Parshat Metzora- Leprosy and Evil Speech

Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn

Rashi, the 11th-century biblical commentator, breaks down the significance of each of these elements (Rashi on Leviticus 14:4). Drawing from the Midrash and the Gemara (our Oral Tradition), he explains that birds are sacrificed in response because they constantly twitter and chirp, creating sounds like the chatter of lashon hara. Cedar stick is used because cedar trees stand tall, symbolizing haughtiness and ego, which often fuel our judgmental and hurtful speech. The crimson wool looks like a tongue, which is the physical God-given tool through which we speak, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. And the unassuming hyssop plant represents the need for humility in the elimination of haughtiness.

Excerpt from A Year with the Sages by: Reuven Hammer

This midrash begins by citing two verses, one from today's portion that speaks of leprosy and the other from Psalms that talks about deceitful speech after mentioning being "eager for life." It is not immediately clear what one has to do with the other.

That is clarified only in the tale told about Rabbi Yannai and the peddler. In order to understand this fully we need to understand the reason for the connection between the leper and "evil speech" that the Sages make in this midrash and many other places. As discussed in this midrash, the two Hebrew words are similar. The Hebrew word for leper is ha-metzora, and the Hebrew term for speaking evil about others is ha-motzi— ra, literally, "one who brings forth evil" — or, in its fuller form, ha-motzi shem ra, defaming someone's name.

The other connection appears in the biblical story of Miriam's punishment. After Miriam speaks evil about her brother Moses because he married a Kushite woman, God punishes her by making her leprous: "Miriam was stricken with snow-white scales— m'tzora-at" (Numbers 12:10). From this the Sages concluded that just as Miriam was struck with leprosy for slander, so all cases of leprosy are punishments for slander, which they termed "evil speech." (Under discussion is not the actual disease of leprosy but the appearance of many kinds of skin eruptions as described in the Torah.)

After the Temple's destruction in 70 CE, priests were no longer practicing the rituals of leprosy and subsequent rituals of purification. Nonetheless, the Sages were so opposed to the use of language to defame others that they proffered these interpretations to denounce slander whenever the topic of leprosy appeared in biblical passages. The comments on this week's portion are perfect examples of this.

Returning to our tale about Rabbi Yannai and the peddler: Rabbi Yannai, a third-century amora and pupil of Rabbi Judah the Prince, was a very wealthy man who ran an important academy and lived in the upper Galilee, then a flourishing place of Jewish settlement. Galilee towns such as Tripori (Sepphoris) were major centers with lavish homes and public buildings, including synagogues (the archeological remains can still be seen today). Peddlers have long been known for selling all kinds of potions touted to improve the body and heal illnesses, although most often those potions do not have any real healing powers (as an example see Donizetti's comic opera L'elisir d'amore about peddling fake love potions). The peddler in this midrash is also selling a potion— one that he says will guarantee a good and long life.

But he is also smart enough to know that for the revered Rabbi Yannai, his family, and his circle of students, there is no need for what the peddler has to sell. The true elixir of life and "years of fortune" are not to be found in a bottle. All you have to do is follow the advice of the verse; watch your tongue, stop speaking evil, and do only good. As the peddler conveys it, a true Sage such as Rabbi Yannai obviously lives according to this rule and therefore will have a long life. Rabbi Yannai appreciates the peddler's clever use of the verse.

This story in told in order to explain the two verses cited at the beginning of the midrash. Disease comes from evil speech. Long life comes from avoiding it. Rabbi Haggai adds another verse, from Proverbs, that also makes this connection through a play on the words tarot (troubles) and tzarat (leprosy). If you watch your tongue, you guard yourself not merely from troubles but from disease.

I certainly do not believe that leprosy or any other disease is a punishment for slander or any other transgression. This Torah portion does not say that. Nor am I positive that the Sages really believed that-certainly not in all instances. What they did believe, and so do I, that speaking evil is itself a terrible act that must be eliminated. Whether disease of slander appears in any one of us, we must take steps to eliminate it and to purify ourselves of it. Obviously, both the Torah and the Sages took Miriam's actions seriously and condemned them. If a person of her character could fall prey to the ease with which words become harmful, all of us have to be on our guard.