In the Sephardic commentary, Me'am Loez it is written that Metzora is derived from Motzei Shem Ra which has the same connotation as Lashon Ra and in the extreme of this expression, Hillul ha Shem which means cursing the name of G-d. Yeshua said that when we speak evil against G-d or any person who is made in His image, it is like we are committing the unforgivable sin, i.e. blaspheming the Ruach ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit).

According to most rabbis concerning this portion, there are two sides as in all things, both good and evil. Utilizing the method of interpretation called PaRDeS, They approach it at the level of Remez, meaning a hint of meaning or allegorically-speaking. They see every disease as having its root in the spiritual realm. In the occidental world we no longer see the person as a holistic being as they were in the Scriptures. Today we have become so sophisticated that we separate the spiritual and the physical. The essence of the message of Metzora is missed because instead of explaining it according to what G-d is actually saying, it is being interpreted through the eyes of our culture.

We see the number eight figuring prominently once again as meaning "complete healing" as in the case of the person with
?ire tzara'at or skin disease. After the afflicted person has been examined on the 3rd and the 7th day, he/she can return to the camp on the eighth day.

There were three concentric circles making up the camp of Israel: 1. Mechane Shechinah (Ohel Moed, the inner ring of the camp,
     the Presence of G-d)
2. Mechane Leviim- (the center ring of the camp of the Leviim)
3. Mechane Israel, the outer ring where the Israelites stood.

The people who were afflicted were sent outside of the camp, out of the Presence of G-d. The people inside the camp were considered "holy" - separated for G-d because they were in His Presence. "Being in His Presence" represents "being in relationship with G-d" which is very different from being religious.

The Presence of G-d was a living reality in Eretz Israel (Eretz Qodesh) and for that reason everything was divided between Tahor (clean) and Tamei (unclean). Our sages look at tzara'at as both good and bad. When someone is sick, we are accustomed to think first "what sin have they committed to bring this upon them" or "they are not trusting in G-d". We are not always willing to look deeply inside ourselves to see the root cause. It is important to search ourselves when afflicted with illness to see what G-d is trying to show us. Although this aspect could be true sometimes however, as in the case of Job, it is simply that Satan has been allowed to test the individual to try to get them to reject or lose faith in G-d. Generally the closer we are to G-d, the more attacks we will receive from the spiritual realm. Satan wants to discredit our testimony. Suddenly something bad will happen and we ask ourselves what we are doing wrong. It can however be the opposite, it is because we are doing what is right in our service to G-d.

As those who have been chosen by G-d we are eternally in His Presence. Sadly, most of us give far too much importance to this physical, temporary state of life instead of investing our energy in matters of the eternal.

As well, most people have the attitude that pain is something they would prefer to avoid completely. Yet let us examine the illness known as Leprosy or Hansen's disease which is a deadening of the nerves of the body. Absolutely no pain is felt, so that when infection does set into various parts of the body, they fail to get the simple treatment that would cure it; instead they suffer having their body fall apart. Pain is a warning that there is something wrong and needs to be deal with it. In this case, pain is a good thing….not a curse but a blessing.

There were 5 elements in this passage used for the cleansing of tzara'at: cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet wool, two live birds and running or living water.

1) The Cedar trees are the tall, strong trees of Lebanon
      representing pride and arrogance.
2) The hyssop bush is the opposite, being small bushes in the
      desert used by the Bedouins as brooms. These represent       lowliness and humility.
3) The scarlet or crimson wool was not originally that color. The
      wool needed to be dyed by squashing a certain type of worm.
      The lowly worm needed to die for the wool to be dyed.
4) Lastly there were two birds, the stronger of which was
      sacrificed while the other was let go, like the Azazel, the
      scapegoat. The Cohen would examine the two birds to see
      which one was better and stronger that one would be
      sacrificed.

Finally all the elements were mixed together into the 5th, the mayim chaim- running water. The stronger bird would be slaughtered and the other bird would be dipped in the blood with all the elements; then the afflicted person would be sprinkled seven times while the second bird was set free (Leviticus 14: 1-9). This was not meant to be some sort of hocus-pocus rather we see here the biblical theme repeated again of a life given for a life saved. The living bird will take away our iniquities and give us the opportunity for a new life. The theme of the death of the innocent being required in order to pay for the sin of the guilty, remains throughout. Thus on the eighth day the person would have a rebirth, be declared healed and cleansed.

In conclusion: we can see that leprosy can represent two elements:
1) The religious pride of believing that we can obtain our own
     salvation where we need to humble ourselves before the L-rd
     as in the case of Na'aman (2Kings 5)! He was a proud and
     arrogance commander of the army who had to be humbled
     by dipping 7 times in the small river Jordan. In being obedient,
     he was healed and became a believer in the G-d of Israel.
2) The Lashon haRa, the evil tongue representing religious envy
     as in the case of Miriam, Rabbenu Moshe's sister,
     (Numbers 12) when she spoke against her brother, afflicted
     with leprosy and put out of the camp for 7 days.

One case was spiritual pride and the other, Lashon haRa, the evil tongue, was spiritual envy.

Thus we can come to understand the infinite love that Yeshua our Messiah had for us in his willingness to be the sacrifice for us. When we give our lives to Him, we need to know that He will never let us go. We totally belong to Him. We are no longer the same person but we have been given a rebirth. Things that we wanted to do before no longer seem important to us.

Like tzara'at which dulls the senses, may our senses not be dulled to the calling of G-d on our lives. G-d opens our eyes and shows us who He is and how much He loves us. When we allow ourselves to be dulled by not bringing ourselves to Him and dealing with our issues, disease and depression can set in. Depression is a spiritual disease, psychosomatic which sets in when we don't want to deal with the reality of our lives. Instead we run away which is sin. Psalm 139 says that we are wonderfully made. By not accepting ourselves as G-d made us, or when we want to be someone else instead of loving the person who He created, we make G-d out to be a liar. G-d does not make mistakes. If we keep looking at our circumstances finding everything wrong to the point of making ourselves sick, we are sinning. When we allow personal oppression and external pressures to overtake us due to our own view of life or when we try to solve problems ourselves instead of going to seek His counsel, we suffer the consequences. Here you can see both personal and religious pride.

At the point when we finally realize that G-d is always with us, then that we can humble ourselves before Him and trust in Him. We need to open our eyes to see what kind of Tzara'at we are contaminated with. G-d will make us deal with our issues, one by one.

May we allow ourselves to be sprinkled by the blood that He shed for us and truly live the born-again life that He has chosen for us; one of victory and a deep sense of joy and fulfillment in the midst of trials and pain!

As Passover approaches and you are cleansing the chametz from your homes, please stop and ask yourself "what kind of tzara'at do I have which is not allowing me to be in the camp and serving Him fully"?

May G-d add blessings to his Word!

     Rabbi Percy Johnson
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