* TORAH WEEKLY * Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion and Haftorah. Plus Ani Ma'amin - The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. Parshas Tazria (Shabbos HaChodesh) For the week ending 1 Nisan 5755 31 March & 1 April 1995 ========================================================================= This issue is dedicated in the memory of R' Kaddish ben R' Moshe Aharon by his son, Jeremy Rose, of London ========================================================================= Summary The Torah commands a woman to bring a korban after the birth of a child. A son is to be circumcised on the eighth day of his life. The Torah introduces the phenomenon of Tzara'as (often mistranslated as leprosy) -- a miraculous disease that attacks people, clothing and buildings to awaken a person to spiritual failures. A Kohen must be consulted to determine whether a particular mark is Tzara'as or not. The Kohen isolates the sufferer for a week. If the disease remains unchanged, confinement continues for a second week, after which the Kohen decides the person's status. The Torah describes the different forms of Tzara'as. One whose Tzara'as is confirmed wears torn clothing, does not cut his hair, and must alert others that he is ritually impure. He may not have normal contact with people. The phenomenon of Tzara'as on clothing is described in detail. ========================================================================= Commentaries "When a woman conceives..." (12:2). Following the laws of spiritual purity regarding animals, the Torah turns to the laws of spiritual purity in Man. Just as the creation of Man follows that of the animals, so his laws are explained after the laws of the animals. If Man is worthy, if he makes his soul the essence of his being, then he precedes all creation, for it was his spirit that hovered over the depths even before the creation of light; but if he is not worthy, if he glories in his physical dimension, then in terms of physical precedence, even the mosquito preceded him... (Based on the Midrash and Rashi) "And on the eighth day, the flesh of the foreskin shall be circumcised" (12:3). The greatness of Shabbos can be seen from the fact that a boy is not given Bris Mila (circumcision) until he is eight days old. The reason that Bris Mila is performed on the eighth day after birth is so that the child can experience Shabbos before the Mila. By passing through the holiness of Shabbos, he becomes sanctified and thus fit to enter into the holiness of the Jewish People through Bris Mila. (Yalkut Yehuda) "And on the eighth day, the flesh of the foreskin shall be circumcised." (12:3). The custom at a Bris is to say to the parents "Just as he has been brought into the Covenant (Bris), so should he be brought to Torah, marriage and good deeds". In other words -- Just as he has been brought into the Bris, which is now an inseparable part of him, thus also should all the other mitzvos of the Torah form an inseparable part of him. (Iturei Torah) "The Kohen shall look, and behold! - the affliction has covered his entire flesh, then shall he [the kohen] declare the affliction to be pure" (13:13). Tzara'as, frequently mis-translated as leprosy, was a disease caused by spiritual defects, such as speaking lashon hara. (Nowadays we are on such a low level spiritually, that our bodies do not reflect the state of our spiritual health.) The verse here is puzzling, for if "the affliction has covered the entire flesh" of the person that must mean that he is far from cure, and yet the Torah tells us that the Kohen shall "declare the affliction pure". How can he be pure if the affliction covers his whole body? The answer is that he is so far from being cured, having ignored all the warnings to do teshuva, that the disease ceases to perform any further purpose. Thus the Torah specifically says, not that the Kohen shall declare him pure, rather that "the affliction is pure" -- he, on the other hand, is as far from purity as is possible... (Based on the Ha'amek Davar and Rabbi S.R. Hirsch) =================================================================== Haftorah for Shabbos HaChodesh: Yechezkel 45:16 - 46:18 The Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Nisan is called Shabbos HaChodesh. This year it falls on Rosh Chodesh itself, making it even more than usually apt! On Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the Jewish People received the first of all of the 613 mitzvos -- the sanctification of the moon. By virtue of this mitzvah, the Jewish People were given mastery over time, because, unlike Shabbos, which is fixed and comes every seven days regardless of man, the ability to sanctify the moon, to establish the length of the months, determines on which days the festivals of Pesach, Shavuos, Succos, etc., would fall. Thus Man becomes a partner with Hashem in sanctifying time -- Hashem through the fixed holiness of Shabbos, and the Jewish People through the festivals. ========================================================================= Ani Ma'amin The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith Principle #13: "I believe with complete faith that there will be a resuscitation of the dead whenever the wish emanates from the Creator, blessed is His Name and exalted is His mention, forever and for all eternity." "Hashem will circumcise your heart..." Devarim 30:6 Ever since creation, man has had the freedom to do as he wished, to be righteous or wicked. Thus, it has been through all the time we have been guided by the Torah so that we should deserve a reward for choosing good and punishment for choosing evil. But in the days of Mashiach the choice of good will be inherent in us. The heart shall no longer crave what is improper and there will be no desire for it. This is the circumcision mentioned in this passuk. For lust and desire are the obstructive foreskin of the heart and circumcision of the heart means an end to such lust and desire. Man will then return to his state before the sin of Adam, who instinctively did what was proper and experienced no conflict regarding what was right. 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