YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Metzora
The Torah study is dedicatedin the memory of
Asher Ben Haim
The Seforno gives a technical answer. The kohen sees him outside the encampment; however, the metzora approaches the kohen as much as he can to minimize the kohen’s travel. The Ramban proposes two explanations. One is that bringing the kohen refers solely to the fact that he becomes pure only if the kohen pronounces him fit for purification, not when the symptoms disappear. The second pasuk mentions that the kohen makes "a house call" to do so. The second explanation, based on Torat Kohanim, is that the stress that the metzora is brought to the kohen teaches that he is forced to go immediately to the kohen even if he prefers not to.
Besides answering the technical question, the Ramban’s explanations provide an educational/ psychological framework to understand the purification process from the metzora’s viewpoint. The metzora was afflicted by an apparently physical ailment. Instead of receiving a medical solution to the problem, a religious functionary condemned him to solitude and introspection on the spiritual cause of the ailment. That which we see as the only acceptable remedy to the root cause of the problem can seem to the metzora as the kohen’s shirking his leadership responsibilities and condemning the helpless. Therefore, the Torah ensures that it is a kohen who not only sends him away but also goes out to await the time that the metzora can be returned. He will be the one to welcome the metzora back to participate in society at the appointed time and in the correct manner.
The second approach is centered on a more complex psychological scenario. The metzora, who is condemned to live apart from society, can react in different ways. One is to give up on the connection with society. "If they don’t want me, I don’t want them." Another unfortunate, possible response is the fear of further rejection. "What if I call for a kohen and he declares that I am still not ready?" To distance the metzora from such reactions, the Torah decrees that when others feel the metzora is ready, he is required to go to the kohen and jump back into things. Whether or not he is ready to admit that he needs to be mainstreamed back into society or has the confidence, the kohen is to interpret the Divine signs that manifest themselves in the metzora’s physical state.
Return is not easy. However, there is a time for and a manner in which the path back home should be embarked upon.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
