Metzora: The Power of Speech

Rav Kook on the Torah Portion 

Only in Israel 

What is the root cause for the disease of tzara'at as described in the Torah? The Midrash explains that this skin disease is a punishment for gossip and slander. A person suffering from tzara'at is called a metzora because he is motzee sheim ra — he spreads derogatory reports [Vayikra Rabbah 16:1. See Rambam, Hilchot Tzara'at 16:15, that one fulfills the mitzvah "Be careful regarding tzara'at" [Deut. 24:8-9] by avoiding gossip].

Given that tzara'at is brought about by slander, one would expect that all peoples would be afflicted, since even non-Jews are culpable for personal damages. Yet, Maimonides wrote that tzara'at is not a natural phenomenon, but a unique sign found only among the people of Israel. Why should only the Jewish people suffer from this ailment?

Divine Speech 

There are two levels of speech. There is everyday speech, based on and limited to that which occurs in the physical universe. And there is a higher form of speech, a holy speech that God bestowed to Israel. This elevated speech does not come from the world. On the contrary, the world comes from it. This is the speech by which God created the world. "By the word of God, the heavens were made; and by the breath of His mouth, all of their host" [Psalms 33:6].

God granted us the power of His speech, this speech that preceded the world, when He gave us the Torah, the blueprint of creation. "He looked in the Torah and created the universe" [Zohar Terumah 161b]. The transmission of Divine speech to the Jewish people is hinted in the verse, "I put my speech in your mouth... to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth" [Isaiah 51:16].

Redemption of Speech 

The Kabbalists explained that the Hebrew name for Passover, Pesach, is a combination of the words peh sach — 'the mouth speaks.' The redemption from Egypt, which paved the way for the Torah's revelation at Sinai, also redeemed the faculty of speech. For this reason, Passover is commemorated with an oral mitzvah, the mitzvah to retell the story of the Exodus. And we find that Moses, aware of this aspect of the redemption from Egypt, tried to disqualify himself by protesting, "I am not a man of speech" [Ex. 4:10].

In an essay entitled ' The Redemption of Speech,' Rav Kook wrote: "Sometimes we can sense the connection between our speech and the universe. This is the initial step to redeem speech from its exile."

"As the soul is elevated, we become acutely aware of the tremendous power that lies in our faculty of speech. We recognize clearly the tremendous significance of each utterance; the value of our prayers and blessings, the value of our Torah study, and of all of our discourse. We learn to perceive the overall impact of speech. We sense the change and great stirring of the world that is caused by speech." [Orot HaKodesh vol III, p. 285] 

Two Mouths 

The most striking expression of the difference between these two levels of speech is the remarkable statement of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai: "Had I been present at Mount Sinai, I would have requested that God create us with two mouths. One mouth to speak in words of Torah, and one mouth for all of our mundane needs." [Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1:2]

We may lack a mouth specially dedicated to Torah and prayer, but we can still deepen our awareness of the extraordinary nature of holy speech. At the start of the morning prayers, we recite a wonderful kavanah: "I hereby prepare my mouth to thank and praise my Creator." With this short declaration, we prepare ourselves to employ our mouth for a totally different form of speech. We prepare ourselves to use the sublime speech that is rooted in the source of Divine wisdom. Since this discourse comes from the elevated speech used to create the universe, our prayers have the ability to influence the world and change its course [Olat Re'iyah vol. I, p. 192].

With this appreciation for the power of holy speech, we may understand why tzara'at only afflicts the Jewish people. Our faculty of speech, based on the Divine speech that transcends the universe, can influence the world for good and for bad. When we misuse this great power, we damage the world and are held responsible. The affliction of tzara'at — and the process of purifying oneself from it — comes to repair this wrong. The verbal communication of other nations, however, comes from within the physical universe. Since it lacks the power of elevated speech, they are not punished for its misuse. [Adapted from Mo'adei HaRe'iyah, pp. 295-296]

Source: Rav Kook Torah

The Effects of an Eclipse

Tomorrow - April 20 - there will be a total hybrid solar eclipse over Western Australia. 

A hybrid eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes its appearance as the Moon's shadow moves across the Earth's surface. 

click here for more info

The Talmud [Sukah 29a] states that eclipses are bad signs for the world. The Talmud then elaborates on what can cause an eclipse:

An eclipse of the sun occurs for the following four reasons: For not having eulogized a chief judge (a chief judge is comparable to the sun, for he enlightens and clarifies things for the community - Maharsha); for not having helped a betrothed maiden when she called for help (to save her from ill treatment); for committing adultery and for killing two brothers on the same day.

Because of the following four reasons the moon and the stars eclipsed:

For committing forgery, for false witnesses, for raising sheep and goats in the land of Israel (that is, for letting goats and sheep pasture from other people's fields - Rashi), and for cutting down fruit-bearing trees.

The Shaloh [Noach p.274b] explains that seeing the lunar eclipse implies a bad sign. Hashem would ascertain that the Jews would see it if they were sinning. However, if they were not sinning, Hashem would darken the sky so that the eclipse would not be visible.

