Adar II 29, 5776/April 8, 2016
Wrapping the modern, western, secularized brain around the divine concept of the animal offerings in the Holy Temple is hard enough. Ever since the industrial revolution western man has been much more passionate about what he can extract from nature and to what advantage he can manipulate G-d's creation than he has been about being a sincere, living and giving part of the breathtaking world that G-d has made for us. But as tenuous as man's grasp on the power of the spiritual corrective embodied in the Temple offerings is, the concept introduced in this week's Torah portion, Tazria, of a self-inflicted spiritual malady that manifests itself in the flesh, is a far greater stretch.
Torah describes in excruciating detail the visible signs of the disease of the flesh calledtzar'at, and places the diagnostic resources in the hands (and souls) of the kohanim(Temple priests), but it does not offer an explicit reason for the sudden outbreak of the disfiguring skin lesions in the first place. Our sages make it clear, however, based on their deep and ultra-sensitive insight into the language employed by Torah, that the trigger which causes the outbreak is 'lashon hara' translated simply as 'evil speak.' Speaking ill of others, saying derogatory or hurtful things about others (even if the words contain truth) will cause the speaker and spreader of the ill-will to come down with a painful and embarrassing case of tzar'at. Visible on the surface of the skin, tzar'at is not something one can hide. He is required by Torah to immediately separate himself from the community and seek the diagnosis of the kohen. He has contracted tum'a. That is, he has become 'impure.'
How archaic this sounds! How old world! Modern medicine has resoundingly convinced us that all diseases are physical in origin and can be treated as such. To regard a skin lesion as something brought on by evil speak is so 'quaint,' it is, to be frank, embarrassing.
But what is the fastest spreading disease in the world today? Ebola? The Zika virus? as threatening and deadly as these disease are, they are a distant second and third to the pandemic spread of lashon hara. Lashon hara, always a danger to society, has gone, well, 'viral' with the advent of high tech and the birth of social media. No one needs to be told how wide spread hateful speech has become in cyber space, and how oppressively ubiquitous it has become in print media and televised media and in common daily discourse between people. How many times have we read of the fatal consequences of thoughtless remarks made about others on Facebook or Twitter, or any of the other disease carrying platforms that have emerged in recent years. The disease of lashon harahas spread so far that it has become the main discourse of this year's US presidential campaign, as barbed invective has replaced the presentation of thoughtful policy as the candidate's chosen venue of political repartee. The old laws of libel and traditional limits of free speech don't seem to apply any more. Can't anyone come up with a cure?
Torah understands the existential threat of lashon hara. It defiles the bearer and can destroy the victim. It's threat is far beyond the individuals targeted by the hateful speech. It can cause a total systems collapse of entire societies from within, and fatally weakens the immune systems of nations, rendering them unable to fend off deadly threats from without. The immediate outbreak of physical, visible symptoms on the speaker of lashon hara, and his seven day isolation from society, is a painful, but ultimately compassionate way to nip the contagion in the bud. The purveyor of lashon hara is 'hoist on his own petard.' The sense of isolation and humiliation he sought to (or thoughtlessly) impose on another, is instead visited upon him for a seven day period. Let him feel the shame he conspired to inflict upon another and henceforth distance himself from lashon hara.
Little wonder that Torah tells of tzar'at almost immediately after conveying the dietary laws of pure and impure animals. Man needs to be just as scrupulously careful about what comes out of his mouth as he is about what he puts in his mouth. The highest form of impurity is the impurity contracted by contact with death, overcome only through the ashes of the red heifer. But the impurity of lashon hara is far more pernicious because it actually has the power to introduce death into our lives, both physical and spiritual death. The ashes of the red heifer cannot overcome the impurity of lashon hara. Only the intense scrutiny of the kohen can cure the individual who has brought tzar'at upon himself. Death itself was introduced into the world via the deceitful words of the serpent in the Garden. The words which left his mouth caused Adam and Eve to place in their mouths the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and the ensuing result is known to all.
Archaic? Unenlightened? Benighted? Hardly. The world today needs the Torah prescribed remedy for hate speech more than ever before. What a different world it would be if hate speech, 'lashon hara,' were swallowed up forever. This, too, is the promise of the Holy Temple!
-The Temple Institute
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