כָּל־יְמֵי אֲשֶׁר הַנֶּגַע בּוֹ יִטְמָא טָמֵא הוּא בָּדָד יֵשֵׁב מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה מוֹשָׁבוֹ׃
He shall be impure as long as the plague is on him. Being impure, he shall dwell apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. (13:46)
The person stricken with the Tzara’as plague is put into solitude. Why? Is it because he’s contagious?
Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, of blessed memory, addresses this question in the following way. A Kohen (priest) must declare that the spot that has appeared upon a person is Tzara’as and that now he has become impure and not back to the time he first developed the spot.
Only a Kohen can establish that someone has been stricken with Tzara’as. Not even the greatest Torah scholar who knows everything there is to know about identifying Tzara’as can replace a Kohen.
If a person who possesses all the signs of Tzara’as was to avoid being seen by a Kohein he would not become impure. There are even times when a Kohen is told not to examine someone who has developed the signs such as a bridegroom who if declared that he has Tzara’as would be unable to celebrate the wedding week with his bride.
One of the signs of tzara’as is a hair in the spot that has changed color. If the person would pull out the hair before the Kohen can examine him he would remain pure even though he actually had all the signs of Tzara’as.
If Taza’as was a contagious disease none of this would make sense.
Therefore, concludes Rav Yaakov, Tzara’as is a heavenly message of great displeasure with one’s behavior. He is put into solitude because he needs time to be with himself. Being amongst people will distract him from the time he needs to think about where his life is taking him and to do Teshuva (Repentance).
If Tzara’as is a message, then the Torah is leaving it up to people to take it. If they choose, they can run away from it by pulling out the hair from the spot and not allow the Kohen to see all the signs of Tzara’as. Or they can face up to it and deal with it. And sometimes it’s not the right time for seclusion as with a bridegroom.
Hashem is always sending us messages. The question is, are we ready to listen to them?
Later on in the Torah (Bamidbar 22:21-33), we will read how the prophet Bilam on his way to curse the Jewish people was shockingly interrupted by his donkey who began to speak with him! But he ignored the message and continued on his way.
Rabbi Yissocher Frand writes about an event that took place in Portland , Oregon a number of years ago. The Jewish community there had not had an Orthodox rabbi for over forty years. One Kol Nidrei night as they were taking out the Torahs, one of the people honored with holding a Torah collapsed and the Torah fell to the ground. After things calmed down the people were shocked and wondered what does this all mean? One congregant offered an explanation.”If the Torah falls on the ground , that means that we’re not supporting the Torah.” The result of this episode was the opening of Portland’s Orthodox congregation. They heard a message and seized the opportunity.
The messages are out there. They are how Hashem directs us on to the right path of life. Let’s not let those opportunities pass us by.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak