Tazria-Metzora - Living With Moshiach and Geulah When All Around Us Is Darkness and Golus - Rabbi Asher Perkash

00:02 We are in the days of Nissan, the time of Geulah. The Gemara says in tractate Rosh Hashanah, “In Nissan they are destined to be redeemed.” In other words, Nissan is the time of Geulah. And yet a question arises that many people ask: Here we are in these days, and when we look around at the world, we seem to see the exact opposite. We see the darkness growing. We see what is happening in the world, both materially—across the world as a whole, and especially in the Holy Land, in Eretz Yisroel—and spiritually. What is happening in every area; there is no need even to go into details. Everyone knows the situation, both in the world around them and in their own personal lives. We can see that this is an inner exile. So the question that everyone very much wants to understand and hear about is: How can we live the Geulah, and not just believe in it? I do believe: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach.” But we want not only to believe in the Geulah, but actually to live it, to breathe its atmosphere. Especially in these days, the great days of Nissan. We are approaching Pesach and Acharon Shel Pesach, when, as the Baal Shem Tov revealed to us, the light of Moshiach shines more openly.

01:39 How can we truly live in a state of Geulah? And how should we look at the days we are living through now, so that we emerge strengthened, with vitality and joy, for all the work of daily life? The answer is in the weekly parsha. By Divine Providence, in the week after Pesach we study Parshas Tazria-Metzora. The Alter Rebbe taught us that we must live with the times, so we turn to the weekly parsha to draw strength and vitality from it for this period. We will focus on an explanation by the holy Ohr Hachaim concerning the themes of the two parshiyos, Parshas Tazria and Parshas Metzora. The words of the holy Ohr Hachaim are directly relevant to our days. They give us strength and vitality in our service of Hashem in general, and especially in the work of preparing for the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu. We will also bring words of the Maharal of Prague, a fundamental explanation of his concerning the footsteps of Moshiach and Moshiach, as discussed both in the Gemara in tractate Sanhedrin, in the chapter “All Israel Have a Share in the World to Come,”

03:08 and at the end of tractate Sotah, which also speaks of a number of things that will happen in the footsteps of Moshiach. We will discuss some very rich teachings of the Maharal of Prague that help us understand how a Jew should look at the period we are living through now. Alongside them, of course, we will bring words of the Rebbe from a farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas Tazria-Metzora. There, these ideas shine with a special vitality that gives us the strength to look properly at the days and the time we are living through now. The weekly parsha is Tazria-Metzora. Parshas Tazria opens with “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child”—the subject of birth. The first verses of the parsha deal with what precedes the child’s birth, the laws of bris milah, and the laws of impurity and purity for a woman who has given birth. Those are the first verses of the parsha, while the entire rest of it deals with the laws of the metzora and the metzora’s impurity. And what does the word “Tazria,” the first word of the parsha and also its name, mean? What is the meaning of this name, and what does it convey? After all, we know that nothing is...

04:42 by chance. The Baal Shem Tov revealed the principle of Divine Providence in everything in the world, and all the more so, surely there is Divine Providence in matters of Torah. Since the parsha is called Parshas Tazria, we need to understand what the word “Tazria” means, what it leads to, and what we can learn from it. For seemingly, the matter of tazria in its simple sense—“When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child,” the matter of birth—appears only in the first few verses. But the entire rest of the parsha deals specifically with the metzora and the laws of the metzora’s impurity, which make up most of the parsha and its main subject. Nevertheless, the parsha’s name is Parshas Tazria.

Similarly, regarding Parshas Metzora, the question arises as to why it was given that name. In the sefarim, the parsha is called by several names. Among the early authorities—for example, in the Rambam—we find that he calls the parsha [unclear]. The sefarim say it should be called Parshas Taharah, and in quite a few sefarim we do indeed see it called that. Why? For several reasons. First, we do not want to call a parsha by a name that denotes something negative: a metzora, a state of impurity. So it is called Taharah, “purity.” And also because Parshas Metzora does not, in fact, deal with the laws of the metzora’s impurity, but with the metzora’s purification. As it says, “This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his purification.” Seemingly, the fitting name for it is specifically

06:14 Parshas Taharah. And yet the name that has taken hold throughout the Jewish world is Metzora. This is puzzling. Why does the question arise? Because Parshas Metzora really does not deal with the metzora’s impurity. Why is the accepted name, the name by which the parsha is generally and in practice called, specifically Parshas Metzora, when the parsha deals with the metzora’s purification? The subject of the metzora’s impurity is in the previous parsha, Parshas Tazria.

