If He Can Be Cured, So Can I
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: #1333 – Oops! There is a Sticker on the Kli I Just Toiveled – Must I Toivel It Again? Good Shabbos!
If He Can Be Cured, So Can I
There is a famous Medrash in Parshas Metzorah which we have spoken about numerous times in previous years. We have offered various interpretations, and this year we are going to offer a new insight suggested by Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin.
The Medrash on the pasuk “This shall be the law of the Metzorah…” (Vayikra 14:2) says as follows: “About this it is written: ‘Who is the man who wishes life?’ (Tehillim 34:13)” The Medrash quotes a certain incident involving a rochil (peddler). The rochil used to circulate in the villages that were close to the city of Tzipori. He proclaimed, “Who wishes to buy the sam chayim (elixir of life)? Everyone crowded around him to see what he was offering.
Rav Yanai heard this peddler’s sales pitch, and he too decided that he wanted to find out what the peddler was talking about. The peddler told Rav Yanai, “You don’t need this sam chayim that I am selling.” Rav Yanai persisted: “I want to know what this sam chayim is that you are talking about!” The peddler took out a Sefer Tehillim and pointed to the pasuk “Who is the man who wishes life? One who guards his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” (ibid.). Rav Yanai exclaimed in astonishment, “All my life I read this pasuk and I never grasped the wisdom pointed out to me by this peddler!”
The obvious question is that the peddler added nothing to the pasuk. He just said over the literal translation of its words “Mi ha’ish hachafetz chayim…”. That is what those words mean! Rav Yanai obviously knew that! What was he so amazed about upon hearing this pasuk read to him by the peddler?
Rav Tzadok suggests that it is not so much what the peddler said but who said it. This means as follows: Why is a peddler called a rochil? The truth of the matter is that we see this from a pasuk in the Torah: “Do not go as a rochil (tale-bearer) in your nation.” (Vayikra 19:16). This is the source of the prohibition of rechilus. Rechilus is going around from person to person spreading gossip. The reason a rochil is called a rochil (i.e., a peddler is called a peddler) is because he specializes in sharing gossip about everyone.
People who are over fifty years old may remember what a Fuller Brush salesman was. This was a salesman who knocked on your door and tried to sell you items that can be useful in a typical home. The average homeowner had no patience for hearing the pitch of a Fuller Brush salesman and was tempted to slam the door in his face. How did someone become a successful Fuller Brush salesman or a successful peddler of any kind? By introducing himself with the words “Did you hear…?”
When the homeowner hears the words “Did you hear?” his immediate response is “Hear what?” Then the peddler starts to fill in details: “Did you hear about your next-door neighbor?” “Did you hear about your boss?” The way to become a successful rochil is to collect information and to spread gossip. That will get him into people’s homes, and then once the salesman gets into a person’s house, half the battle is won.
Every businessman needs to know the secrets of his trade. The secret of the trade of being a successful rochil is, in fact, to peddle gossip. This is exactly the source of the word rochil in the pasuk “Lo selech rochil b’amecha” – Don’t be a peddler (of gossip) in your nation.
Rav Yannai was impressed that this rochil (peddler), who we would expect to be a gossipmonger, is the one publicizing the pasuk “Mi ha’ish hachafetz chayim….” He is the one preaching shemiras halashon (guarding one’s tongue). That means he is a “recovered rochil.” This peddler was showing Rav Yanai that a person can be a professional rochil – spending a lifetime in rechilus (gossipmongering) – and yet finally come to see the truth. Even a rochil can be rehabilitated.
The most successful person to rehabilitate another sinner is a person who has “been there and done that.” There are various support groups today such as “Alcoholics Anonymous”, “Narcotics Anonymous”, “Gamblers Anonymous”, etc., etc. The common denominator between all these support groups for people who have addictions is that the groups are all led by people who themselves suffered from that particular addiction. The key is that they have recovered, or are at least recovering. “If they can do it, I can do it!”
That is what impressed Rav Yanai. It wasn’t the pasuk. There were no new chiddushim in the explanation of the pasuk. The great novelty was that the pasuk was taught by a rochil. If he can be cured, so can I!
Tzaraas: K’nega or Heavenly Mercy?
