Haftorah Commentary Tazria
TAZRIA
Melachim II 4:42–5:19
The Corrective Gift of Punishment
This week’s Haftarah shares with us one of the invaluable benefits of punishment. Surprisingly, it relates to a pagan general who merited an open miracle from Hashem that inspired the general to incredible heights.
Hashem Heals a Pagan General
Naaman, the highest-ranking general of Aram, was stricken with a severe case of chronic leprosy. He was strongly encouraged by his abducted Jewish maidservant to visit Elisha Hanavi, who would allegedly cure him from his illness. Naaman consulted the king of Aram, who subsequently sent a personal request to the king of Israel to arrange for Naaman’s healing upon arrival. Although the Jewish king was terrified by the demand of producing a miracle, Elisha Hanavi volunteered his services and told the king to send Naaman to him.
When Naaman arrived at Elisha’s doorstep, the prophet sent him a message to dip seven times in the Jordan waters. Naaman was appalled by the impersonal welcome he received and infuriated by Elisha’s primitive remedy. He, therefore, immediately turned around and headed home. After his servants prodded him to at least try the simple prescription, Naaman reluctantly acquiesced and dipped seven times in the Jordan River. Hashem miraculously healed Naaman’s flesh and returned it to a soft, young, tender texture. After that open revelation, Naaman rushed to Elisha and proclaimed in his presence that Hashem is the exclusive power of the entire world. Before parting, Naaman asked Elisha to permit him to load his mules with sacred earth from the Holy Land to erect with it an altar for Hashem back home in Aram.
From Arrogance to Total Submission
Naaman’s startling episode intrigues us. Why would a pagan general deserve an open miracle of such proportions, and what should we learn from it? To answer this, we refer to Chazal’s insightful words regarding the cause of Naaman’s leprosy. Chazal cite numerous causes for the plague of leprosy and list Naaman’s haughtiness among them. They draw proof from the way our Haftarah introduces him: “And Naaman, the general of the king of Aram, was a great, distinguished man to the king because Hashem saved Aram through him.” (Melachim II 5:1)
Chazal interpret the words “great man” to refer to Naaman’s haughty perception of his accomplishments, far out of proportion. (Bamidbar Rabba 7:5) Radak explains that indeed Naaman led a victorious battle against the Jewish people, but that he deserved little, if any, credit for the actual victory. The reality was that Naaman incidentally drew his bow without intending to strike anyone—certainly not the king—but Hashem sent the arrow flying into the wicked King Achav’s body. This unintentional, incidental victory won Naaman the king’s favor and gave Naaman a full measure of false pride. (Radak on Melachim II 5:1)
Hashem responded to Naaman’s false pride and outlandish perception of personal achievement and plagued him with a severe case of leprosy. His sudden illness marked the beginning of an intense program of humility that would ultimately yield unparalleled results.
The first stage of the mighty general’s humility was his incapacitated feeling caused by his illness. His next taste of humility was his desperate need to follow his abducted, lowly, Jewish maidservant’s suggestion to travel to a Jewish prophet for his remedy. The next step was the prophet’s impersonal response to the esteemed general’s visit. After Naaman agreed to reduce himself and travel to the prophet, he anticipated receiving, at the very least, a royal welcome. Naaman was thrown off his feet when Elisha did not even consider him worthy of a personal welcome. Moreover, the prophet’s empty, primitive remedy of bathing in a river made Naaman feel extremely foolish for having traveled all that way for nothing. He was even further humbled when he felt compelled to respond to his servants’ rational plea to respect the prophet’s suggestion. Naaman’s final stage of humility came through the actual bathing process that called for the high-ranking general to repeatedly lower himself into ordinary, natural waters.
Hashem’s Humility Crash Course
After Naaman’s comprehensive lesson in humility, he adopted a much healthier attitude toward human ability and achievement. Once Naaman uprooted his haughtiness that had brought him to his illness, he became worthy of Hashem’s favor, and Hashem healed him. Naaman immediately responded to his earth-shattering experience, and he proclaimed Hashem as the exclusive Sovereign over the entire universe.