On the first verse of Parshas Tazria, the holy Ohr Hachaim says some very rich things about what the word “Tazria” alludes to. He explains that, as is known, our whole situation here in exile, during the time of exile, is alluded to in the words “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child.” They refer to the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, when there will be “and she gives birth to a male child.” Why? The Gemara says that all the songs sung in the present era—the Song of Moshe, “Then Moshe sang”; we have just come from the seventh day of Pesach and studied Moshe’s song, and then the Song of David, which came after the Torah reading on the seventh day of Pesach—all these songs are called “shirah,” a feminine form. Yes, “Then Moshe sang” is a shirah, and shirah is feminine. By contrast, the song of Moshiach, “a new song,” is in the masculine form. In other words,

07:55 the Geulah of Moshiach is associated with the masculine. Why? One reason is that the feminine is associated with changes. As is known, a woman experiences many changes relating to the laws of impurity and purity and the like. That is what it signifies. This is also why a woman is known to be likened to the moon, which undergoes changes: on some days the moon is full, and on others it is dark, like the changes found in a woman. By contrast, the masculine signifies eternity and permanence. The Alter Rebbe explains this at length in Likkutei Torah, in Parshas Tazria, our weekly parsha. This is the meaning of “When a woman conceives”: “a woman” is Knesses Yisroel, the Jewish people. As we know from Shir Hashirim, Knesses Yisroel is compared to a woman in relation to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the man, “a man of war.” He is the giver, the groom, and Knesses Yisroel is the bride. That is the meaning of “I have come into My garden, My sister, My bride,” which is said of Knesses Yisroel. So, “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child.” The holy [unclear] says that through the work of Jews during exile—which is sowing, for sowing means placing a seed in the ground, from which something grows—a Jew must know that during exile, every mitzvah, every action, every deed he does is

09:25 sowing. “And I will sow her for Myself in the land”—he sows. Every good deed he puts into the ground is a sowing in the earth, and from that sowing growth will come. It is the great growth that will come speedily in our days, in the true and complete Geulah, when we will see what was accomplished, what a Jew accomplished during exile with every mitzvah, every deed, every movement of mesirus nefesh. Mesirus nefesh does not mean having to jump off a roof or into a fire. It means surrendering one’s will: when a person does every detail of daily life, whether in action, speech, or thought, with vitality and devotion, he illuminates the world. In this way he sows a seed from which the true and complete Geulah grows. This is what the verse comes to tell us: the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu is “When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child.” Because the woman, Knesses Yisroel, sows Torah and mitzvos during exile, there will be “and she gives birth to a male child”—from this will come the true and complete Geulah, very soon, through Moshiach Tzidkeinu. And when we reflect on this analogy of sowing—what is the analogy?—we see something very interesting. When you take a seed and put it

10:49 into the ground, the seed is dry, hard, and firm; it has no taste, no scent, nothing enjoyable about it. It is not something you eat. On the contrary, you put the seed into the ground. And what happens? You put it into the ground, and it rots. Rotting is the very opposite. Someone who does not understand what happens in the process of growth, who does not understand how growth works, looks at it—and all he sees is decay. He sees that they took a seed, took something and put it into the ground, and then, over several days, it rotted completely. It did not remain as it was; it became [unclear]. And then, precisely out of that decay, growth suddenly begins to emerge and flourish. A tree begins to grow. In time, it becomes a fruit tree, a tree beautiful to look at and pleasant [unclear], a tree that bears fruit and fruit upon fruit. It produces delicious fruit with a good scent and a good taste. And from those fruits come more fruit and fruit upon fruit, through all generations. What we see in the analogy of sowing is an analogy for the time of exile. For

12:12 that is what the verse says: “Yaakov will take root; Yisroel will bud and blossom”—referring to the time of exile. It is like [unclear] what is placed in the ground when sowing, while “bud and blossom,” the growth, takes place in the Geulah. And here, specifically, there is also [unclear] from the Maharal of Prague, when he mentions the discussion at the end of tractate Sotah and at the end of tractate Sanhedrin. When we look at the Gemara, at the end of Sotah and in Sanhedrin, in the chapter Chelek, “All of Israel have a share in the World to Come,” the Gemara tells us what will happen in the footsteps of Moshiach: “Insolence will increase, prices will rise,” and so on. The Gemara describes things that will happen at the end of the time of exile. All of this is explained. [unclear] certain things that will happen at the end of the time of exile. But generally, the familiar explanation people give is that a Jew’s body, when he is in the time of exile, becomes, G-d forbid, [unclear]. What happens? [unclear] things that come from the exile. [unclear] the meaning of the Gemara. [unclear] this is the decree of troubles. When we see these things happening, it is [unclear]; these are the footsteps of Moshiach. That itself points to hope, to faith that any moment now, even amid darkness and troubles, he is coming. And indeed, these are the footsteps of Moshiach, the approaching steps of Moshiach; so Moshiach is coming. But the Maharal of Prague offers a powerful explanation, which the Rebbe cites many times, in his Chiddushei Aggados on the Gemara. [unclear]

