Excerpt Browser

This page displays the full text of excerpts.  When viewing a single excerpt, its “Share,” “Switch Article,” and “Comment” functions are accessible.

LEVITICUS — 14:35 house

LEV158 Observe the laws regarding a house stricken by tzara’as. It is not natural that tzara’as strike a house. It is a miracle. Sometimes Hashem performs such miracles on Jewish homes out of His love for His people, to inform the owners that He is not pleased with their actions. By striking a house with tzara’as, He rebukes and warns the owner to mend his ways before the tzara’as strikes his body. If the owner of the house does not repent, Hashem warns him again by sending tzara’as upon his clothes. If that, too, does not stir him to repent, the tzara’as spreads to his body. Also, our Sages teach that when our forefathers came out of the desert and conquered the land of Canaan, many took up residence in the houses that were already there. To bestow good upon His people, Hashem afflicted some of the houses with tzara’as, so that the structures would be demolished and treasures hidden within the walls would be discovered. Although Hashem did not need to afflict their houses with tzara’as, for He could have told one of His prophets about the presence of the treasures, He did not tell a prophet, for Hashem prefers to benefit His people through hidden miracles. Therefore, He chose a more indirect way of causing the treasures to be discovered.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 14:35 something

LEV161 Based on a Torah verse, the Talmud declares that lying in all business activities is forbidden, i.e., that your "yes" should really be a yes, and your "no" should truly be a no (Leviticus 19:36, Bava Metzia 49a). A sixteenth century Rabbi writes that telling the truth and not lying in a Jew's everyday routine is an actual Mitzvah, a commandment (Sefer Charedim, Mitzvot Asei Bipeh, 26). The Talmud describes four groups of people who are denied the Divine Presence, and one of them is people who lie regularly (Sotah 42a). By using one extra letter, the Torah teaches us to be exact in our words and never lie, even in small and obvious matters. Regarding a house that was suspected of being ritually impure (that had to be validated by a Kohen-Priest to make it official), a Rabbi seeing the home would initially say, "It appears to have a ritual impurity," even though it was clear to that Rabbi that the home was impure. However, since it could not become officially ritually impure until the Kohen said so, the Rabbis added the extra letter Kaf signifying "it appears" in order not to tell even a mild untruth (this verse with Rashi and Gur Aryeh commentaries). Maimonides especially warns Torah scholars to be extremely careful in their words, and never even hint at an untruth (Maimonides, Hilchot De'ot 5:7,13). Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (known as the Chafetz Chaim), who became famous for the way he taught Jews how not to misuse their words, says that a Jew who lies is subject to lose all of his or her possessions as well as other harsh punishments, as the sin of lying encompasses many severe sins in Judaism (Sefat Tamim, chapter 2). A person who habitually lies, says the Talmud, will never be taken seriously or be believed, even when he or she tells the absolute truth (Sanhedrin 89b). The prophet Isaiah implies that once a person's lips are impurified by repeated lying, (Isaiah 6:5). On this verse, Chafetz Chaim points out that the impurity of lying stays with the Jew longer than any other type of impurity in Jewish law, especially regarding the impurity related to the head of a human being (Kavod Shamayim 2:6).

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 14:35 something

LEV160 A most upsetting factor in rendering a just and impartial judgment is the subjectivity of the judge himself. The obtrusive influence of self-interest and personal bias is most difficult to overcome. Scrupulous honesty and penetrating insight are required to detect the presence of such extrinsic motivations. To report a plague in one's own house, the Bible directs a person to say, "Something like a plague has appeared in the house" [this verse]. Learned though he be, where he is involved he cannot render a final decision. Only a cohen, an outside authority, may first pronounce his house unclean. On the other hand, this very element of subjectivity can often be helpful. To view a situation from the perspective of the one involved is to grasp the situation most fully and profoundly. While objectivity can make for impartiality, it can also make for insensitivity to the consequences of a judgment in terms of its human element. Therefore, some interpret the word m'thunim (deliberate) as though it read n'thunim (subject): Consider yourself as if subject to the judgment. Put yourself in the defendant's position. How would you have acted under similar circumstances? How would you judge yourself? Law implies a universally applicable rule, a general criterion which is a constant: a truth which holds good at all times and in all conditions. Yet, the particular area to which we apply the rule is a shifting and variable one. The problem for the judge is precisely this: to determine the crucial element in the situation which fixes its true character as distinguished from the irrelevant factors.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 14:36 empty

LEV162 From this seemingly arid verse the Rabbis deduced that even the most trifling article belonging to another must be spared. Why should a man about to be pronounced unclean be deprived of his possessions? So strong was the conviction that inherent in every Biblical command is a moral purpose that even failure to discern it did not affect their attitude toward that law. They contended that the disciplinary value of implicit obedience is in itself a means to the acquisition of virtue. It Is not relevant whether the rabbis forced their ethical teachings into the Biblical commands. What we are concerned with is that the Rabbis approached the study of the Torah ethically.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 15:2 discharge

LEV163 Man shall observe the laws regarding he who has an impure flow from his body. Hashem distances us from overindulgence and commands us to be upright. We must sanctify ourselves by not partaking of worldly pleasures more than what is necessary and fitting for decent, upright people. Self-control is required regarding not only food in frank, but also any other physical pleasure. Without question, such emissions from the body result from habitual overindulgence of food and drink. The ingested substances accumulate in the person’s system until they become the disgusting issue that was emitted. Through distancing ourselves from this impurity, we teach ourselves moderation, so that whenever we partake of any of this world's pleasures, we will do so in an upright fashion.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 15:2 unclean

LEV164 In the Torah there are a number of injunctions based on a two-fold ideology: the prevention of illness and the removal of “unclean” things from areas of human habitation. [Deuteronomy 23:14]. The temporary quarantine and purification of garments, utensils, and houses prescribed in Leviticus was aimed both at eradicating the physical results of spiritual deficiencies and at preserving the physical health of the community. All the laws of Tumah-- impurity-- which required expulsion from the community and purification before re-entry [e.g.., Leviticus 15: 2- 23; Numbers 19: 7- 22] served the same dual purpose. In the same way, the Talmud, the halachic codes, and the rabbinic literature all include the discussion of health problems, nutrition, and preventive medicine as part of the religious pattern of life. Man, created in God’s image, is required to care properly for his body and is enjoined against harming himself or others through neglect of that body.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 15:13 purified

LEV165 A man who suffered an impure issue shall bring offerings when he is cured. Offerings, as explained previously, allude to subduing our animal side in order to give prominence to our intelligent, thinking soul. When a person who has an impure issue is cured of it, it is fitting for him to bring an offering to remind him of the great harm in succumbing to his animal desires. The offering inspires him to strive with all his mind to overcome his evil inclination.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

LEVITICUS — 15:16 semen

LEV166 Spiritual impurity due to emission of semen. A man emits semen only because of lustful thoughts of his desiring body. Accordingly, the Holy Torah decrees that this occurrence causes his body spiritual impurity, for man's primary purpose is to understand wisdom and serve his Maker. Such an emission indicates that he has swerved towards mundane lust. It is fitting, therefore, that he descend into spiritual impurity for one day, so that he will cleanse his thoughts and afterwards he will purify his body.

SHOW FULL EXCERPT

RSS
123
Back To Top