצָּרוּעַ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ הַנֶּגַע בְּגָדָיו יִהְיוּ פְרֻמִים וְרֹאשׁוֹ יִהְיֶה פָרוּעַ וְעַל שָׂפָם יַעְטֶה וְטָמֵא טָמֵא יִקְרָא. כָּל יְמֵי אֲשֶׁר הַנֶּגַע בּוֹ יִטְמָא טָמֵא הוּא בָּדָד יֵשֵׁב מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה מוֹשָׁבוֹ"
"As for the person with a leprous affection: the clothes shall be rent, the head shall be left bare, and the upper lip shall be covered over; and that person shall call out, “Impure! Impure!” The person shall be impure as long as the disease is present. Being impure, that person shall dwell apart—in a dwelling outside the camp." (Vayikra 13:45)
מה נשתנה מצורע שאמרה תורה (ויקרא יג, מו) בדד ישב מחוץ למחנה מושבו הוא הבדיל בין איש לאשתו בין איש לרעהו לפיכך אמרה תורה בדד ישב וגו'
"What is different and notable about a leper, that the Torah states: “He shall dwell alone; outside of the camp shall be his dwelling” (Vayikra 13:46)? He replied: By speaking malicious speech he separated between husband and wife and between one person and another; therefore he is punished with leprosy, and the Torah says: “He shall dwell alone; outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.” (Arakhin 16b)
And shall call out, “Impure! Impure!" He should warn them to stay away from him, lest they get too close to him.
ינהג מנהג אבילות, שהוא כמנודה לשמים, שפרשו מעליו אשתו ובניו, וטמא טמא יקרא, שירחיקו ממנו"
"He will practice the customs of mourning, whose wife and sons have left him, and will be called an impure impure person, to stay away from him" (Bekhor Shor Vayikra 13:45)
Anyone who has harmed the social system and the interaction between a man and his friend, differentiated, quarreled, and separated, as well as between a man and his wife, is doomed to be separated and isolated from society and to be excommunicated, and this is also his correction.
The Haftarah completes the picture. The famous event of the four lepers during Aram's siege of Samaria and the heavy famine in the city (II Kings 7). Elisha's miraculous prophecy that the next day the siege would stop at once and have plenty of food. It was there that the lepers, who had been ostracized and separated from society, and sat at the city gate, discovered the unexpected and unimaginable wonder that the Aramaeans had fled and left behind plenty of food. It is they, who are not part of the city, who preached to the people of the city the good news of the miracle of salvation.
These days we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Operation Defensive Shield, the operation that caused the eradication of terrorism in Judea and Samaria. A war that claimed way too many lives, including my dear brother Sgt. Meir Shenvald who fell in Gush Katif, HY"D.
In Operation Defensive Shield, we re-conquered over the cities handed over in The Oslo Accords, our brigade participated in taking over the city of Nablus.
The Oslo process was conducted at the time while trying to unite the opinions of the public in its favor, completely ignoring its dangers, and creating a delegitimization of its opponents and appellants. Of those who clearly foresaw its dangers, and unfortunately all their gloomy predictions came true.
During these days we are amid a wave of terrorism, which to some extent is related to an outbreak that took place in the 'Operation Guardian of the Walls' about a year ago. There were also those who tried to blur the real motives of the outbreak, in contrast to those who challenged it.
We are hoping and praying for some sobriety that will bring about the right answer to this wave.