Tazria

Last week, the parsha of the Torah discussed the laws of kosher & non kosher animals. This week, the portion discusses the laws of Tzaraas. Rav Yisroel Salant asks what do the laws of Tzaraas have to do with the laws of permissible food that the Torah juxtaposes one with the other?

We know that one is afflicted with Tzaraas because of sins of speech. The Midrash enumerates them as people who pledge & don't give, people who speak Lashon Hara, people who are blasphemous, people who lie, people who testify false & scoffers; all people who misuse the power of speech.
What is so monumental about the misuse of speech that it calls for this supernatural punishment?

The Sefer בארות יצחק explains that the uniqueness of man is that he's a מדבר , one who speaks so much that the gemara says the whole creation of man was just so that he could toil in speech, the learning & teaching of Torah. We also find times when man is referred to as a מדבר showing that the essence of man is the power of speech.

It’s this power of speech that separates man from the animal; it’s the נשמת חיים, the life that Hashem blew into Adam that gave him life & the power of speech. When someone uses the power of speech to sin, it's as if he's discounting the נשמת חיים which is the part of us that's from Hashem Himself. Instead of viewing himself as a superior being, he equates himself to the animal.  
Perhaps this is the lesson we could learn from the animal

Once, the Yid HaKadosh of P'shis'cha called in his prize student, R' Simcha Bunim, & told him to gather a group of chasidim to travel. “Where shall we go” asked the student? "Travel" was the response. So they headed out unsure of a destination. They traveled all day; when night fell, they headed to an inn owned by Jews.

Hungry from a day of traveling, they asked for a dairy meal assuming there were fewer kashrus issues with dairy. They were informed that the inn only serves meat at night. Left with no choice, they grilled the innkeepers on how they slaughtered the chickens, how they salted them & what standards they used in the preparation. When they were satisfied with the answers, they sat down, waited for the meal to be prepared & talked amongst themselves. Eventually, their conversation was about other people too. The innkeeper, a pious woman, overheard them. As she served them, she muttered loud enough for them to hear, "So strange how people that are so worried about what goes into their mouths are so carefree about what comes out."
R' Simcha Bunim realized then why his teacher had sent him traveling - to learn this important lesson.

Similarly Rav Yisroel Salant answers: the Torah put the laws of Tzaraas, that come from a misuse of the power of speech next to the laws of the animals we can and cannot eat, to teach us that  just as we are so careful that what goes into our mouths must be kosher, we have to be just as vigilant that what comes out is kosher too!

Shemini

Singled out among the animals that we are prohibited to eat is the חזיר , the swine, ואת החזיר כי מפריס פרסה הוא , and the pig, for its hoof is split.
Why would the pig, which is the paragon of impurity & disgust, be one of the few non-kosher animals that have one kosher sign. Wouldn't it make more sense for it to have none?

This, says the ארון עדות , teaches us a very important lesson about serving Hashem. There are times when a person feels great difficulty in serving Hashem, when one feels like heaven itself is pushing him away, as if it doesn't want him or his good deeds. He feels despondent, giving up & ceasing any attempt to reach Hashem. However, a person has to know that even in that situation one has to redouble his efforts & strengthen himself with all the power he has, not to allow himself to be weakened. These situations are merely a test from Hashem to see how one serves Him even in difficult situations, so one has to continue to push himself into the sanctity of Hashem.

There's a story told of an apostate who would slander & inform on his people whenever he could, one who committed every conceivable sin and then came to Reb Yehuda Hachasid saying he wanted to do teshuva.

The rabbi had a smooth wooden rod on his desk which he lifted & said to the apostate, “you see this rod? Just as it will never blossom, so, too, you can never do teshuva; the gates of repentance are closed to people like you". With a heavy heart the apostate shuffled out.

After some time, Reb Yehuda was grappling with a very difficult passage & absentmindedly reached for his piece of wood. He was shocked that it was no longer smooth; it had leaves and buds forming on it! Suddenly, he remembered the apostate, sent for him & told him, “you caused a miracle to happen. The stick budded. Obviously your teshuva was accepted. What had you done?

