Parshas Tazria and Parshas Metzora focus on tzara'as – the different forms in which it can appear, the laws determining which afflictions are pure and which are impure, and the purification process for a person who was stricken with it. The Gemara (Arachin 16a) teaches that one of the primary causes of tzara'as is speaking lashon hara (slanderous gossip).
The Medrash (Vayikra Rabbah 16:2) records that a peddler once travelled through the villages around the town of Tzippori and announced that he was selling an elixir that guaranteed long life. As people gathered around him to learn more about his miraculous product, the merchant pulled out a Sefer Tehillim and quoted the verses (34:13-14), “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days of seeing good? Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.”
In his sefer Darkei Mussar, Rav Yaakov Neiman raises a glaring difficulty with this story. When the crowd of interested customers discovered that the peddler’s “merchandise” was nothing but a couple of Biblical verses, they should have angrily chased him out of town for leading them on and wasting their valuable time, yet the Medrash makes no mention of any feelings of anger or displeasure.
Rav Neiman suggests that it never occurred to the townspeople that the merchant was claiming to possess the waters of the mythical fountain of youth. When they heard him advertise that he was selling “life,” they immediately understood that he was referring not to extra time in this transitory world, but rather to true life in the eternal World to Come. Accordingly, when they heard his presentation, they did not feel deceived, for his wares indeed delivered on their expectations.
Rabbi Dan Lifshitz adds that this insight challenges us to look inside ourselves and examine what is truly important to us. What do we define as real life, and what do we see as only secondary? Do we spend most of our time trying to help others and raise our children with appropriate values, or are we more concerned about our home décor, car model, and vacation destination? If we would hear a salesman advertising the key to long life, what would come to our minds, and how would we react if we found that he was “only” offering longevity in the World to Come? Dovid teaches us how to genuinely acquire life, if only we are willing to listen. (R’ Ozer Alport)
