House Cleaning

By Rabbi Joshua ( gregariously known as The Hoffer) Hoffman z"l


This week's parsha begins with a description of the purification process of the metzora, or the person afflicted with tzara'as, and then brings the laws of tzora'as of the house. why did the Torah follow this order, instead of bringing the laws of tzora'as of the house in the previous parsha, together with the laws of the metzora and the laws of tzora'as of clothing? I believe that an understanding of thr purification process, as explained very beautifully by Rabbi Zvi Dov Kaotopsky in his work, The essence of Simplicity, can provide us with an answer to this quesrtion.

Rabbi Kanotopsky notes that the metzora must bring three animal sacrifices, a chatas, an asham,or guilt-offering, or sin-offering, and an olah, or elevation offering. These three sacrifices, says Rabbi Kanotopsky, correspond to the three stagers in the sin of the metzora, which is generally identified as slander, although Tamudic and midrashic sources point to other sins. as well. Based on the description of the Rambam in his Laws of the Impurity of Tzora'as, 16:10, we can discern three stages. first, the slanderer feels a sense of meaninglessness ain his life. In essence, he develops an inferiority complex stemming from a lack of self- esteem. Next, he inflates his ego by developing a superiority complex, denigrated others, until he denounces the nation's rabbinic leaders, and , ultimately, denies God Himself . In order to purify himself, he needs to reverse this process. The three sacrifices that he brings correspond to the three steps in his process of sin, beginning with the last stage and ending with the core of the problem.That is why, in describing the metzora's atonement, the Torah uses a three-fold expression. The kohein " atones for the metzora before God," "atones for he who is purifying himself, and "shall atone for him, and he becomes pure" ( Vayikra,14:18-20).These three expressions ot atonement correspond to the three steps that the metzora must go through.





First, the metzora who is being purified must bring an asham. The Torah says that by bringing this sacrifice, he will be atoned before God. This atonement is for the ultimate denial of God that the slander of the metzora leads to. Next, he needs atonement for the slander itself, which the Torah refers to when it says that the kohein " atones for the one who is purifying himself. from his impurity" This is accomplished by the chatas, the sin offering, which addresses the actual sin which the metzora did. finally, the root of the problem must be dealt with, and this is accomplished through the olah, or elevation offering, and of which the Torah says, " that the kohein " shall atone for him, and he becomes pure." In this final step, the metzora attains a sense of self-worth through the elevation sacrifice, and realizes that he, too, is able to contribute to society,and need not denigrate others in order to feel that his life has meaning. although Rabbi Kanotopsky does not mention this, perhaps this is why the three animal sacrifices are preceded by the bringing of two birds,one of which is slaughtered as a sacrifice to God,and the other of which is set free on the field. two bird sacrifices. The Zohar tells us that one of these birds corresponds to evil talk, and the other one corresponds to good talk. As a number of commentators explain, the symbolism here is that not only must the metzora rid himself of his previous addiction to evil talk, but he must now engage in good talk, by involving himself in the study of Torah, and all that stems from it. Perhaps the message, on a wider scale, is that the former metzora, who tried to deal with his feelings of inferiority by speaking evil of others, must now realize ,through studying Torah, that he, indeed, has great potential, and must actualize it to benefit the nation.

Based on Rabbi Kanotopsky's analysis of the purification process of the metzora, perhaps we can understand why it is followed by the laws of tzora'as of the house. Rashi mentions a midrash which says that when a house stricken with tzora'as would be dismantled, the people would find a treasure hidden there by the earlier, Aramean inhabitants of the house. Why should it be that the discovery of such a treasure should come about through the affliction of tzora'as? Perhaps the message is that when one works on correcting the sin that led to the affliction, and strips down to his core, he will understand that he has great potential to do good, and become a productive member of society, Therefore, as part of the process of dealing with the tzora'as, a hidden treasure is found, corresponding to the hidden treasure that each Jew carries within himself, but is not always able to see.