It’s a Matter of Life and Death

The subject matter of Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah leaves us in a bit of a quandary. Since much of the material covered in these parshiyot reads like a public health guide, it leaves us wondering about its religious significance. Of course, the intended audience for much of Sefer Vayikra (Leviticus) were the kohanim (the priests), since they were charged with carrying out the rules and regulations contained in it, but for the general community the technical nature of these parshiyot likely seemed little more than a rules manual.

The rabbinic tradition, however, sought religious significance even in what otherwise might have seemed devoid of such content and through interpretative reading strategies, read “midrash”, illuminated such texts, teasing religious and moral meaning out of what an ordinary reading of the text might not necessarily have revealed.

There is no greater example of this phenomenon than the rabbinic midrash on the word “metzorah”, some sort of skin ailment, translated for lack of something better as “leprosy”:

The Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: This shall be the teaching regarding the metzora at the time he is to be cleansed (purified).” (Leviticus 14:1-2)

The sages, always conscious of when something is expressed in an unusual way, noted that the Torah used the word “metzora” instead of what would have been a more typical usage – “tzarua”. The word “metzora” (mem tzadi resh ayin) inspired a kind of midrash called “notarikon” in which the letters of a word inspire a set of words which express an idea, as we see in the following teaching:

Said Reish Lakish: Why is it written: ‘This shall be the teaching regarding the metzora’? – This is the ritual of the “Motzi (mem tzadi) Shem (shin) Ra (resh ayin) – this is the ritual of the defamer (literally: One who brings out a bad name)”. (Arakhin 15b)

In other words, Reish Lakish identifies a “metzora” as someone with a moral malady caused by verbal sins. This teaching gives us an appreciation of how seriously our sages treated the effects of harmful speech.

There is an amusing midrashic fable worth sharing to further illustrates this point:

There was a story about a king of Persia who was near death. The doctors told him that there was no cure for him unless they bring for him the milk of a lioness which will heal you. One of his servants said: “If you want, I will go. Give me ten goats.” The king ordered his servants and they brought them to him. He went to a lion’s den where he found there a lioness nursing her cubs. On the first day, he stood from afar and threw her one of the goats, which she ate. On the second day, he approached her a little closer and threw another goat, and so too on every day until he was playing with her and he took from her milk and left.

When he was halfway back, he fell asleep and had a dream that all of his body parts were fighting against each other. The legs said that they were the most important body part because without them, he wouldn’t have been able to get the milk. The hands said: “There are none like us for if it weren’t for us they (the body parts) wouldn’t have been able to milk the lioness.” The eyes said: “We are above all, for if we did not guide him on the way, nothing would have been done.” The heart answered and said: “I am most important for if I did not advise him, nothing would have worked.” The tongue said to them: “If it weren’t for me, what would you have done?” All the body parts answered him and said: “You weren’t afraid to compare yourself to us. [After all,] you are hidden away and put in a dark and shadowy place.” “And moreover, you have no bone like all the other organs.” [Yes, I know this latter statement is problematic!] The tongue answered them: “Today, you will say that I am your king and ruler.”

The man heard these words and was afraid. He woke up from his sleep, went on his way, and arrived at his destination. He entered the palace and said to him (the king): “Here is the milk of a bitch.” Immediately, the king became furious and ordered him to be hanged. As he was on the way to being crucified, all of his organs were crying. The tongue said to them, “Did I not say that there is nothing real in the rest of you? If I save you, will you acknowledge that I am your king?” They said to him: “Yes.” Immediately, the tongue said: “Return me to the king” and they brought him back before the king. He said to the king: “Why did you order to hang me?” He replied, “You brought me bitch’s milk to hasten my death.” The tongue replied to him: What do you care if it will cure you? And, [by the way,] female lions are called bitches. They took milk from him, tested it, and determined that it was lion’s milk. The king drank it and was cured. The man’s organs said to him: “Now we acknowledge that you spoke the truth.” It is said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). (Adapted from Midrash Tehillim 39:2, printed edition version)