Why would you place a sundial in the shade?
(Z:DY ARQYW) ‰.HDsH YNP LE HYXH RPCH TA XLwW WRHUW OYMEP EBw TERCH IM RHUMH LE HZHW‰
“He shall sprinkle on the one being purified from the tzaraas, seven times, and purify him; and send the live bird upon the face of the field.” (Vayikra 14:7)
There is much symbolism in the korbanos of the Metzora. The Klei Yakar explains that birds are chosen because tzaraas comes about due to three primary flaws in one’s character: speaking lashon hara, arrogance, and a love of money. Birds represent these because, like the baal lashon hara, they twitter incessantly. They can fly high, as the arrogant fellow imagines he is above everyone else, and in Mishlei we are told not to toil to become rich, for in the blink of an eye it can “grow wings” and fly away.
One bird is slaughtered, and the live bird is dipped in its blood. Then it is cast out upon the field. There are many messages here.
The bird is sent out onto the field, and not to a city, so the tzaraas doesn’t infect people there. This sounds strange since it’s a spiritual disease, not a physically contagious one, but the point is to remind the person how easy it is to spread negative speech.
At the same time, the bird is allowed to soar freely, indicating to the Metzora that soon he will be free to reunite with his friends and family. The bird is set free and not sent into a trap, to show that the person is not destined for destruction, unless he succumbs to the same behavior again.
Then there is another message which is so subtle, yet powerful. The live bird was dipped in the blood of the slaughtered one, and sprinkled on the Metzora. One would imagine it would be on the top of his head, or perhaps his lips. The Chizkuni, though, tells us the blood was dabbed on the back of his hand. What an unusual place! What could the symbolism of this be?
Perhaps we can understand that the hands are formed to do constructive work. The jointed fingers and opposable thumbs work together to grasp things, and the wrist and elbow enable movement like turning and lifting. So too, a person’s intellect and speech can be used to produce delicate and elegant thoughts and words to build up other people.
The back of the hand, however, is less sensitive than the fingertips or palm. It is unable to grasp things and do anything productive. In fact, the only thing the back of the hand is usually used for is dismissing someone or something as unimportant. This is why we speak of a “backhanded compliment,” meaning it’s really a criticism of the person.
We’d like to suggest the message to the Metzora was that he had wasted the Divine gifts which set Man apart from the animals, by failing to use his mind and mouth constructively. He made those tools worthless at best, but more likely he turned them into weapons. Therefore, the blood is put there to remind him he is supposed to use his gifts to accomplish good things and not toss them away for naught.
After WWII, Rabbi Eliezer Silver visited the DP camps. At one camp, he noticed a fellow who was not taking part in the religious services and did not cover his head. “Why are you acting irreligiously?” asked the visiting Rabbi.
The man replied, “When I was in the concentration camps, I saw someone who smuggled in a siddur. He used to take food from other starving prisoners just to let them pray from it! When I saw that I decided I could not remain observant.”
“My poor child!” cried Rabbi Silver. “You focus on the fellow who charged to use the book? Why not focus, instead, on the holy people who gave up their life-sustaining food for a few precious moments of davening from a siddur?!”
©2024 – J. Gewirtz