The second thought I would like to share is based on two Sefornos in Parshas Tazria. The parsha discusses people-tzaraas, then it discusses garment-tzaraas, and finally it discusses house-tzaraas. The Seforno writes on the pasuk beginning “If there shall be a tzaraas affliction in a garment….” (Vayikra 13:47) that without a doubt, the Torah is speaking here of an unnatural phenomenon. By the laws of nature, garments do not develop tzaraas. Jackets or shirts do not suddenly develop these kinds of supernatural negaim (blemishes).
Rather, the Seforno writes, these negaim appear on garments or on houses to alert the owners that they are doing something wrong. The Ramban also writes that these tzaraas afflictions are a punishment for specific aveiros (sins). The Gemara in Maseches Eruchin (15b-16a) presents an entire list of aveiros, for which negaim appear. They appear for slandering, for haughtiness, for stinginess, etc. When a person is afflicted – either his person or his clothing or his house – it is a message from the Ribono shel Olam. The Ribono shel Olam is trying to tell you something!
The Seforno writes that this is a manifestation of Hashem‘s mercy upon His nation. These “blemishes” should not be viewed as a punishment but rather as a great present that the Ribono shel Olam is granting us. He shows His compassion to us by informing us that we are doing something wrong. In fact, we are taught that the garments of goyim do not become impure via the appearance of negaim. That is because the Ribono shel Olam does not take care of them as much as He takes care of us.
Sometimes people don’t understand why “bad things” are happening. However, that should not be the case with tzaraas because we are given a list of potential causes in that Gemara in Eruchin. If someone encounters tzaraas on his person or garment or house, he can look up that list and say “I must be doing one of these things wrong.” This is a Divine favor. As the Seforno writes, “It is G-d’s mercy upon His nation that He provides us with such warning signs.”
The Seforno adds another idea in Vayikra 14:36. By the pasuk about house-tzaraas, the Torah writes that the homeowner should empty out his house before the Kohen comes to proclaim the house and all its contents tameh (impure). Imagine if someone has been living in a house for forty years and has accumulated forty years’ worth of junk. Now he needs to clear all of it out of the house! Part of the reason for this, the Seforno writes, is that in the time it takes to clear out the house, the homeowner will have a chance to reflect and to ask himself, what is going on here? – and to hopefully do teshuvah.
This idea can provide an insight into the following pasuk: “And the one who owns the house shall come and say to the Kohen as follows ‘k’nega (something like) a nega (blemish) appeared to me in my house.‘” (Vayikra 14:35). Rashi quickly points out why the homeowner can only say “k’nega“. Even if the homeowner is a talmid chochom who knows precisely that it is a tzaraas nega, he may not enunciate definitively that it is such, but must leave that declaration to the Kohen.
Why is this so? Perhaps it should be viewed as a lesson in humility. Part of what causes the tzaraas affliction is gayvah (haughtiness). However, the sefer Imrei Daas by Rav Nosson Lieberman offers a different but beautiful interpretation of the expression “K’nega appeared to me in the house.”
The Mishna (Shabbos 2:5) says “Someone who extinguishes the candle (on Shabbos) because he is afraid of idolaters or robbers, because of an evil spirit, or in order that someone who is sick should be able to sleep, he is not culpable (because it is a melacha she’ayno tzreecha l’gufo). However, someone who extinguishes the candle because he wants to save the candle (k’chas al ha’ner) or save the oil or save the wick – he is culpable.”
The Vilna Gaon asks why the Mishna uses the expression “k’chas al ha’ner“, “k’chas al ha’shemen“, etc.? Again, there is this prefix “k’” (as if) as we have by “K’nega nir’eh li ba’bayis“. The Vilna Gaon answers: You are worried on Shabbos that this extra bit of candle or oil or wick is costing you too much? It is not costing you anything! The Gemara says (Beitzah 16a) that a person’s financial income is determined for him from one Rosh Hashana (New Year) until the next Rosh Hashana, except for what he expends for Shabbos and Yom Tov and what he spends on teaching his children Torah. In other words, a person’s budget is fully determined on Rosh Hashana with the three aforementioned exceptions. In these three areas, if he spends more than was included in the Heavenly allocation, he is given more; if he spends less, he is given less.
