CHASSIDIC PEARLS BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS TAZRIA
"If an affliction of leprosy will be in a person, he will be brought before a Kohen" (Vayikra 13:9)
God doesn't punish; He educates us, leads us on the right path, and helps us attain our necessary tikkun, or soul correction, so that we'll be worthy vessels of His Divine light, both in this world and the next. As such, God directs our lives with unfathomable lovingkindness and mercy.
The casual observer may ask, "Granted, a person must be punished for slander; but leprosy? That's a terrible affliction! Why is a person afflicted with leprosy for gossiping?" [editor's note, although tzaraat is commonly translated as "leprosy" it was really a spiritual disease that only superficially resembled the physical ailment of leprosy.
The answer is twofold: First, loshon hora, or the "evil tongue" that is guilty of slander and gossip, leaves a terrible blemish on the soul that corresponds to the manifestation of the physical disease. Only the atonement and correction process of the soul will lead to a physical cure. In that light, the tzaraat is a "favor" from God to help a person correct a spiritual blemish that otherwise would have gone uncorrected.
Second, only a Kohen is qualified to determine whether a person has tzaraat. Consequently, a person with suspected tzaraat is "brought before a Kohen," even against his wishes. Under normal circumstances, that person may have never gone to the Kohen. But since a connection with a Kohen is critical for that person's spiritual health, God afflicts him with tzaraat so he is forced to visit the Kohen.
Our sages teach us that every mention of the Kohen in the Torah alludes to the true tzaddik of each generation. Homiletically, if a person doesn't go on his own accord to see a true tzaddik, God sends him a difficulty in life, a proverbial tzaraat – whether in health, livelihood, or in family troubles – that compels him to seek help and relief from the tzaddik.
Reb Nosson of Breslov writes (Likutei Etzos, Tzaddik, 10), that a person's clogged heart and blind eyes block out truth and prevent him from repenting, from doing teshuva. But after clinging to a tzaddik and accepting the tzaddik's advice, one's faculties are opened to truth and the individual is privileged to repent.
According to the above principle, visiting a true tzaddik is vital for a person's spiritual welfare
"If an affliction of leprosy will be in a person, he will be brought before a Kohen" (Vayikra 13:9)
God doesn't punish; He educates us, leads us on the right path, and helps us attain our necessary tikkun, or soul correction, so that we'll be worthy vessels of His Divine light, both in this world and the next. As such, God directs our lives with unfathomable lovingkindness and mercy.
The casual observer may ask, "Granted, a person must be punished for slander; but leprosy? That's a terrible affliction! Why is a person afflicted with leprosy for gossiping?" [editor's note, although tzaraat is commonly translated as "leprosy" it was really a spiritual disease that only superficially resembled the physical ailment of leprosy.
The answer is twofold: First, loshon hora, or the "evil tongue" that is guilty of slander and gossip, leaves a terrible blemish on the soul that corresponds to the manifestation of the physical disease. Only the atonement and correction process of the soul will lead to a physical cure. In that light, the tzaraat is a "favor" from God to help a person correct a spiritual blemish that otherwise would have gone uncorrected.
Second, only a Kohen is qualified to determine whether a person has tzaraat. Consequently, a person with suspected tzaraat is "brought before a Kohen," even against his wishes. Under normal circumstances, that person may have never gone to the Kohen. But since a connection with a Kohen is critical for that person's spiritual health, God afflicts him with tzaraat so he is forced to visit the Kohen.
Our sages teach us that every mention of the Kohen in the Torah alludes to the true tzaddik of each generation. Homiletically, if a person doesn't go on his own accord to see a true tzaddik, God sends him a difficulty in life, a proverbial tzaraat – whether in health, livelihood, or in family troubles – that compels him to seek help and relief from the tzaddik.
Reb Nosson of Breslov writes (Likutei Etzos, Tzaddik, 10), that a person's clogged heart and blind eyes block out truth and prevent him from repenting, from doing teshuva. But after clinging to a tzaddik and accepting the tzaddik's advice, one's faculties are opened to truth and the individual is privileged to repent.
According to the above principle, visiting a true tzaddik is vital for a person's spiritual welfare
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