However, the story didn’t end there. Naaman continued his humble path and bent down to collect dirt from under the prophet’s feet to erect a permanent altar for Hashem. (Abarbanel to Melachim II 5:17) He vowed to detach himself from all idolatrous practices and to sincerely worship Hashem. Baal Haturim adds that Naaman was true to his word. He continued to develop his relationship with Hashem, which resulted in the sincere conversion of some of his offspring. Their devotion to Hashem was so intense that they became Torah educators amongst our people. (Baal Haturim on Shemos 28:7)
Recognizing the Full Truth
This unbelievable development was undoubtedly due to Naaman’s rare quality of recognizing the full truth. Chazal teach us that Naaman’s statement of recognition exceeded all preceding ones made by non-Jewish believers. They explain that Yisro had previously recognized Hashem above all other powers, and afterward Rachav had recognized that the Hashem of the Jewish people controls heaven and Earth. But Naaman proclaimed Hashem as the exclusive power of the entire universe. (Yalkut Shimoni, Melachim 229)
Initially, Naaman’s victory gave him an abhorrent level of haughtiness. Hashem did not tolerate that attitude and therefore gave Naaman the opportunity of rectifying it. We have seen, however, that this process was extremely difficult for him and demanded enormous levels of submission. The only way for Naaman to get beyond his predicament was to swallow all his pride. This meant appreciating the truth and following it at all costs. Naaman faithfully responded to his challenge and painfully respected every dimension of truth sent his way. These truths became so clear to him that he ultimately realized that the entire world was exclusively in Hashem’s hands.
We now realize that Naaman was indeed a rare individual who possessed enormous potential to recognize the truth. Hashem, who knows the potential of every human being, sent Naaman his leprosy as an opportunity for rectification and growth. Although Naaman was not Jewish, he was obviously worthy of his lesson and experience. He goes down in history as one of the few who was willing to recognize the truth. Although Naaman began as our total enemy, priding himself in his defeat of the Jewish people’s king, he made a total reversal and recognized Hashem in an all-encompassing way. Since Naaman’s obedient response brought magnificent honor to Hashem, we can safely assume that this was Hashem’s original intent for bringing Naaman his miraculous experience.
Punishment – A Perfect Remedy
Naaman’s leprosy teaches us the value of punishment and its hidden blessing. It served its purpose well as a powerful vehicle to teach humility. Although Naaman began with an abhorrent approach, he obediently followed his road signs that eventually attacked the source of his problem. His sudden chronic illness, his many emissaries, his impersonal reception, the degrading prescription, and the actual bathing process all contributed toward his humility. This led to his sincere recognition of Hashem, which in turn, produced prominent offspring who became scholarly leaders of our people.
This insight regarding punishment is very helpful when studying the lonely plight of the leper in this week’s Parsha. Although the leper did not commit any national offense, he goes through a tremendously humiliating experience of total isolation from society. We now understand that his predicament is not a punishment, but rather, an opportunity for introspect and growth. His illness and all its dimensions force him not only to reconsider his ways but also serve as a catalyst for spiritual growth. The leper increases his sensitivity in those areas that created his predicament and removes the blind spots he possessed until this point. His new approach to life produces a stronger relationship with Hashem and helps him appreciate Hashem’s constant favor in all areas of his life.
When some degree of hardship or misfortune befalls us, we tend to react to it in a negative form and certainly wish that it would not have occurred. Let us learn from Naaman’s privileged experience and its incredible personal and offspring results—that we are actually experiencing something beneficial with great potential when properly absorbed. After some degree of introspect and connecting our hardship to our personal shortcoming, let us utilize Hashem’s gift to improve ourselves and refine our character and become a much better person than before.
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Date: May 1, 2025
