Good News and Bad News

Parshas Tazria Metzorah

Posted on April 26, 2012 (5772) By Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah | Level: Beginner

 

And the person with Tzaraas in whom there is the affliction (as a consequence of gossip) – his garments shall be torn, the hair of his head shall be unshorn, and he shall cloak himself up to his lips; he is to call out, “Contaminated, contaminated!” All the days the affliction is upon him he shall remain contaminated. He shall dwell in isolation; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (Vayikra 13:45-46)

Tzarass is woefully misunderstood. It is seen as an archaic matter, a form of leprosy that for some reason is no longer applicable or relevant. The truth is that Tzarass, according to the sainted Chofetz Chaim was a blessing in disguise. How so?

I went through half a dozen clunker cars until I learned two important words that have served me in good stead. Actually it was not until I bought a more expensive vehicle and realized that I was not comfortable making payments for a car that no longer functioned that I bothered to take the user’s manual out of the glove compartment of the car and discover this two word phrase that has granted longer and healthier life to every one of my automobiles ever since. By the way, those two words are, “Oil change!”

Now, though, the newer cars have something the older ones did not and that is the proverbial, “Amber light!” Once the amber light goes on, or the “check engine” sign on the dashboard it’s time to ask. Without that earlier warning system we are at a real disadvantage. Tzarass was a sort of earlier warning system, an amber-light to alert us that spiritual deficiencies were starting wreak havoc on our system. We operate now at a distinct disadvantage without Tzarass!

There’s an old country folksy phrase that goes like this, “You can hide the fire, but what are you gonna do with all the smoke?!” Tzarass is like smoke bellowing out form the engine of our being, a scent of danger to remind us repair our ways. Although, Tzarass, technically, is no longer active the concept of Tzarass is still very much alive!

Guilt also got a bad rap for similar reasons but it’s also good in a way that needs explanation. Guilt is to the soul what pain is to the body. Although nobody likes to experience pain it can be extremely beneficial. A person without the ability to feel pain would certainly be likely to be missing digits and whole limbs. While making a salad they might realize a little too late that the red in in the bowl is not from tomatoes, pardon me! Both guilt and pain if properly responded to, serve to guide us away from certain damage.

Another signal that helps us figure out what might be wrong is in the arena of raising children. In a class I have been giving for a while called, “The Ten Commandments of Parenting”. The first of the “big ten” is “I am HASHEM your G-d Who took you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage!” The first commandment of parenting is that parents too stand before their children, whether aware or not, and say with their actions, “This is who we are and this is what we do!” It’s no wonder that in the first paragraph is written, “And these words that I command you today you shall place upon your heart and you should teach them to your children.” First they must be on your heart and then to be taught because children read the heart. They have a sincerity meter that’s extremely sensitive! In the second paragraph of “Shema” it says, “And you should teach your children to speak in them (Torah)” and then it continues to tell us how to teach this lesson, “with your sitting in your house, and your- going on your way and the way you go to bed and the way you rise up”. Children are following their primary role models, their parent!

A young lady was asked by a Rabbi at a general lecture, “What is your parents’ greatest source of pleasure?” A broad smile came across her face and she replied, Me!” The Rabbi continued his line of questioning, “What’s your parents’ greatest source of pain?” Now with in a more somber tone she responded, “My sister!” Why are kids both the greatest source of pleasure and the greatest source of pain? I believe we all realize intuitively that they are “us- (mother and father) playing out our real selves on the big screen of life.

Many things are a form of Tzarass, in that they can lead us to make critical adjustment before it’s too late. All of life is a self-portrait and the canvass on which we operate grabs our undivided attention, all too often only when we witness vivid pictures of good news and bad news.

DvarTorah, Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Label Lam and Torah.org.

 

Why Have Children

Parshas Tazria

Posted on April 3, 2019 (5779) By Rabbi Berel Wein | Series: Rabbi Wein | Level: Beginner

 

The opening portion of the Torah reading of this week deals with childbearing. Jewish tradition has to a great extent always been child centered. Bringing children into the world is one of the basic positive commandments of Judaism. Having children demonstrates a belief in the future and an optimistic view of life generally.

