Parshas Tazria-Metzora 5786 "Venasati Nega Tzaraas Babayis" - The Hidden Treasures of the Power of Speech

00:00 The Frierdiker Rebbe recounts in his writings what he heard from older chassidim who had been with the Rebbe Maharash. This was in the years 5641–5642. Those were very difficult years in Russia; there were many pogroms at the time, bitter and painful times. Jewish blood was spilled. A great wave of hatred of Jews arose throughout the towns of Russia. The Rebbe Maharash traveled from place to place, spoke with several government ministers, and tried to calm the situation. His efforts helped in several ways, but not as they should have, not fully. Eventually, the Rebbe Maharash decided to make a special trip to Petersburg, where he obtained a meeting with the minister of the interior. He was the most important minister, the one who was [unclear] over the Jews. As is well known, the Rebbe Maharash conducted himself with great expansiveness and was intimidated by no one. He himself went to Petersburg, taking along several older chassidim, [unclear], and went to visit the minister of the interior in person. And the Rebbe Maharash conducted himself with complete freedom and expansiveness, as is well known. He was dressed in a way that made a great impression on everyone who saw him. And so he entered the office.

01:40 The minister of the interior immediately received him with great honor, seated him in a place of distinction, and they began to speak. During their conversation, the minister began speaking disparagingly about the Jewish people, making harsh statements and raising all kinds of bitter claims and accusations. He even told the Rebbe Maharash himself that he was a rebel against the crown, and added all sorts of other harsh things. Instead of becoming frightened or intimidated by any of it, the Rebbe Maharash did just the opposite: he stood up and began speaking with even greater force, in sharp language and unmistakable terms. He spoke very sharply, in a firm voice and with piercing words: How can the government allow such a thing? This blood, Jewish blood, is treated as though it is ownerless, and people do whatever they please with both Jewish lives and Jewish property. He spoke with great intensity, with bitterness and emotion, until the minister of the interior was utterly overwhelmed and humbled before him, losing all his force. Not only that, but he began speaking to the Rebbe Maharash with the greatest honor and respect. The entire atmosphere and situation were transformed. As the chossid recounts, what brought about the change in the minister of the interior—

03:18 was something the chassidim found extraordinary. They thought he had been deeply impressed, and one of the chassidim said that at that moment he felt—you understand, you understand—what is described in the Midrash: when the angel Gavriel taught Yosef Hatzaddik the seventy languages, as the time approached for him to appear as viceroy, the angel Gavriel taught him those seventy languages. So it was with the Rebbe Maharash: they could hardly believe how the Rebbe could speak with such pride, such clarity and sharpness, and influence the minister of the interior so profoundly, bringing about such a change in one of the most powerful men in the Russian government. He left the meeting with the greatest honor, and the minister told him that within [unclear] days he would give him an answer, after speaking with the king [unclear]. The Rebbe Maharash came away from the meeting very weak, and said the whole affair had exacted a heavy, painful toll on his health—that the entire [unclear], the whole experience, had cost him his health. As we see in the story, he did indeed become weak, and a special doctor had to be summoned to [unclear] him.

04:38 In matters of health, the doctor was not at all pleased that the Rebbe Maharash was involving himself in such affairs. The Rebbe Maharash’s health was generally frail, and because he had put it at risk this way, the doctor rebuked him sharply. The Rebbe Maharash replied: We are Jews who must stand by the Jewish people, and our entire lives, the whole purpose of our lives while we are in exile, is to help the Jewish people. As long as there are enemies of the Jewish people who persecute us and seek to make our lives bitter, that is our purpose; that is why we live—to give of ourselves to the very last drop of blood so that we can help, save Jews, and do good for the Jewish people. That is what he had done before, and that is what he was doing now. His words made a great impression. Afterward, the Rebbe Maharash had to take a special rest for the sake of his health. A few days later, the [unclear] summoned him again and told him that they had succeeded in bringing about what was needed [unclear], and promised him every assurance that he would use all the means available to him in the government to calm the situation concerning the [unclear] of the Jewish people. And then the Rebbe Maharash