The apostate then recited his story. “One day, as I left my house, I heard a mob of Christians screaming, ‘death to the Jews.’ A Christian child had been found dead & they were blaming the Jews, saying they needed the blood for Matzos. As the crowd became larger & louder, ready to kill, a messenger from the governor came riding through & said that no Jew can be touched until they prove the story. They then saw me, the notorious informer; they dragged me to the governor to tell him that the Jews used blood in their Matzos. I was in a quandary. If I confirmed the libel, I would reinforce my position of honor. However, I would be sentencing the community to death.

Still unsure what to do, I was thrust in front of the governor who asked me, “is it the practice of the Jews to use blood in the Matza baking?” This was the moment; it was all or nothing for me. Finally, I said that not only do the Jews not need blood for their matzos, they abhor blood. They are not allowed to eat any blood: meat has to be salted to get rid of blood; eggs have to be checked to ensure that there is no blood; no way they use blood in Matzos!

The crowd was speechless. I, the Jew hater, was defending the Jews. The town was spared which inspired me to return to Judaism. Even when you rejected me, I didn't give up but worked on myself to return to my people.

This is the lesson of the חזיר, for the nature of a pig is that even when you push him away, he always comes back to the place he started. No amount of pushing would help; he just keeps coming back. It’s called a חזיר like the word חזרה , for it’s always coming back.

This is why it has the symbol of purity on its feet, to teach us that even though its whole body is impure; from the feet we could learn a good thing - to keep coming back. Just like the apostate didn't give up & was accepted by Hashem, we, too, should never give up. No matter what situation we’re in, we can  always come back!

Tzav

The Parsha opens with the laws of the קרבן עלה, the elevation offering that's offered completely to Hashem. Rashi explains that the Torah uses the term זו because it denotes alacrity to which Reb Shimon comments that the Torah has to urge where there is חסרון כיס , a loss of money. The Chidushei HaRim has a novel way of interpreting those words; he says that word כיס could also be translated as a cover so  חסרון כיס means lacking a cover.

A person’s body has various covers to prevent sin: the eyes have lids that one could close to avoid seeing what shouldn't be seen; the ears have lobes that one could use to shut them; the mouth has lips that can keep it from speaking the forbidden. Only the brain has no cover to filter out the bad thoughts. Therefore the brain needs extra diligence in protecting it from sin. Since the  קרבן עולה is brought because of sinful thoughts, the Torah uses a zealous term to remind us to be extra diligent with our minds.

We see a similar theme in this week’s maftir, the reading of פרשת זכור, where we are commanded to wipe out any vestige of עמלק, including its animals because the people of עמלק were sorcerers who could turn themselves into animals. This was how עמלק was reborn after שאול killed them out. He said to himself, “what did the animals do wrong that I should kill them out too?” Because he let them live, one of the "animals" which was really a woman was with the king whom שאול also let live overnight and had a child; from there the עמלק lineage lived on & Haman was born.

The Otzros HaTorah says that we learn a powerful lesson from here. Shaul had pity on the animals & let them live. However, Hashem said to him אל תהי צדיק הרבה ואל תתחכם יותר , don't be too righteous & don't be overwise. If Hashem commands one to do something, he should do it without analyzing even if it doesn't make sense, for man cannot know the intentions of Hashem.

This point is exemplified by the following story. רב יצחק אברבנאל was very close with the king of Spain & was, of course, hated by the other advisers who, in an attempt to undermine him, told the king to test him to see if he's really honest & trustworthy. The king agreed so they told the rabbi to write down all his personal wealth & they would see if he tries to hide anything. After three days, the rabbi came back to the king with a parchment upon which was written that his whole fortune was seven hundred thousand shekel. When the advisers saw that, they laughed & said his home alone is worth twice that. As well, he has fields & vineyards.

The king was furious & wanted to have the rabbi killed but didn't want a public outcry so he was going to do it quietly. On the outskirts of town was a brick refinery that had a constant fire burning. The king wrote a letter to the one who maintained that fire with the instruction that whoever hands him this paper should be thrown in the fire. He sent for the rabbi & gave him the sealed envelope & told him to deliver it to the brick refinery immediately. The rabbi went with his servant to do the king’s bidding. As they were leaving the city, someone was flagging them down at the crossroads. He pleaded with the rabbi to come with him for his wife gave birth eight days ago but the moel got sick & couldn't do the bris. Could the rabbi come & do it?

