When a lesion or impurity on a garment diminishes after washing, the garment needs to be washed a second time before being deemed pure (13:58). What is the significance of washing garments twice?

Rav S. R. Hirsch comments that two washings are required because the first rids the garment of impurity, while the second purifies it. Rav Moshe Feinstein adds that these cleanings apply to people as well. We can understand from these explanations that being pure and good doesn’t mean not doing bad things, just like having a positive life doesn’t mean that nothing negative happens. Having a good life or being a good person is not the absence of negatives, but a commitment to proactively increase our positive efforts.

A person afflicted with tzara’at (skin abnormality) resulting from speaking negatively of others must invite a kohen to inspect it, then quarantine remotely until the blemish reduces in size or goes away (13:46). This begs the question of why a person needs to isolate if the affliction is not contagious. Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky points out that in isolation, a person’s affliction cannot be monitored, and one can easily remove the afflicted skin or hair in order to produce a false negative. Wouldn’t isolation invite counter-productivity and defeat its intended purpose?

Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky (Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky’s grandfather) explains that the prescribed quarantine is not for the protection of the community, but rather for the benefit of the afflicted, affording him time and solitude for honest reflection. Time alone can be used to deceive the kohen and others or it can provide an opportunity for self-improvement. The hope is that one returns from isolation with the most contagious form of integrity born of introspection.

Parshat Tazria details the procedures for a person afflicted with Tzara’at, including inspections and declarations by a local Kohen (priest). In the 47 pessukim (verses) that discuss the affliction, the Kohen is mentioned 45 times. Could the Torah not have said that a Kohen monitors the entire process?

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky explains that it is easy for a person to feel alone because part of the healing process includes quarantine. Although the Kohen is the one to declare the affliction initially, he must also be there to compassionately provide support through the seclusion period, as well as the reintegration back into society.

It’s so important that people don’t feel alone that the Torah highlighted it 45 times. As we all go through Covid-19 lock-downs in relative isolation, we are reminded that we need to support each other, especially when times are tough. Sharing the burden of others can transform a challenging experience into a meaningful expression of compassion.

One of the maladies discussed in Parshat Tazria is the tzara’at/nega (lesion) that affects clothing (13:45-59), which the Gemara (Eruchin) explains that although it is often caused by speaking negatively about others (Lashon hara), it can also be induced by “stinginess”, a derivation of the word “Tzara’at” being “tzar,” or narrow. A strange rule is introduced when the Kohen observes that the lesion doesn’t change its “ayin” after being washed (13:55). Typically an “ayin” is an eye, but what does an eye have to do with a lesion found on clothing?

The Chidushai HaRim explains that there is a double meaning for the word “ayin”. It means “eye”, but it’s also the letter ayin used in the word “nega”. It turns out that if you move the ayin in the word “nega” to the beginning of the word, it forms the word “oneg”, which means “joy.” The Torah is telling us that if the person doesn’t shift their perspective, they and their clothes remain unclean. Luckily, turning stinginess to joy only requires a slight adjustment to our perspective, and has the effect of reorienting us entirely.

People often associate stinginess and joy with finances, but the truth is that happiness has little to do with money, and a lot to do with our attitude. Our Parsha is highlighting that focusing on others’ happiness has the benefit of increasing their happiness, and the fringe benefit of adding to ours as well. 

Both Parshat Tazria and Metzora discuss skin ailments on one’s flesh, who to see about it (the Priest), how to treat it (isolate it), what to do if it spreads (isolate yourself), and so on. While we get caught up in the details of the treatments, we might fail to realize how strange all of this is. This is the first time the Torah discusses personal physical hygiene. Why would the Torah spend almost  two entire Parshiot (multiple Parshas) on personal hygiene?

Rabbi Munk in The Call of The Torah explains that by giving these afflictions so much attention, the Torah points to them as examples of the spiritual causes at the root of many illnesses (in our case, Tzaraas – the affliction discussed in the Parsha – is caused by one of seven sins: Slander, murder, perjury, debauchery, pride, theft and jealousy (Talmud Arachim 16a)). As the Rambam (Maimonides) asserts, the best medication is based on ethical values, helping to re-establish harmonies between spiritual and physical forces (Guide to the Perplexed 3:27). That way, even if our physical ailments aren’t ultimately cured, at least we’re in harmony within ourselves. This discussion is meant to remind us that illness is sometimes spiritual, and that it’s connected to our physical well-being. As such, we should feed our bodies, so long as we nurture our souls.