06:07 The Rebbe Maharash commented on the verse, “I will call upon Elokim, and Hashem will save me”: The whole purpose and intent of those times when things happen in the world and the enemies of the Jewish people persecute us and want to [unclear] is “I will call upon Elokim.” Elokim represents the attribute of judgment, the attribute of severity, and all of this is so that “I will call upon Elokim”—so that a Jew will cry out, call out, and ask. The whole purpose is for a Jew to cry out to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and ask, without becoming frightened or despairing. And then Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps: “I will call upon Elokim,” and through this, “Hashem will save me”—the name Havayah, the attribute of mercy, is revealed, and true salvation comes. We do not always know what needs to be done or how to do it. The Rebbe Maharash said about this: But along the way, when a Jew prays to Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“I will call upon Elokim”—and does what he can through natural means, according to his calculations and his understanding, then whatever course of action he takes will bring about salvation: “Hashem will save me.” It is salvation from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which always comes, and in the end everything is for the good of the Jewish people. This week is the birthday of the Rebbe Maharash, 2 Iyar, and the Rebbe would often say, “Lechatchilah ariber”—go over from the outset. That was the whole approach of the Rebbe Maharash. He said that we need not proceed as the world says. The world says: If you cannot go from below, you have to go over the top. In other words, one must proceed

07:29 by ways of [unclear], toil, and go from below, and only afterward go over the top. The Rebbe Maharash said that one must go “lechatchilah ariber.” That was how he conducted himself in every matter, and that was also how he dealt with decrees against the Jewish people. This is a point the Rebbe always addressed as a way of life: a Jew should take a stance of “lechatchilah ariber”—not be intimidated by the world, not be intimidated by the nations, not be intimidated by what is happening in the world, but stand firm and know that “I will call upon Elokim”: pray, strengthen oneself, and [unclear] through natural means, together with other Jews. Through this, one brings about the greatest salvations. In today’s parsha, Parshas Tazria-Metzora, we study the laws of tzaraas this week. What is most of Parshas Tazria, and also Parshas Metzora, about? All the matters of the affliction of tzaraas in the world, all the laws connected with tzaraas. When we look into tzaraas, the Gemara and the Midrashim say—and Rashi and the Rambam bring this as well—that these afflictions come because of lashon hara. In other words, principally, why is there this matter of sin, this matter of afflictions, which is a spiritual matter? After all,

08:53 the Rambam says that tzaraas is not merely an ordinary illness, but a sign and indication beyond the natural order, meant to correct the sin of lashon hara. These afflictions come for the sin of lashon hara. What must be brought for the purification of a metzora? There is the requirement that he sit outside the camp, “He shall dwell alone,” as we discussed earlier in connection with another law. Here, he must “dwell alone, outside the camp.” And for his purification he must bring two birds, connected with the fact that they chirp. Because he spoke lashon hara, various measures connected with correcting that sin are required. Rashi also brings this here in his commentary on the purification. Before we go into this maamar, Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl offers a very beautiful explanation of the matter. What does it mean that these afflictions come for the sin of lashon hara? How does the consequence correspond to the deed? Because he spoke lashon hara, he is afflicted. He gives a very beautiful explanation: The entire existence of the world’s creation is, as Rashi says on the first verse of the Torah, “In the beginning Elokim created the heavens and the earth”—Rashi says that “in the beginning” means for the sake of the Torah and for the sake of the Jewish people. In other words, the whole reason Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world, heaven and earth and all their hosts, with all the worlds, all three worlds,

10:19 It was for the Torah, for the Jewish people. Hashem has pleasure. What arose in His thought, the pleasure He has—as we will see later in the maamar—about Hashem it is said, “With whom did He consult? With the souls of the righteous.” And Hashem takes pleasure—ultimately, the final purpose is that Hashem takes pleasure in Jews, in the service of the Jewish people, in Jewish souls. That pleasure in Jews is what brought about the creation of the world, the greatness of the world, and everything in the world, with all the influences that sustain it. Everything is connected to Hashem’s pleasure in Jewish souls. But the moment a Jew speaks lashon hara, he [unclear]. That is the exact opposite of pleasure. Hashem takes pleasure in Jews, but the moment a Jew speaks—not saying a good word about another Jew, but saying something that is lashon hara, saying a harsh word about another Jew, saying something bad about him—by speaking lashon hara he arouses the opposite of pleasure. He causes distress Above. The opposite of pleasure, the matter of distress, is as stated in Sefer Yetzirah: oneg, [unclear], the word nega, “There is nothing higher than oneg and nothing lower than nega,” as stated in Sefer Yetzirah. In other words, a nega is the greatest kelipah, the greatest impurity, as we see here in the parsha: he must go