The rabbi was in a quandary. He was on a mission from the king which he had to complete. Yet the mitzva of bris mila had to be done; how could he pass up a mitzva that Hashem gave for the commandment of a mortal king. He gave the letter to his servant & told him to deliver it while he went to do the bris.

After the bris, he went to meet up with his servant. When he got there, the head of the refinery told him that the letter that his servant gave him was a death sentence from the king. Not only that, but before his death he admitted that he had been stealing from the rabbi all these years. When the rabbi realized what had happened, he said about himself שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע one who watches the mitzvos won't know of any bad.

The next day, he went to the king. When the king saw him, he was shocked & asked him if he had fulfilled his command. When the rabbi told the king what had happened, the king said, “now I see that you are truly righteous but tell me what was the number you wrote?” The rabbi told him, “yes I have many more possessions but those can be taken from me at any time. The number I wrote was the money I gave to charity which can't be taken from me

This teaches us that while we don't understand Hashem’s ways, we must never stray or try to make up excuses or even frum cheshbonos. We must do what we’re supposed to & know that שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע one who watches the mitzvos won't know of any bad!

Vayikra

As we begin Sefer Vayikra, we are introduced to the laws of animal sacrifice. The point of animal sacrifice, explains הגרי"ל חסמן, is to bring us closer to Hashem, for at the time the animal is sacrificed the owner is to be thinking in his mind how he can get closer to Hashem.
There should be a pining in his heart to attain this. הגרי"ל חסמן infers this from the gemara that explains the reason why the Torah states by both the small paltry bird sacrifice & by the large animal sacrifice, 'עלה אשה ריח ניחוח לה , a pleasing fragrance to Hashem, is to teach us that no matter how much or how little one gives is irrelevant as long as the intention is pure & directed to Hashem. Even the shoresh of the word “korban” means getting closer.
It’s this intent to get closer to hashem that makes it a pleasing fragrance to Him.

However, continues ,הגרי"ל חסמן currently, instead of korbanos, we have tefila, prayer. Just as the main point of sacrifice is intent, so, too, by prayer it’s not enough to just go through the motions. Rather it’s what your intent is; what's in your heart is what counts.  
Unfortunately, some of us pray by rote without much intent & heart. How can we get the same feeling as if watching the Kohen sacrifice our animal, to get that connection to get closer to Hashem?

There's a story told about the בבא סאלי who used to have a meal on Rosh Chodesh to which a few rabbis were invited to attend. However, the majority of people attending were the people whose hardships & pain was just overpowering. They were there to get the tzaddik to pray for them & bless them. One such person did not stop crying as he told the  בבא סאלי his tale of woe. He has seven daughters at home whom he has to marry off without a penny to his name. As well, both he & his wife had sicknesses & pain. The problems never stopped. As he was crying & begging the בבא סאלי to pray for him, all those in attendance could see how this person’s pain was hurting the בבא סאלי.

Suddenly, the door to the room opened & the בבא סאלי 's son in law walked in. The בבא סאלי looked up, saw his son in law & raised his voice to say "why did you come in? Who told you to come here?" The room was silent. Everyone was shocked! Why was the בבא סאלי yelling at his son in law? Before anyone could say anything, the בבא סאלי said it again! Why are you here?

Then he turned to his son in law & said, “repeat after me. A son in law is like a son & a son can come into his father whenever he wants". Still in shock, it took a little while until he was able to say loudly & clearly like his father in law wanted,  " A son in law is like a son & a son can come into his father whenever he wants"

After he said it, the בבא סאלי walked to the wall & cried out " Father in heaven do you hear what my son in law said? A son can come into his father whenever he wants! I want to come to You now & beseech You to help out this poor man. After an hour of davening, the בבא סאלי came back to the table & turned to the poor man & said, “I davened & I was answered.”

The בבא סאלי felt so close to Hashem like a son to a father who could ask for anything!
Maybe if we could keep the thought in our heads that when we go to daven we are going to our Father to ask for help. No matter what's bothering us, our Father is there to help. This will inspire us to put a little more meaning into our tefilos thereby bringing us closer to Hashem!