The Weekly Shtikle - Tazria / Metzora

Since the hour is late, just a quick thought: We often strive to find connections between different episodes within the same parsha. It is perhaps less common to find connections from one parsha to the next. The topic that takes up most of parshas Tazria is the illness of tzara'as. Traditionally, (as per Arachin 15b) tzara'as afflicted someone who spoke lashon hara as it did Miriam at the end of parshas Beha'alosecha.

 

R' Moshe Shternbuch in Ta'am Voda'as, in the name of R' Yisrael Salanter, writes that the end of the previous parsha we are taught of the animals that are not to be eaten and the tum'ah that results when we do. While it seems that very many people are careful about what they put into their mouths, they are seemingly far less careful of what comes out. The juxtaposition of these two topics is meant to show that just as putting the wrong things in our mouths results in serious tum'ah, the same grievous consequences result when we allow the wrong things to come out.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: White Hair

Dikdukian: Meaining of "kibus" by Eliyahu Levin

Dikdukian: Various Dikduk Observations by Eliyahu Levin

 

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com