(link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazria – Metzora – Yom Haatzmauth When you come into the land of canaan which i am about To give to you as a possession, and i inflict An eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess… (Vayikra 14: 34-35)   The reason for 'When you come into the land" – For this exists only in the land , because of its high standing, because the Sanctuary is within them and His honor is within...

(link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazria – Metzora – Yom Haatzmaut Sound the great shofar for our freedom, Raise high the banner to gather our exiles, And gather us together from the four quarters of the earth (From the Amida prayer)   It is impossible to avoid a clear decision regarding Yom Ha'atzmaut. This day cannot be given a partial evaluation. One view has it that it is not a holiday, but rather a day of mourning: the day the Jewish People rebelled against the Torah. Another view...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazria – Metzora When you come to the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I place a lesion of tzara'at upon a house in the land of your possession. (Vayikra 14:34)   …tzara'at of houses is one of the things described in the Torah that lack any relation to actual reality. It is precisely because lesions of houses are very strange – one might say supernatural – that the details mentioned...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazria – Metzora The religious establishment has struggled to shape the religious character of Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, and this issue continues to engage various sectors of the religious community. It cannot be solved without coming to an understanding of the religious value of the historical events associated with those holidays. Let it be said at the outset: we are not concerned here with the significance of a "prophetic vision" or "messianic destiny" involving "the Kingdom...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazria – Metzora THIS SHALL BE THE LAW OF THE PERSON AFFLICTED WITH LEPROSY, ON THE DAY OF HIS CLEANSING: HE SHALL BE BROUGHT TO THE PRIEST. THE PRIEST SHALL GO OUTSIDE THE CAMP, AND THE PRIEST SHALL LOOK, AND BEHOLD, THE LESION OF LEPROSY HAS HEALED IN THE AFFLICTED PERSON.  THEN THE PRIEST SHALL ORDER, AND THE PERSON TO BE CLEANSED SHALL TAKE TWO LIVE, CLEAN BIRDS, A CEDAR STICK, A STRIP OF CRIMSON...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parshat Tazriya-Metzora – Yom Ha'Atzma'ut This issue is dedicated to Major Yehoraz Kasher z"l Upon his fortieth birthday 1 Iyar 5726 – 27 Tishrei 5752   They shall go to the Land of Israel with the permission and help of the kings of the nations, as it is written: And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations (Isaiah 66:20) And that kingdom shall endure and never end. (R. Ezra ben Shelomo, Commentary on...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Click here to receive the weekly parsha by email each week. Parashat Tazria – Metzora THERE WERE FOUR MEN, LEPERS, OUTSIDE THE GATE. THEY SAID TO ONE ANOTHER: "WHY SHOULD WE SIT HERE WAITING FOR DEATH?" (Melakhim Bet 7:1, Haftorah for Metzora)     "Always push away with the left hand and draw near with the right" The Rabbis learned: Elisha suffered three bouts of ilness: One, when he enraged bears against children, one when he pushed away Gehazi with both his hands, and one that killed...

Shabbat Shalom The weekly parsha commentary – parshat (link to original page) Parashat Tazria-Metzora WHEN YOU ENTER THE LAND OF CANAAN THAT I GIVE YOU AS A POSSESSION, AND I INFLICT AN AFFLICTION OF TSARAAT UPON A HOUSE IN THE LAND YOU POSSESS, THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE SHALL COME AND TELL THE PRIEST, SAYING: "SOMETHING LIKE AN AFFLICTION HAS APPEARED UPON MY HOUSE."  (Vayikra 14:33-34)     AFFLICTIONS ON THE HOUSE – A RESULT OF POSSESIVENESS AND USE OF FORCE What I consider to be the most correct understanding of this is that the main cause [of afflictions...