TORAH PORTION I
METRO DETROIT LODGES/UNITS of the
B'NAI B'RITH MICHIGAN REGIONAL COUNCIL,
B'NAI B'RITH FOUNDATION
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Ancient Affliction's
Modern Application
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RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT
Special to The Jewish News
Proceeds to benefit our B'nai B'rith Youth serving agencies
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n this week's twin sidrot
we read about the laws
pertaining to the dreadful
and horribly infectious
disease of leprosy, its symp-
toms, its diagnosis and the
rites of purification for the
victim.
Once the victim was af-
fected, there was no alter-
native but to isolate him out-
side of the community, in
order to limit the area of in-
fection as much as possible.
In our rabbinic literature
there is a moral counterpart
to this unpleasant disease.
The rabbis transfer the laws
of the leper from the physical
plane to the spiritual, from
the world of the body to that
of the spirit. The word for
leper is Metzora and the rab-
bis read it as two Hebrew
words — Motzi ra, "He who
spreads evil, the slanderer,
libeler and the evil gossiper."
They then proceed to em-
phasize a moral truth: That
what leprosy is in the
physical world, slander and
malicious gossip are in the
moral. There is the same
spread of infection, the same
inability to find a cure, and
the same remedy to be ap-
plied, the rigid isolation of the
person afflicted with that
loathsome moral disease.
The Talmud is unequivocal
and unsparing in its condem-
nation of the gossiper and
slanderer. "He who engages
in lashon hara, evil speech,
spoken of a third person, is a
triple murderer for he
destroys three people — the
one who speaks it, the one
who accepts it and the one of
whom it is spoken."
The worst thing about
malicious gossip is that it is
so irretrievable. An ancient
story tells of a peasant who
came to his rabbi with a terri-
ble burden of guilt. He had
spread a vicious rumor about
his neighbor and now wanted
to atone for his slander.
The rabbi instructed him to
take the feathers from one of
his pillows and to place one
feather on the doorstep of
each of the houses in the
village. The task completed,
the peasant returned and
asked, "What do I do now?"
"Now," said the sage, "take
your bag and gather up every
feather."
I
After a long period of time,
the peasant came back com-
plaining . . . "I could not find
a single feather, for the wind
has scattered them far and
wide."
"So it is with gossip," said
the wise man. "Unkind words
are easily dropped, but are
almost impossible to take
back again."
And yet we are familiar
with the common human
tendency to gossip. We talk of
slander and malicious gossip
as an innocuous pastime,
which can be indulged in
without serious harm. But in-
variably there is harm and
once it is done and once said,
our words are irretrievable.
Let us never underestimate
the damage caused by a little
slander.
One of the most pernicious
slanders against the Jewish
people was the so-called
"ritual murder" charge. Ac-
Tazria — Mezonah:
Leviticus
12:1-15:33.
II Kings 7:3-20.
cording to this destructive
myth, Jews were accused of
killing Christian children
and using their blood for such
ritual purposes as preparing
wine or matzot for Passover.
Entire Jewish villages were
decimated in pogroms as a
result of these vicious blood
libels.
Throughout our history we
have paid heavy prices in
human lives for these and
other heinous lies and
fabrications.
In Jewish philosophy, man
is called medaber — one who
is endowed with the divine
blessing of speech. Indeed,
speech alone distinguishes
the human being from all
other forms of creation. How
careful then must we be in
never abusing this sublime
gift.
We would do well to
remember and practice the
closing words of the Amida
prayer recited thrice daily —
"My God, guard my tongue
from evil and my lips from
speaking guile." El
SYNAGOGUES
Birmingham Temple
Information Evening
Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine will
describe the philosophy and
programs of the Birmingham
Temple and of Humanistic
Judaism 8:30 p.m. May 1 in
the temple library.
For reservations or informa-
tion, call the temple office,
477-1410.
(