The Torah in Parshas Tazria introduces the subject of tzara’as by speaking of an אדם, a person, who has a discoloration on עור בשרו– “the skin of his flesh.” The Sefas Emes finds it significant that the Torah refers to the individual here specifically with the term אדם, and that it specifies that the affliction appears not simply on בשרו, the person’s flesh, but on עור בשרו– “the skin of his flesh.” This pasuk, the Sefas Emes explains, brings us back to the story of Adam Ha’rishon, of his banishment from Gan Eden. After he and Chava partook of the forbidden fruit, they suddenly felt ashamed by not wearing clothing, and so God made for them כתנות עור, leather garments, for them to wear (Bereishis 3:21).
The word עור, the Sefas Emes writes, is related to the word עוור – “blind.” The garments made for Adam and Chava after their sin signifies the state of “blindness” in which human beings live ever since that tragic event. Before Adam and Chava’s sin, there was a clear understanding of the difference between right and wrong, between what is good for us and what isn’t. Temptation existed externally, as represented by the snake, a different creature that lured man to sin. Internally, however, Adam and Chava lived with clarity. After the sin, we live with כתנות עור, with “coverings” that “blind” us. We now struggle to see the difference between right and wrong; temptation makes sin, and vice seem attractive and alluring, blinding us to their evil.
However, the Sefas Emes writes, these כתנות עור, this covering, is porous. There are small holes through which light can enter to give us clarity, to resolve the confusion, to show us what is right and what is wrong. Even in our condition of “blindness,” the darkness is not complete. We have sources of light, of guidance, that clarify for us what is right and what is wrong. The Torah here warns that a נגע, a spiritual affliction, occurs when it seals עור בשרו, blocking the “perforations” in the “covering” that allow the light to enter. A person is plagued when the holes are sealed, when the “blindness” becomes complete, and he can no longer distinguish between right and wrong.
The takeaway from this deep insight of the Sefas Emes is that we must always ensure to keep the “perforations” open, to allow the light of clarity and truth into our lives. Ever since Adam and Chava’s sin in Gan Eden, we live in darkness, in confusion, blinded by temptation. This is the struggle which every person must go through each day of his life. In order to successfully wage this battle, we need to allow the light in, to remain open to receiving guidance and instruction. We need to learn and to expose ourselves to those who can instruct us and show us where we need to go. If we close ourselves off to guidance, if we do not pursue knowledge or inspiration, then we thrust ourselves into total darkness, we become completely “blinded,” and will then, God forbid, experience נגעים, spiritual maladies, which can be very difficult to cure.