14:09 matters of exile and Geulah, [unclear]. This is explained [unclear]. The entire course of the discussion, all the passages in the Gemara—and this, specifically, is what they explain. At the same time, this is a central point with which we are opening the series. This is the matter of [unclear], which we will reach in the coming parshiyos. We find in the Gemara, in tractate Sanhedrin, concerning Moshiach [unclear]. The Gemara tells us: there, in Sanhedrin, the Gemara discusses one of the names of Melech HaMoshiach. It gives several names, and one of them is “Chivara d’vei Rebbi”; “chivara” means a metzora, a metzora of Rebbi’s house, along those lines. The Gemara recounts the well-known episode: Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked Eliyahu Hanavi: When will Moshiach come? And where is he? He told him that Moshiach is at the gates of Rome, sitting there among people afflicted with sores. Moshiach is there with all those who are afflicted, and [unclear]. And here, specifically, something remarkable emerges: Melech HaMoshiach is associated specifically with being a metzora, with the affliction of tzaraas. What is the explanation? It is connected to the point in “Tazria,” the matter of sowing and growth, as we discussed earlier. We see that this is also how literal sowing works: you take the seed, and it passes through a stage of decay. When you look at that decay with physical eyes, with an external or earthbound perspective, without delving into what is happening or contemplating it properly, the seed looks dirty, covered in earth, and you see nothing in it. But when you know the truth, you know that—

16:19 growth is taking place there; a new tree grows from it. For a new tree to grow, for a new reality to come into being, one incomparably beyond what was there before, it must pass through decay. As the expression so often cited in Chassidus puts it, between one yesh and another yesh, between one existing reality and another, there must be ayin—nonexistence—in between. How is this expressed in growth? The seed is an existing reality, a yesh, that is not comparable to the tree that will grow from it, a fruit-bearing tree with all that it entails. Therefore, for a different kind of reality—the tree—to grow from this yesh, from the seed, there must first be decay. The seed must decay completely, and only then, through that decay, can the new creation, the new reality of a fruit-bearing tree, come into being. The same applies to the impurity of tzaraas. A person who had tzaraas was, after all, in the forty-nine gates of impurity, in a state of lowliness and decline. He was immersed in the forty-nine gates of impurity through lashon hara and mockery. As the Rambam writes concerning the impurity of tzaraas: it begins with speaking lashon hara, with mockery and empty talk, until, G-d forbid, he reaches the forty-nine gates of impurity and speaks of heresy, Heaven forbid, denial—

17:50 of the living G-d. This is the depth of a fall in which a person is at the lowest point spiritually, in the forty-nine gates of impurity. When the impurity of tzaraas comes, it is not a punishment in the ordinary sense of punishment, G-d forbid. No, it is specifically a process of correction, as is clear from the words of the Rambam and the Midrashim. This is the way to help a person change: “He shall dwell alone, outside the camp” prompts him to take stock of himself and do teshuvah for his sins and transgressions. Through this, he changes from one kind of person into another. The impurity of tzaraas is, in essence, a way of erasing the previous reality, so that a new reality emerges: a new world, a new person, someone whose entire past has been completely erased. Indeed, the past has been transformed—darkness into light, bitterness into sweetness. The person is utterly transformed; he becomes a new person, a new reality, and he becomes a great person, a complete person. This is the meaning of the purification of the metzora, which comes after he has passed through the state of the metzora’s impurity. And similarly [unclear] the fact that Moshiach is called a metzora. And concerning [unclear], the purpose of the afflictions is not, G-d forbid, to make a person bitter and bad. On the contrary: their purpose is to change him and make him into a new reality. And similarly, since the days of Moshiach—