This interpretation is not satisfactory, for the Talmud states: "For the following reasons an eclipse occurs and not an eclipse is seen". The very occurrence of an eclipse is a consequence of the aforementioned sins and not the sight of the eclipse. Furthermore, in cloudless locations such as Egypt [see Rashi Vayigash 47:10 and Vaera 7:17] the Jews would always be capable of seeing the eclipse regardless of their behaviour.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Commentary:

How can we say that something as natural and predictable as an eclipse can have an affect on people's welfare? Furthermore, how can we say that the actions of people can provoke the occurrence of something that takes place as regularly and naturally as an eclipse?

It is a wellknown fact that Torah scholars had a vast knowledge of science in general and astronomy in particular. Astronomy was very important for the Jews in order to establish the calendar and proclaim the new months. Even great non-Jewish individuals would ask the Rabbis scientific questions. Therefore, we cannot say that the Rabbis were uttering nonsense when it came to the subject of the eclipse.

Mazal - or constellation - occurs when the stars are in a certain position. Some days or times are auspicious for a good mazal, others are known to be times in which misfortune could happen, G-d forbid, due to the unfavorable mazal. So at certain moments, the mazalot can have influence on the people. Even the day on which one is born has an influence on his characteristics (Shabbat 126a). Therefore, specific mazalot provide people with good or bad tendencies. (Nevertheless, the Rambam in Hilchot Teshuva 5:4 says that a person is not controlled by his natural tendencies and he has the power to change them)

During the time of an eclipse, the stars are in a position that can have a bad influence on the people. At such a time, the four aforementioned sins are more readily transgressed! For this reason the eclipse is a bad sign for the Jews, because they are more likely to sin than at some other time. As a result, they might be punished. Hence it is not our actions that cause the eclipse, but rather the eclipse that can alter our actions, triggering a heavenly punishment.

Therefore, if Jews are doing Hashem's will, the effects of the eclipse will not concern them. Chazal even say that we should not worry about the influence of stars if we do what Hashem wants. For as long as we do not let the bad mazal alter our actions, we do not deserve any punishment.

Jews are not limited by the boundaries of nature, including the celestial bodies. We have the power to change our mazal by doing good deeds. Our mazal depends on our actions and our prayers.

Source: Based on Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Vol. XV
"The Rebbe's Treasure: Interpretations of Talmudic Stories"

Wonders in the Heavens #7

As I've mentioned many times here, we currently have the Nibiru system very close to earth.  There are 8 or 9 planets in this system orbiting around a sun which is behind our sun.  And behind both suns is a giant star [or something]   which is why the sun sometimes looks like this:

Whether you believe this or not, you cannot deny the thousands and thousands of videos and photos of giant sphere shapes and terrifying looking clouds that are currently traversing the world right now.  These are the clouds from other planets, we are seeing their base clouds, and sometimes the sky is full of the entire planet's clouds.   If you think you haven't seen them, that's because you're lucky enough to live in a place which hasn't been flooded or quaked lately.  Meanwhile, when somewhere is being rain-bombed, the last thing they'll be doing is looking up at the sky, so they don't know there's a massive planet pushing away from earth and causing the floods in the process.

The planets push themselves away from earth electro-magnetically, which creates massive thunder and lightning storms, and sets off volcanoes and earthquakes.  

I have been researching this for months now, and whilst there is a ton of mis-information out there, and sometimes it's hard to know what to believe.... one thing which cannot be denied is actual videos of these events, dozens of which are uploaded daily to various sites on the internet.

The photos and videos below are from TikTok, they are all from random users around the world.  As you will see, they are all genuine.  The first one is the flooded airport in Florida, the rest are clouds that are nothing like our planet earth clouds.

Out of Love

"He should be brought to Aharon the Kohen..." [Tazria 13:2]

The Kohanim (priests) were people of inherent kindness who blessed the Jewish people with love.  Therefore, when it came to declaring somebody with the severe condition of tzara'as, which required total isolation from the Jewish camp, it was imperative that this harsh judgment be done out of love, so the Torah required it to be done by a Kohen.

From this we can learn a powerful lesson: that if one feels that another person has acted disgracefully and one wishes to chastise him, one must first examine one's own motives to see if one's desire to rebuke another is truly being done out of love.

Source: Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

HY"D

 

Lucy (Lucianne) Dee has tragically died of her wounds, three days after a West Bank terror shooting in which her two daughters were slain. Rabbi Leo Dee, father of Maia and Rina, and husband to Lucy called for the global Jewish community to share photos of Israeli flags to their social media channels to "send out a message to humanity, which is we will never accept terror as legitimate..."

Wonders in the Heavens: #6

Here are a couple of photos from the storm that hit eastern Australia on Friday night. The photos were taken by a storm chaser, they are not photo-shopped in any way, and yes the sky was purple.   It was the most amazing storm I've ever seen.  Definitely a Nibiru effect.

Where I was, the entire sky was lit up as if someone had shone a giant torch on it.  It went on flashing for hours.  I feel so blessed to have witnessed it - it was absolutely "biblical". No other word for it.

Yanuka's Message for this Pesach

 Hebrew with English subtitles

Chag Sameach

 

Wishing you all a chag kasher v'sameach, wondering what surprises are in store for us during the rest of Nissan, the month of miracles.  Trump being arrested erev Yomtov is a sign that they are desperate, they are terrified of him being re-elected and ruining O'Biden's destruction of all things good and true. I would love to hear Rabbi Kessin's thoughts.