Everyone knows that raising children constitutes a great responsibility and enormous sacrifice on the part of parents. Nevertheless, the thrust in Judaism is always to create a family and be privileged to see generations. Seeing grandchildren and certainly great-grandchildren allows one to live, in an imaginative way, even beyond the grave. Judaism is a generational religion. It is not a religion that is self-centered but points to a higher purpose, a nobler life and through generations, it acquires a whiff of eternity.

The rabbis of the Talmud taught us long ago that one should not be deterred from creating a family lest the descendants of that family be people of disappointing behavior and immoral values. Having children and building a family is always risky business. There are no guarantees given even to the most righteous and pious of parents. The biblical narratives of the great men and women of Israel testify to the difficulties of rearing proper generations. Nevertheless, the Torah does not allow us to desist from bringing children into the world and raising families. Creation is a divine attribute and procreation is the basic act of human purpose.

Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein

Tattletaling

Parshas Tazria

Posted on April 4, 2019 (5779) By Joshua Kruger | Series: Parsha Halacha for the Shabbos Table | Level: Intermediate Beginner

 

Once upon a time

Yehudit and Leah were walking home after a hard day at school. For weeks, their class had been trying to behave perfectly, because they were promised a Rosh Chodesh party by their teacher if everyone’s behavior was good. But, on this day, some of the bags of treats set aside for the party, went missing from the teacher’s drawer. No one knew who had taken it and their teacher was quite upset.

“It’s really not fair,” said Yehudit, “we’ve worked so hard this whole month and someone had to ruin it! I’m pretty sure that Mrs. Levy thinks it was Rachel. She seemed to be staring at Rachel while she lectured us about how wrong it is to steal.”

“Actually” said Leah” I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Rachel. I saw the bags of treats in one of the other girl’s school bag and she quickly closed her bag looking very guilty when she saw that the zipper had opened.”

“Omigoodness!” exclaimed Yehudit, “You have to tell the teacher!”

Discussion

Q: What is the connection between our story and the parsha?

A: Parashas Tazria deals with tzara’as, a sickness of the skin that was a punishment for lashon hara.

Q: Is tattletaling allowed?

A: If we are certain that the person did something wrong, and that telling on them will have a positive effect, then lashon hara can be permitted. In our story, for example, telling the teacher may prevent Rachel from being wrongly accused and embarrassed, and will enable the teacher to deal effectively with the situation. However, there are a number of important conditions that must be met (Chafetz Chaim, Klal 10). The following questions deal with some of conditions.

Q: If Leah decides that she will not tell the teacher that she saw the treats in the school bag of their classmate, can Yehudit (assuming Yehudit knows which girl it was)?

A: No. One of the conditions taught by the Chafetz Chaim is that we must be certain that the person actually committed the act. Yehudit did not actually see the treats in the girls school bag. She only heard about it from Leah. She therefore cannot be certain, and cannot tell the teacher about the incident.

Q: If Rachel decides that she should tell the teacher about the girl who had the treats in her bag, then there is something that she should do first. What is it?

A: Where possible, she should try to first discuss the matter with the girl. This will give the girl a chance to confess her crime to the teacher and change her ways with minimal embarrassment. Furthermore, perhaps there was a good reason why the girl had the treats in her bag and she wasn’t actually stealing!

Back to Our Story

Leah asked her father for advice, and they looked up the halacha together. They saw that although it is probably okay for lashon harah to help clear Rachel’s name it was best for Leah to go up to the girl who took the food and to privately convince her to tell the truth to the teacher. This worked well and a week later, the class happily celebrated Rosh Chodesh with treats and with smiles.

(Written by Josh and Tammy Kruger, in collaboration with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer, and based on the following article: http://www.dinonline.org/2013/04/13/informing-on-others-mitzvah-or-prohibition/)