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from infection to reintegration into the community, as corresponding
to Jewish history. The Jews’ submissive and humbling exile among
the nations corresponds to their being afflicted with the disease on
account of their actions. Banishment from the camp corresponds to
the draconian laws ensuring the Jews’ physical, social, and economic
separation from their non-Jewish neighbors in the Diaspora.
Just as the woman who gives birth to a male child in the portion
of Tazria symbolizes a subtle “awakening from above” that induces
an “awakening from below,” which brings the redemption, the verse
about tzara’at – “The cohen shall go to the outside of the camp and the
cohen shall look and behold, the tzara’at affliction has been healed
from the metzora” – refers symbolically to God going forth to see the
Jews scattered around the world when the time for redemption has
come; He will behold that the time for healing and redemption has
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arrived and He will subtly awaken the Jews.
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Continuing in this vein, the Ohr HaChaim explains that the two
birds (one who lives and ones who dies) represent the two Mashiach’s
spoken about in the Jewish tradition: Mashiach ben David (Mashiach
descended from David) and Mashiach ben Yosef (Mashiach descended
from Joseph). According to tradition, Mashiach ben Yosef will
pave the way for Mashiach ben David by fighting the final battles
and, according to many, he will die in the process. Mashiach ben
David will finally redeem the nation of Israel and the entire world,
releasing humanity (like a bird going free) from the bonds of war,
hatred, jealousy, and greed. The final redemption thus represents the
ultimate state of “sweetening.”
The Ohr HaChaim’s approach, along with the other symbolic
and allegorical interpretations of tzara’at we have presented, places
the Torah’s seemingly mundane, ritualistic laws in a much broader
and deeper universal perspective. As we have witnessed throughout
this book, the Torah – especially when viewed through the lenses
of PaRDeS – contains many different levels of interpretation:
from the practical to the mystical, from the ancient to the modern,
and spreading out in concentric circles, from the individual to the
communal, to the national, to the global, and even to the higher
supernal worlds.
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metzOra ע ָרֹצ ְמ
£The Flight to Freedom The Flight to Freedom
££The Flight to Freedom
After Tazria introduces tzara’at and establishes how to identify
and treat it, the portion of Metzora begins by explaining the final
procedure for healing the ailment once it is in remission. The ritual
described in the Torah is an extremely powerful ceremony replete
with symbolism and emotional and psychological meaning and
impact:
And God spoke to Moses, saying: “This shall be the law of
the metzora [the one afflicted with tzara’at] on the day of his
purification: he shall be brought to the cohen. The cohen shall go to
the outside of the camp and the cohen shall look and behold – the
tzara’at affliction has been healed from the metzora. The cohen shall
command; and for the person being purified there shall be taken two
live, clean birds, cedar wood, crimson thread, and hyssop. And the
cohen shall command and the one bird will be slaughtered into an
earthenware vessel over springwater. As for the live bird – he shall
take it with the cedar wood and the crimson thread and the hyssop,
and he shall dip them and the live bird into the blood of the bird that
was slaughtered over the springwater. Then he shall sprinkle seven
times upon the person being purified from the tzara’at and he shall
purify him, and he shall set the live bird free upon the open field.
The person being purified shall immerse his clothing, shave off all his
hair, and immerse himself in the water and become pure and then he
may enter the camp; but he shall dwell outside of his tent for seven
days. On the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair – his head,
his beard, his eyebrows, and all his hair shall he shave off; he shall
immerse his clothing and immerse his flesh in water, and become
pure.” (Leviticus 14:1-9)
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