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Achrei Mot

taking maters into their own hands, they overstepped the bounds of
tazria ַעי ִרְז ַּ ת normative behavior and suffered the consequences.

In order to understand why Nadav and Avihu’s actions were so
problematic we need to once again examine the concept called “Run
and Return.” In the dynamic of run and return, the soul, on the
one hand, “runs,” seeking to reunite with God and its Divine source,
£The Spiritual Roots of DiseaseThe Spiritual Roots of DiseaseThe Spiritual Roots of Disease while, on the other hand, it ultimately “returns” to the earthly realm
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in order to fulfill its purpose in this world. Both tendencies need to
be carefully nurtured and balanced. Most people either actively
The portions of Tazria and Metzora deal primarily with the skin squelch the fire in their souls or passively find the fire put out by
disease called tzara’at, commonly translated as leprosy. The Sages the ongoing challenges of daily life. Subsequently, they often become
point out though that this particular disease was not caused by too wrapped up in the “return,” the world’s materialism, forgetting
physiological factors, but rather was the outcome of various spiritual their souls’ innate tendency to fly free. Though less common, some
flaws. God afflicted the sufferers in order to force them to come to people are overly connected to the spiritual realms or the thrill of the
terms with the reasons for the malady and change their ways. “run,” and thus they lack the ability to function well on a day-to-
day basis.
The Talmud (Arachin 16a) enumerates a long list of sins that
caused the disease, including bloodshed, robbery, false oaths, sexual Nadav and Avihu when they entered the sanctuary with a fire
misconduct, pride, and selfishness. However, the two sins that stand pan and incense were “on fire,” eager to draw closer to God, but
out as the primary causes of tzara’at are slander and gossip. The lacking the firm commitment to “return,” and in fact their souls
Sages even interpreted the Hebrew term used to refer to one who were consumed in the process. This is why their actions may not be
had the disease – metzora – as a contraction of the phrase “motzi shem lauded. Nonetheless, the High Priest on Yom Kippur entered the
ra,” a spreader of slander, or more literally, one who brings forth evil Holy of Holies with fire pan and incense as had Nadav and Avihu, so
(Vayikra Rabbah 16:6). this action must have some spiritual merit we can learn from. What
might this be? To answer briefly – ego nullification. The nullification
The Stone Chumash (published by ArtScroll) points out that all
the sins listed above have one common denominator: an insensitivity of ego – facilitated in the case of Yom Kippur by the prohibitions
to others that implies a tremendous amount of egocentricity. In a and customs of the day and in Nadav and Avihu’s case by the fire in
“measure for measure” response, God ensured that those afflicted their souls – is crucial to our religious development.
with tzara’at would be isolated from the community so that they The Slonimer Rebbe’s explanation of the following verse about
would experience the pain they had caused others. This would the Yom Kippur service supports this insight: “Any person shall not
hopefully cause them to undertake sincere introspection and move be in the Tent of Meeting when he [the High Priest] comes to provide
them to repent. atonement in the Sanctuary” (Leviticus 16:17). He points out that
according to a more literal reading if no one may be in the Sanctuary
As we noted in the introduction, the Torah is eternal and speaks to
each person in every generation. The only disease specifically singled then, in a sense, even the High Priest may not be there either! The
out by the Torah for discussion is tzara’at, and all the commentators Slonimer Rebbe explains that the High Priest must reach a level
agree that the disease’s causes were spiritual. As we will see, the where his soul is so nullified with respect to God that he is able to
eternal message taught by tzara’t not only stems from its emotional, fulfill the requirement that no person be there! The Slonimer Rebbe

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