My Musing
This
midrash is a rarity in that it is a continuation from a midrash yelamdeinu
in the next sidra, Metzora ( Tanhuma 4). It reverses the
order of the three types of tza’raat as they are encountered in
Leviticus. The verses in this sidra introduce the tzara’at of the
body followed by that of the clothes. In Metzora, tzara'at of the
house is discussed. The order presented in this week's selection is house,
clothes, and body. The midrash posits that the punishment is in fact a
difficulty for God to inflict. The Midrash uses the inverted order to explain
that the negaim, lesions, of the house and clothes are first and second
chances for repentance. It is only after the second chance that the third negah
gets put to use.
מדרש תנחומא (ורשא) פרשת תזריע סימן י
(ויקרא יג:ב) "אָדָם כִּי
יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר
בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל אַחַד מִבָּנָיו
הַכֹּהֲנִים"
When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising,
or a scab, or a bright spot, and it become in the skin of his flesh the plague
of leprosy, then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his
sons the priests.
קשה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא לפשוט ידו באדם הזה.
ומה הוא עושה? מתרה בו תחלה ואחר כך מלקה אותו. שנאמר (ויקרא יד:לד) "כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר
אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ
אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם" בתחלה מלקה ביתו. חזר בו מוטב, ואם לאו, מלקה בגדיו. שנאמר, (ויקרא יג:מז) "וְהַבֶּגֶד כִּי יִהְיֶה
בוֹ נֶגַע צָרָעַת בְּבֶגֶד צֶמֶר אוֹ בְּבֶגֶד פִּשְׁתִּים" חזר בו מוטב, ואם לאו, באים בגופו שנאמר
"אָדָם כִּי יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ".
It is
difficult before the Holy One, blessed be He, to punish a person. And what does
He do? He first warns him and then hits him. As it says, “When ye are
come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put
the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession;” In the
beginning He strikes the house. If he returns from his ways, that is fine, and
if not, he is stricken in his clothes. As it says, “And when the plague of
leprosy is in a garment, whether it be a woolen garment, or a linen garment;”
If he returns from his ways, that is fine, and if not, they come to his body as
it says, “When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh”
אין תגובות:
הוסף רשומת תגובה