11:50 outside the entire camp, and so on—several matters [unclear]. So a nega is among the most severe forms of impurity. He must “dwell alone,” and has to be completely separated. This shows that there is an impurity of [unclear] here. And for a Jew, the matter of oneg takes him in precisely the opposite direction. That is what he is saying; this is the point: when “afflictions come because of the sin of lashon hara,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu has pleasure, pleasure in the creation of [unclear], which is the pleasure connected with Jewish souls, the innermost purpose of the world. When a Jew speaks lashon hara, he turns that pleasure into distress; oneg becomes nega, and consequently the nega also becomes the [unclear] of tzaraas, an affliction of tzaraas. It follows that the whole parsha, which deals with the correction and purification required for the sin that brings these afflictions, is about the [unclear] that Hakadosh Boruch Hu receives. By correcting the sin of lashon hara, the sin of speech, we arouse pleasure Above once again and change our ways. When we speak in praise of the Jewish people and speak well of Jews, we thereby arouse pleasure Above again. The nega thus turns back into oneg, and this is the purification [unclear]. In light of this, the Rebbe once gives a wonderful explanation of what we find in the parsha concerning an affliction of [unclear] tzaraas. We find that there is

13:20 tzaraas on a person’s body, then tzaraas on garments, and later, in Parshas Metzora, tzaraas on houses. The Torah says: “When you come into the land of Canaan ... I will place an affliction of tzaraas in a house in the land of your possession.” There will be an affliction of tzaraas in your houses. Rashi comes and asks: Why does the Torah say “I will place”? “I will place” implies something given from Above, as a gift. And Rashi immediately says that the matter is this: When the Jewish people came from Egypt to Eretz Yisroel, the nations there, as Rashi says, had hidden their treasures—gold and silver and all their precious possessions—inside the walls. Why did they hide them in the walls? They did not want them to fall into the hands of the Jewish people. And more deeply, they hoped that perhaps one day they would return and reconquer the place, and go back to their towns and homes. Then the gold and silver would be hidden there, and they would know where to retrieve them. And we are told that Hakadosh Boruch Hu specifically caused the impurity of tzaraas to appear, so that when they had to demolish the house, they would find the hidden treasures that the nations had concealed in the houses. That was the reason. And here we find something remarkable: Rashi changes the wording of the Midrash. The Midrash says they were Canaanites, and [unclear].

15:03 But Rashi says Amorites. Seemingly, there are seven nations, and the Torah says “the land of Canaan,” yet Rashi specifically says Amorites. Why does Rashi single out the Amorites from all the nations? The Rebbe discusses this at length: On the plain meaning of the verse, it was specifically concerning the Amorites that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Avraham Avinu the special promise, “For the sin of the Amorite is not yet complete.” They knew that, when the time came, they would have to leave. They had the fear, the resolve, and the knowledge that the time was approaching when the sin of the Amorite would be complete and they would have to leave. That is why it happened specifically among them. There is a lengthy explanation of this on the level of pshat. But the main point is the explanation of its inner meaning, following what was said above, as explained in Chassidus in the name of the Alter Rebbe: Each of the seven nations alludes to particular negative character traits. Chassidus explains what a Canaanite is, what a Hittite is, and what an Amorite is. Each of the seven nations has a distinct name indicating one of the negative traits that must be corrected. In general, it is known in Chassidus that the seven nations correspond to the seven middos, as explained in the sefarim. There are seven negative traits, and they must be changed, corrected, and transformed into good traits. And when we come to the Amorite, the Alter Rebbe says, we need to know: What is the kelipah of the Amorite? He says—