The primary subject of Parshat Tazria is tzara’at, a supernatural skin disease that, according to the Sages, was a punishment for speaking ill about other people.  A person who habitually spoke ill about others would be struck with tzara’at and would then be quarantined outside the city as a divine warning to improve their behavior and make themselves more worthy of dwelling within the community.  Although the symptoms of tzara’at were fairly straightforward, the official diagnosis could only be made by a kohen, who would declare whether a given patch of skin contained tzara’at or not.  The Torah describes one type of skin lesion called a “bohak” that is not tzara’at, but is required to be shown to a kohen as well.  R’ Moshe Feinstein asks about the purpose of this – if it is not tzara’at, why does the Torah trouble people to show it to the kohen?

R’ Moshe Feinstein explains based on the insight mentioned earlier.  The purpose of tzara’at is to cause a person to evaluate their behavior and to make improvements.  The trauma of being quarantined outside the city for a week or more is clearly a strong catalyst for such self-examination, similar to the way serious illness or loss of a job triggers self-examination in our day.  But we must not wait for such dramatic events to examine our actions.  The law of the bohak teaches us that even smaller events in our lives should be seen as catalysts for introspection and self-improvement.  We can never know for certain what messages G-d is trying to send us, but we should always be listening, whether the message is loud or not.

The primary subject of Parshat Tazria is tzara’at, a supernatural skin disease that, according to the Sages, was a punishment for speaking ill about other people.  A person who habitually spoke ill about others would be struck with tzara’at and would then be quarantined outside the city as a divine warning to improve their behavior and make themselves more worthy of dwelling within the community.  Although the symptoms of tzara’at were fairly straightforward, the official diagnosis could only be made by a kohen, who would declare whether a given patch of skin contained tzara’at or not.  The Torah describes one type of skin lesion called a “bohak” that is not tzara’at, but is required to be shown to a kohen as well.  R’ Moshe Feinstein asks about the purpose of this – if it is not tzara’at, why does the Torah trouble people to show it to the kohen?

R’ Moshe Feinstein explains based on the insight mentioned earlier.  The purpose of tzara’at is to cause a person to evaluate their behavior and to make improvements.  The trauma of being quarantined outside the city for a week or more is clearly a strong catalyst for such self-examination, similar to the way serious illness or loss of a job triggers self-examination in our day.  But we must not wait for such dramatic events to examine our actions.  The law of the bohak teaches us that even smaller events in our lives should be seen as catalysts for introspection and self-improvement.  We can never know for certain what messages G-d is trying to send us, but we should always be listening, whether the message is loud or not.

Aliya Summary: This section discusses the ritual impurity contracted by a man who issues a (normal) seminal discharge, the ritual impurity of a menstruating woman, and of a man who cohabits with her. All such people must immerse in a mikvah (ritual pool) in order to be purified. Under certain circumstances a menstruating woman was required to bring to the Temple two bird offerings in order to attain purity.

People might say (or think) that most of Tazria-M’tzora is complex, confusing, non-applicable, why do I need to study it, boring… but the interplay between the physical and spiritual, the functioning of Jewish society in the context of the topics of the Parsha and other themes are timeless, and the contemplation provides much food for thought and possibly even discussion around the Shabbat table.

Aliya Summary: Homes, too, can be afflicted with tzara’at. If bricks on a home become discolored — acquiring a strong red or green pigment — a priest is summoned. If indeed the discoloration seems to be tzara’at, the priest quarantines the home for up to three weeks. Depending on the spread of the discoloration, the home is either declared to be pure, or the specific bricks are removed from the house, or, in the most extreme situations, the house is demolished. The Torah then describes the purification process for such a home — which is very similar to the initial stage of the purification of the human afflicted with tzara’at (described in the First Aliyah). After concluding the subject of tzara’at, the Torah discusses the ritual impurity of a man who issues a sickly and unnatural seminal discharge, as well as the method by which this person attains purity when the condition passes.

Not only does a person’s body contain elements of spirituality, but even his home – specifically in Eretz Yisrael. Although we do not “practice” this whole topic today, the lessons of the bridge and connection between the physical world and the spiritual one cannot be overlooked. A person whose home is a meeting placefor Torah scholars, a launching pad for acts of charity and kindness, a training ground for a new generation of sensitive, feeling, enthusiastic Jews, such a home cannot be infected by spiritual plague. A home devoid of spirituality is a prime target for Nig’ei HaBayit. In this case, it is not the anti-rust and anti-moldpaint that makes the difference. It is the values that a Jew lives by and their affect on the next generation.