We just finished Pesach. Most of us spent a fortune on Pesach, thousands of dollars. I think the Pesach market today is literally over a billion dollars for Pesach foods, products, etc. It is a big business. Everyone is complaining “Oy! I spent a fortune on Pesach.” This is not true. A person’s expenses for Shabbos and Yom Tov are not part of his Heavenly annual allocation.
This person is worried about how much the oil is costing him. He believes it is costing him too much. However, it is really not costing him a penny! Therefore, says the Vilna Gaon, it is k’chas – as if he is trying to save. But it is only like he is trying to save, for in truth, he is not saving anything because it is not costing him a dime.
The Imrei Daas says that the k’ prefix has the same interpretation over here by tzaraas: k‘nega appeared to me in the house. It is really only like a nega that appeared. Someone looks at his wall and moans “Oy, vay iz mir” (woe is me)! He sees a nega in his house, meaning that besides having to take all his belongings outside, the Kohen will perhaps come and proclaim the house tameh and order the wall torn down! What could be worse?
But in fact, it just looks like a nega, but it is not really a nega because really the Ribono shel Olam is just sending a message. As the Seforno writes, this is a manifestation of Hashem’s mercy upon his nation. This is really good news. You are doing something wrong and rather than it affecting your body, it is affecting your house. It is much better that your roof should go rather than your skull. That is why the pasuk says k’nega appears to be on my house.
We are sometimes troubled when bad things happen. We question, “Why is this happening?” Tzaraas is something that happens but we do know why it happens and we can just fix those things and the problem will be solved. It is sometimes hard to look at the nega as rachamei shamayim (heavenly mercy), but that is what the Seforno says it is. It is not real tzores. It is rachamei shamayim.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Technical Assistance by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Tazria (/Metzora) is provided below:
- # 007 – Self-Defense
- # 051 – Moser: The Dilemma of the Jewish IRS Agent
- # 094 – Hallel on Yom Ha’Atzmaut?
- # 142 – Eyeglasses in Halacha
- # 189 – Mikveh: Tevillah and Chaziza
- # 279 – Women’s Testimony in Hilchos Niddah
- # 325 – The Microscope in Halacha
- # 369 – Bris Millah That Causes Chilul Shabbos
- # 413 – Speaking Lashon Horah on Baalei Machlokes
- # 457 – Getting an Aliyah After Childbirth
- # 501 – Milah and the Sick Baby
- # 545 – Dangerous Medical Procedures
- # 589 – Pidyon Haben – Daytime or Night?
- # 633 – Lashon Harah and Lashon HaTov
- # 677 – Tallis Koton — Wool or Cotton?
- # 721 – Eruv Pesach – Mores Special Than You Think
- # 765 – How Many Mitzvos of Sefira Are There?
- # 809 – Netilas Yadayim – Things You Never Knew
- # 853 – Mila on Shabbos: Fascinating Questions
- # 897 – Insights Into Sefiras Ha’Omer
- # 942 – Kiddush Hashem – Is Everyone Obligated?
- # 984 – “What’s Tonight’s Sefira?” and other Sefira Issues
- #1028 – Davening Maariv Early: Does it Make it Tomorrow?
- #1073 – Bracha Achrona – How Fast Or Slow Must One Eat?
- #1115 – Office Lashon Horah – How Far Must You Go To Avoid It?
- #1157 – But the Butcher I Buy From Has a Reliable Reputation!
- #1201 – The Shabbos Bris and the Borei P’ri Ha’gefen
- #1246 – Wearing Sunglasses on Shabbos? Contact Lenses? A Lens that Popped Out? and other “Glasses on Shabbos” Issues
- #1288 – An Aliyah After Your Wife Gives Birth Revisited
- #1333 – Oops! There is a Sticker on the Kli I Just Toiveled – Must I Toivel It Again?
- #1377 – An In Vitro Fertilization Baby, Can You Do His Milah on Shabbos?
- #1465 – Milah Shailos During the Corona Pandemic
- #1508 – Making Shabbos Early in the Days of Sefiras Ha’Omer: Not as Simple as you Think
- #1550 – A Few Interesting Lashon Horah Shailos
- #1593 – The Baal Teshuva and his Parents’ Chametz
A complete catalogue can be ordered from the Yad Yechiel Institute, PO Box 511, Owings Mills MD 21117-0511. Call (410) 358-0416 or e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.yadyechiel.org/ for further information.
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Date: May 2, 2025