19:17 Moshiach—that is, Moshiach and the Geulah—are a new period, a new era, a new reality, a new world. A new world incomparably beyond the world that came before. As the verse says in the haftarah we will read this Shabbos, which is Shabbos Rosh Chodesh: “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make ... so shall your descendants and your name endure.” So too, the true and complete Geulah through our righteous Moshiach means new heavens, a new earth, “your descendants and your name.” Every Jew is renewed and becomes a new reality, and for a new reality to come into being, it must pass through decay. This is the state of affairs before Moshiach’s arrival, and the state of affairs during the time of exile, in the footsteps of Moshiach. This is what the Gemara explains in its discussions at the end of tractate Sotah and in tractate Sanhedrin: what path, what process must be traversed to reach the loftiest and most wondrous revelation of “A new light shall shine upon Tziyon,” of the true and complete Geulah. The world must pass through impurity and a state of decay, and that decay is itself part of the growth; from it, the true and complete Geulah grows. This gives us the encouragement and strength to understand how a Jew should look at the state of affairs in our days. When he looks outside and

20:45 sees what is happening in the world, he sees nations in conflict with one another, a state of deep and compounded darkness, and what is happening in every area and every detail, both materially and spiritually. But this is not so that he should sink into that state and be affected by it inwardly. On the contrary: he sees it as the decay from which growth emerges, recognizing that the growth is already present within the decay itself. A Jew sees in this [unclear]. Within the sowing itself there is [unclear], and that is, in essence, [unclear] the growth. That is to say, we cannot yet see it; at this point, what we see is [unclear]. But the growth is already present at the moment of sowing, when [unclear] from the previous yesh, from the previous reality. That reality must be nullified, and only then can a new reality come into being. This is the first point, and it gives us tremendous encouragement: a Jew must know that we are in a state in which Moshiach is coming any moment now. As the Rebbe repeatedly discussed and explained at length, especially at the farbrengens of Tazria-Metzora 5741 and Tazria-Metzora 5742, the farbrengens at which

22:05 The Rebbe spoke about this with great emphasis. And later still, in the more recent period, on Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5751, the Rebbe began the great campaign to make known that we are standing on the threshold, that Moshiach is coming and is about to be revealed. This should lead a person to look at every situation in the world with the knowledge that the world is, in fact, already ready for the true and complete Geulah. And that is the first point: the parsha that speaks about the impurity of the metzora is specifically called Tazria, because this expresses that all the impurity of the metzora is really a sowing—a sowing from which the true and complete Geulah will grow. So when a Jew sees the world in this state, he does not give up, despair, or break down. On the contrary, he knows that he must use every moment and every situation to sow another seed and another seed. And here is the lesson of Tazria: a Jew must sow—sow tzedakah and good deeds—and try to use every opportunity to do so, at every moment. And the Rambam tells us in Hilchos Teshuvah that a Jew must know, always bear in mind and remember that “the entire world is evenly balanced,” that the whole world is in a state where

23:32 it is balanced, like scales at a point of [unclear]. One deed, one word, or one thought—“tips the balance for himself and the entire world toward merit, and brings salvation and deliverance to himself and to them.” One deed, one word, one good thought—that is the seed still needed, the last seed needed for the growth to spring forth, the growth of the true and complete Geulah. And then we see “the Torah of the metzora,” and from it we understand that the name metzora is specifically a positive one. Metzora—because it alludes to Moshiach, who will be a new man, a new reality; there must be a new reality. The holy Ohr Hachaim explains in our Parshas Metzora that the meaning of [unclear] “the Torah of the metzora” is the Torah that comes through Torah study during the time of galus. And this is the Torah of the metzora that leads to “the day of his purification.” And the two birds, as the Ohr Hachaim explains, allude to the two Moshiachs, Moshiach ben Yosef and Moshiach ben Dovid. One is slaughtered, and this represents Moshiach ben Yosef, as is known from what is brought in the writings of the Arizal about Moshiach ben Yosef, who is killed in battle, and [unclear] this represents the self-sacrifice of Jews during galus. And there is another bird, which goes out over

24:56 the open field, and it alludes to Moshiach ben Dovid, who is sent out over the field to bring the true and complete Geulah, to make the whole world into “I have come into My garden, My sister, My bride”; so that the entire field of this world will become a field of holiness, the “I have come into My garden” of the true and complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu. May it be Hashem’s will that this happen in the final days of the month of Nissan, fulfilling what the Gemara says: “In Nissan they are destined to be redeemed.” May the complete Geulah come through Moshiach Tzidkeinu speedily in our days, amen.