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A House of Leprosy
Posted by Lev/Christopher on April 19, 2009 at 8:15am in Torah Studies
Parashat Hashavuah
Tazria-Metzorah / תזריע - מצורע : "Conceived"
Torah : Leviticus 12:1–15:33
Haftarah : Isaiah 66:1-24
Gospel : Luke 10–13
From the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? (James 3:10-11)
Commentary
Then the one who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, "Something like a mark of leprosy has become visible to me in the house." (Leviticus 14:35)
Leviticus 14:33-53 describes the ceremonial procedure for diagnosing and cleansing a home in which signs of biblical leprosy have appeared on the walls. Mold and mildew are not uncommon on interior walls. It can be a real problem in Israel during the rainy winter season. Mold and mildew, however, do not necessarily constitute biblical leprosy. Not every form of mold and mildew is leprous.
As with the man who suspected he had contracted leprosy, the priest was to make an examination and diagnosis of the house. If the priest diagnosed the mildew problem as biblical leprosy, he declared the home ritually unfit. You may have mold and mildew problems in your house, and they may present you with health risks, but you don't need to worry about them being biblical leprosy unless a descendant of Aaron serving in the priesthood makes that assessment.
The procedure for purifying such a house is similar to the procedure for purifying the leper. In both cases, the ritual with the two birds, the cedar wood, crimson and hyssop are identical. Furthermore, the shaving of a leper's hair can be compared to the scraping of the plaster from an afflicted house.
In traditional Judaism, biblical leprosy is associated with the sins of evil speech, gossip and murmuring. The sages blame leprosy in a house on the words spoken within that house. Most of the evil speech we indulge in happens within the four walls of our own homes. Our spouses are our confidants as we unburden our hearts, blow off a little steam and lodge our complaints about others. This kind of murmuring seems innocuous. There are no victims. The words never leave the house, so what's the problem?
Actually, there is a victim. You are the victim. By indulging in critical speech, you are conditioning yourself to exercise a critical spirit. Day after day you are patterning your mind to concentrate on the shortcomings of others. Moreover, you are poisoning the other members of your household with the same increasing bitterness. One could say that the very walls of your house absorb the evil spiritual energy you are creating. The entire home becomes defiled.
The solution to the problem is to break the habit. Make a pact with those in your home not to speak or tolerate evil speech any longer. Scrape the infected spiritual plaster off the walls and start with a fresh coat of optimism, grace and kindness. See if it freshens up the place a bit.
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