16:26 Amorite, Emori, comes from the word amirah, speech. And what is the nature of the Amorite? It is the kelipah of speaking: a person who speaks empty words, idle talk, and uses the power of speech for things that are the opposite of what they should be. By doing so, he causes concealment and obscurity, taking the power of speech and using it for matters of kelipah and the sitra achra. This is the kelipah of the Amorite: speaking lashon hara, gossip, and the like. And this is why, we are told, the Amorite in particular must be dealt with—and why it is connected to the parsha. As mentioned above, tzaraas is also connected to speech, to lashon hara. The Rambam says that all forms of tzaraas begin when a person speaks [unclear]. At first he merely speaks idle words and lashon hara, until he comes to speak about [unclear], and the Rambam elaborates in connection with the affliction of tzaraas. And this is why it is specifically the Amorite: an affliction of tzaraas is connected to speaking, to undesirable speech, which gives rise to the impurity of tzaraas. But what is the avodah? The point of the seven nations is correction: the Amorite of kelipah must be transformed into the Amorite of holiness. And that means speaking, as mentioned above—speaking words of praise for

17:50 the Jewish people. Speaking words, saying only good things, arousing great mercy, and mentioning only the virtues and praises of the Jewish people. Through this speech, we transform things and reveal the hidden treasures. This is the allusion in Rashi’s words, that the Amorites hid treasures in the walls of their houses. The meaning, as explained in Chassidus, is that speech contains the depths of the soul. The hidden treasures of the soul are found in speech. And the Mitteler Rebbe explains in Derech Chaim that on the side of evil, too, the depth of the evil in the soul is expressed in speech. Sometimes a word slips out of a person’s mouth, and in that word—sometimes even in its tone and pronunciation—you can discern the depth of the evil in his soul. Speech reveals the depths of the soul. So the Mitteler Rebbe says in his maamarim: Speech touches that power; it touches the depths of the soul. That is why the whole matter of speech is so consequential, as cited in the sefarim and in several places, and as quoted in many places in the name of the Baal Shem Tov, regarding the connection between the covenant of circumcision and the covenant of the tongue: When a person is not careful with his speech, it is also connected to a lack of care in guarding the covenant, in matters of holiness and in all these areas. For speech touches the depths of the soul. From this we can understand, as mentioned above,

19:13 the positive side as well—and this is what Rashi alludes to: the treasures, the hidden treasures, are found specifically in speech. When a person works on himself so that he uses his entire power of speech to always look for and say a good word about another person, to always seek to judge Jews favorably and speak in praise of the Jewish people—that is holy speech, speech that reveals the hidden treasures, the true inner treasures found deep in the souls of Jews. It transforms a person, until he achieves the true correction: nega becomes oneg. And through this, we arouse pleasure Above. And there is also the well-known statement of the Rebbe Maharash, whose birthday it is, concerning Rosh Hashanah. On a verse, as quoted—what did he say? He said that hundreds, thousands of angels stand on Rosh Hashanah night waiting for one Jew to say to another, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year,” because the angels know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu desires praise of the Jewish people even more than [unclear] their prayers. In other words, saying a good word about Jews is especially important, even more than all the prayers and all the matters for which tzaddikim pray. And this is the lesson we take from today’s parsha: We must take care not to say, G-d forbid, even the slightest thing that causes

20:32 Pain and affliction in the soul; to speak about matters that praise the Jewish people. The issue of lashon hara, the issue of gossip, the issue of speaking negatively about Jews. The Rebbe says that especially in our times, we should strengthen ourselves in speaking the praises of the Jewish people and saying a good word about Jews. Through this, we transform nega, affliction, into oneg, delight, and bring Hakadosh Boruch Hu His true delight. May there be that true delight, with [unclear] the revelations of the time to come, when “no eye has seen, O G-d, besides You”—the revelation of Eden, the true delight of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which will then [unclear] for every Jew. And this will be with the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu, who is called “the leper” in the Gemara in Sanhedrin. That is because he transforms the affliction of tzaraas, as it exists on the side of opposition to holiness. When we thus transform the whole matter of nega into oneg, we draw down the delight of Hakadosh Boruch Hu from the time of the world’s creation, and consequently there will be a complete Geulah here below, very soon indeed.