(45) And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall go loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry: ‘Unclean, unclean.’ (46) All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.
Discuss
1. What makes someone a leper?
2. What is the punishment for being a leper?
3. Why do you think that the leper needs to leave the camp?
Some further information about leprosy:
This is not a natural, earthly phenomenon, just as in the case of house leprosy; rather, when Israel is one with God, God's spirit is always upon them to keep their bodies and their garments and houses appearing good. But when one of them sins or transgresses, an ugliness appears in his body or his garment or his house to show that God has left him. (Nachmanides)
The tzara'at lesions which Scripture lists as rendering the victim unclean have nothing in common with the leprous diseases known to medicine. Tzara'at is a supernaturally caused affliction imposed by God on man to punish him for a sin or to atone for a wicked deed. (Sforno)
In biblical Israel, the kohen was both the religious and the medical authority. The biblical mind saw the connection between the physical and the spiritual dimensions of illness and recovery (perhaps more clearly than we see it today). (Chumash Etz Hayim)
אדם אומר לחבירו: השאילני קב חטים. ואמר לו: אין לי. קב שעורים, אין לי. קב תמרים, אין לי. אשה אומרת לחברתה: השאילני נפה. היא אומרת: אין לי. השאילני כברה. ואומרת: אין לי. מה הקב"ה עושה? מגרה נגעים בתוך ביתו ומתוך שהוא מוציא את כליו הבריות רואות ואומרות: לא היה אומר: אין לי כלום?! ראו כמה חטים יש כאן, כמה שעורים, כמה תמרים יש כאן, לווט ביתא באילן לווטיא.
A man said to his friend, "Lend me a kav (a measurement) of wheat," and the friend replies, "I have none." Or he asks for the loan of a kav of barley, and the friend replies, "I have none." Or he asks for a kav of dates, and the friend replies, "I have none." Or a woman says to her friend, "Lend me a sieve," and the friend replies, "I have none." Or she says, "Lend me a sifter," and the friend says, "I have none." What does the Holy One do? He causes leprosy to afflict the friends house, and as the household effects are taken out, people seeing them say, "Did not that person say, 'I have none?' See how much wheat is here, how much barley, how many dates are here! This house is rightly cursed with the curses [of what its owner professed]."
(ח) ... אמר רבי חנינא: אין הנגעים באין אלא על לשון הרע. ורבנן אמרי: תדע לך שהנגעים באין על לשון הרע. הרי מרים הצדקת ע"י שדברה לשון הרע במשה אחיה, קרבו בה הנגעים. מנין? שנאמר (דברים כה): זכור את אשר עשה ה' אלהיך למרים:
Rabbi Chanina said: Plagues of leprosy come only on account of lashon ha'ra (speaking slander). For, as the sages said, you can see for yourself that such plagues come on account of lashon ha'ra. Even the righteous Miriam, who spoke lashon ha'ra of her brother Moses- plagues clung to her. How do we know this? As it says in Deuteronomy 25: "Remember what the Lord your God did unto Miriam."
Discuss
1. According to these midrashim, why does someone get leprosy?
2. Does the "punishment fit the crime"? Why or why not?
(ב) ...מעשה ברוכל אחד שהיה מחזיר בעיירות שהיו סמוכות לציפורי והיה מכריז ואומר: מאן בעי למזבן סם חיים! אודקין עליה. ר' ינאי הוה יתיב ופשט בתורקליניה, שמעיה דמכריז: מאן בעי סם חיים? א"ל: תא סק להכא זבון לי. א"ל: לאו אנת צריך ליה ולא דכוותך אטרח עליה סליק לגביה, הוציא לו ספר תהלים הראה לו פסוק, "מי האיש החפץ חיים.מה כתיב בתריה? נצור לשונך מרע סור מרע ועשה טוב." אמר רבי ינאי: אף שלמה מכריז ואומר (משלי כא): "שומר פיו ולשונו שומר מצרות נפשו"?! אמר רבי ינאי: כל ימי הייתי קורא הפסוק הזה ולא הייתי יודע היכן הוא פשוט, עד שבא רוכל זה והודיעו "מי האיש החפץ חיים." לפיכך משה מזהיר את ישראל ואומר להם: זאת תהיה תורת המצורע, תורת המוציא שם רע:
A certain peddler would wander among the towns near Tzippori, calling out, “Who wishes to buy the elixir of life?” All the people would assemble before him. R. Yannai was sitting and studying. He said to him, “Come here and sell it to me.” He said to him, “You and others like you do not need it!” (R. Yannai) begged him to explain, so the peddler came over and brought him the book of Tehillim (Psalms) and showed him the verse: “Who is the man who desires life? …Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile.”(Psalms 34:13). R. Yannai said, “King Solomon said the same thing – ‘Whoever guards his tongue and his mouth, guards his soul from troubles’” (Proverbs 21:23). R. Yannai said, “All my life I would read this verse… and I did not know where it was explained until that peddler came and informed me ‘What man is he that desires life?’ Moses therefore warned Israel: “This shall be the law of the metzora – motzi ra” (someone who speaks evil about someone else).
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