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Surrounded by Mirrors
The city gates
swing open, and a solitary man walks out,
carrying a bundle
of food and personal belonging on his shoulder. The gates swing
shut behind him.
He walks to a
secluded spot,
puts down his things and
sits down to contemplate his
fate in the
solitude of his isolation. As we take a closer
look, we notice
strange skin lesions
that resemble leprosy. Who is this
man, and why has he been banished to sit in isolation outside
the city? And why
does he have lesions
on his skin?
This man is called a metzora. The lesions, called
tzoraas, are not
caused by toxins
or microbes. Rather,
they are a physical manifestation of a spiritual malaise. Our Sages tell us that a person
who gossips and slanders other
people is afflicted with tzoraas, and as we read in this
week’s Torah portion,
he must go into isolation until it fades
away.
Why isolation? the commentators want
to know. Wouldn’t it have been
better for him
to deal with the
problems of his character in the company
of his friends
and loved ones?
Wouldn’t their emotional and moral support
help him overcome his malicious inclinations?
Furthermore, the Torah
states, “Impure, impure,
he shall call out.” What is the significance
of
the repetition of the word
impure? Why wouldn’t once suffice?
The commentators explain
that our attitudes toward other people
are always a reflection of our
own level of spirituality and refinement. We see ourselves in others. People
of good will and magnanimous spirit
will always view
others in the
most favorable light.
They will attribute
only the best motives to the actions
of other people.
Mean-spirited people, on the
other hand, are surrounded by mirrors. They always view
others with suspicion and disdain, and they automatically assume that others
look at them
in the same
negative way.
This is the implicit meaning
of the statement, “Impure, impure,
he shall call
out.” The impure person sees himself
in others and calls out,
“Impure!”
A person afflicted with tzoraas because
he accused other
people of improper behavior is most probably guilty of those
same offenses himself. He knows what
evil things he himself
would do in certain situation and therefore he assumes everyone else would do the same. The company of others
is like poison
to such a person, because
he sees every
person he encounters through
the malignant filter
of his own debased personality and character.
Therefore, the Torah decrees, it is better
that he sit in isolation and contemplate what he
has become. It is better that he face the harsh
reality that he is unworthy of human company. In this way,
he will be perhaps take
stock of himself
and decide to make
fundamental changes.
A man sought the advice of a great sage about a problem he was having
with his son. “How do I improve my relationship with my son? I try to show him how I care about him by giving him many compliments. I compliment his
schoolwork, his behavior at home, his singing, everything. But he always
accuses me of insincerity. ‘You just saying it, but you don’t really mean it,’
he says. What should I do?”
“The problem, my friend,” said the sage,
“is that your
son does not see the good in other
people. Therefore, when
you say you
see good in him, he doesn’t believe
it. Spend more time pointing out to him all the goodness you see in other people.
Once he sees
that, he will believe that others
may see goodness
in him.”
In our own lives, we often encounter people who relish
speaking ill of others. First
of all, we must
not accept slander
at face value.
Most probably, it is a reflection of the deficiencies of the talebearers themselves. And even when
such people victimize us, we should
not react with anger
and retaliation. As long as we maintain
our high standards, as long we do not
stoop to the
level of our
detractors, we can
take comfort in the knowledge that it is not us that
these people are seeing but themselves.
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Children • Torah.org
The Torah is pro-family. It commands people
to marry and have children. This week’s
parsha deals with
the ritual laws
of cleanliness and impurity inherent in giving birth
to a child.
Though the laws
of purity and
impurity have little
consequence in our lives today
due to the absence of the Temple
and its rituals, there are certain
laws regarding childbirth that still retain actuality today. But, I wish to dwell
on the broader
aspect of having
children in this article. One of the main problems facing Jewish society today is demographic. Bluntly put, Jews are not reproducing themselves. In the United States, the statistics regarding Jewish births show that the birth
rate is down to 1.8 – minus
population growth, not just zero population growth. This is attributable to many factors
– a large number of permanent
singles, the declining birthrate that seemingly always
accompanies economic affluence, people marrying later, women
choosing careers over family, etc. Whatever the reasons, the numbers spell disaster for the future of American Jewry. And here in Israel, the birth rate among secular Jews is also spectacularly low. Compounding the problem is the high number of abortions undertaken by Jewish women every year, the numbers of these abortions being measured reportedly in the tens of thousands. There are wonderful organizations here in Israel that are committed to helping women
in desperate straits
give birth to their children instead of resorting to abortion. But in the overall picture
these efforts are usually too little
and too late.
We may be heartened by the fact that in the religious Jewish community there is currently a high birthrate, 7.6 in the Charedi society
and 4.2 in the Dati
society. Eventually, this
will cause a vast
change in the
life, politics and behavior of our country. But for now,
because more than
fifty percent of the Charedi
population and a third of the Dati
population is under the age of eight,
this is not recognizable. It should be apparent that
there could be no
Jewish people if there are not enough Jews to populate the nation and the Land of Israel.
The Jewish people, sixty years after the Holocaust ended still has not made up its losses.
In
fact, it has not even come close. There were nineteen million Jews in the world in 1939. There are barely fourteen million Jews today. The price of Auschwitz, assimilation and intermarriage is very high. A shrinking base of Jewish population will spell the loss of Jewish influence and ideas in the world.
And that would
truly be a tragedy for all concerned.
The Lord told
us in advance that we would not
be a people of great
numbers – “for
you are the smallest of all nations.” Nevertheless, we have an obligation to promote increased Jewish population and numbers. Family, children, generations, these are the values that Jews are judged by. It is our way of guaranteeing that the message of Sinai will continue to be heard in a world
that so desperately needs to hear
it.
Shabat
shalom.
