By: Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The beginning of this week’s Torah reading discusses the procedure of purifying one who was contaminated by Tzaras (a kind of skin disease that causes one to be impure). Three of the items amongst those which the afflicted person must bring for this procedure are: A cedar tree branch, a particular type of weed and a “Shni Tola’as”. A “Tola’as,” literally, means is a worm, but a “Shni Tola’as” is a tongue of wool. Rashi<\/em> explains that these items signify an important lesson. What brought about this affliction in the first place was the person’s arrogance, by holding himself tall and proud like a cedar tree. His prescription to get healed<\/strong>, is to humble himself and lay low like a worm and weeds. This statement gives us an incredible insight into the inner workings of the world. The proper way for one to rid himself of the Tzara’as, is not to find the best doctors and medicines, but to amend his own character. Furthermore, this is not an abstract way to achieve the desired health, but rather this is the way to rectify the cause of the illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This concept is not limited to Tzara’as. Our sages have advised us\n(Brachos 5a), that anytime we experiences afflictions, we should investigate\nour deeds. When we experience any kind of ailment, we are driven to obtain the\nproper treatment to cure the problem. Certainly God’s desire is that we should\nseek the best solution possible to restore our health and take care of whatever\nthe problem may be, in accordance with the laws of nature in our world.\nHowever, we must realize that doing so alone is just a “Band-Aid”\nkind of solution. When we are struck with a problem, it is not a mere coincidence or \u201cbad luck\u201d<\/strong> which brought about the unpleasant situation.\nAll pain and difficulties which we experience in our lives, only happen because\nit was decreed in Heaven to be so. When Heaven has decreed suffering upon someone,\nit is often a consequence of one’s wrongdoings. Therefore, the true reason for\nany kind of misfortune, lies in one’s own actions. By going to a doctor or by\nengaging in any other endeavor to take care of the problem, we have only attacked the superficial cause or our problem.\nIn order to tackle the root of the problem, we must rectify the source, which\nis our actions. If we want to obtain a full, long lasting recovery, from the\ntrue problem, and insure that it doesn’t come back to haunt us in another form,\nwe must do some introspection and correct our ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Talmud relates a fascinating story which demonstrates this concept\n(ibid 5b). Rav Hunah had four hundred barrels of wine which went sour and\nturned into vinegar \u2013 a tremendous financial loss. The news of his loss spread,\nand a group of rabbis came to visit him. These rabbis suspected that this\npunishment from heaven could be attributed to a specific misconduct on Rav\nHunah’s part, and proceeded to advise him to do some introspection. Upon hearing\nthis, Rav Hunah asked them, “Am I a suspect in your eyes for not\nconducting myself properly?” To which the rabbis responded, “Could\nGod be suspected of doing injustice?” And so, Rav Hunah responded,\n“Anyone who has heard something about me [which I should correct] should let\nme know.” When the rabbis heard that he was ready to accept their\ncriticism, they told him, “We heard that you do not grant your\nsharecropper his share in the vine branches.” Rav Hunah then responded and\nsaid, “Does he leave me any? This sharecropper steals from me way more than\nhis share!” The rabbis did not accept his defense and said, that nevertheless,\n“One who steals from a thief, also tastes a taste of theft.” Rav\nHunah immediately accepted their rebuke and resolved to give the sharecropper\nthat which they agreed on. There are two versions in the Talmud as to what\nfollowed. Either a miracle happened and the vinegar turned back into wine, or\nthe price of vinegar rose to equal the price of wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We may not always understand what the\ntrue factor in heaven is which caused the problem we are experiencing, and we\nmay not always succeed in alleviating that which we are suffering from.\nHowever, if we listen to the call and improve our ways, we surely will greatly\nincrease the chances of our situation being improved. When we take the matter\nto heart and utilize it as a vehicle to\ncome closer to God, then regardless of how much we succeed in improving our\nphysical situation, we most certainly have succeeded in attending to a more\nsubstantial problem, a spiritual ailment. We can always find in ourselves\nsomething to improve. By diverting our pain to become a springboard for\nspiritual growth, we are sure to improve our quality of life, one way or\nanother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber The beginning of this week’s Torah reading discusses the procedure of purifying one who was contaminated by Tzaras (a kind of skin disease that causes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,9],"tags":[734],"class_list":["post-3073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vayikra","category-weekly-torah-portion","tag-sefervayikra"],"yoast_head":"\n