Leprosy: A Lesson in Transience

 When reading the Torah portion this morning, I was borrowed by the following. Tzaraat, or leprosy in the common vernacular, is associated primarily in Jewish thought with lashon ha'rah, or slander. Yet, that notwithstanding, with all the intricate details of the different forms of leprosy in this week's double portion, no mention of such is made. There are numerous types of leprosy, the Torah relates, with different shades, patterns, depths, compositions. The different forms cover different areas of the body, and bring in tow different healing measures to both alleviate and gauge the actual nature of the specific type of leprosy. And yet, when push comes to shove, no insight is shared by the Torah into the actual reason behind the multifarious types of leprosy, and the reason for their manifestation. 

I posed the above question to a friend, and hevruta, with whom I learn daf yomi, R' Michael Weisberg, and he shared the following. "It would seem that in a certain sense leprosy was actually positive. For example, it would cover people's homes, conveying to them that a sense of stagnation is not conducive to spiritual growth. The same way The Guide to the Perplexed by Maimonides states that ritual impurity was positive because it would cause people not to become jaded and too acclimated to the spiritual holiness of the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple, likewise, it would seem that leprosy was a sort of wakeup call, first striking one's home, then one's clothing, and ultimately one's body, conveying in a piecemeal way that a person should look inwards to fight against stagnation, or standing in place, but rather to always be aspiring to better oneself, physically and spiritually."

I would add that in a certain way, a person who speaks slanderously of another fails to realize the power of eternity; simply by elevating one's self by demeaning another, a person contravenes the very reality that life in this world is ever so ephemeral. 

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