Parshas Metzorah
By Rabbi Yissocher Frand
There is a famous Medrash in Parshas Metzorah which we have spoken about numerous times in previous years. We have offered various interpretations, and this year we are going to offer a new insight suggested by Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin.
The Medrash on the pasuk “This shall be the law of the Metzorah...” (Vayikra 14:2) says as follows: “About this it is written: ‘Who is the man who wishes life?’ (Tehillim 34:13)”
The Medrash quotes a certain incident involving a rochil (peddler). The rochil used to circulate in the villages that were close to the city of Tzipori. He proclaimed, “Who wishes to buy the sam chayim (elixir of life)? Everyone crowded around him to see what he was offering.
Rav Yanai heard this peddler’s sales pitch, and he too decided that he wanted to find out what the peddler was talking about. The peddler told Rav Yanai, “You don’t need this sam chayim that I am selling.” Rav Yanai persisted: “I want to know what this sam chayim is that you are talking about!” The peddler took out a Sefer Tehillim and pointed to the pasuk “Who is the man who wishes life? One who guards his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” (ibid.). Rav Yanai exclaimed in astonishment, “All my life I read this pasuk and I never grasped the wisdom pointed out to me by this peddler!”
The obvious question is that the peddler added nothing to the pasuk. He just said over the literal translation of its words “Mi ha’ish hachafetz chayim...”. That is what those words mean! Rav Yanai obviously knew that! What was he so amazed about upon hearing this pasuk read to him by the peddler?
Rav Tzadok suggests that it is not so much what the peddler said but who said it. This means as follows: Why is a peddler called a rochil? The truth of the matter is that we see this from a pasuk in the Torah: “Do not go as a rochil (tale-bearer) in your nation.” (Vayikra 19:16). This is the source of the prohibition of rechilus. Rechilus is going around from person to person, spreading gossip. The reason a rochil is called a rochil (i.e., a peddler is called a peddler) is that he specializes in sharing gossip about everyone.
People who are over fifty years old may remember what a Fuller Brush salesman was. This was a salesman who knocked on your door and tried to sell you items that can be useful in a typical home. The average homeowner had no patience for hearing the pitch of a Fuller Brush salesman and was tempted to slam the door in his face. How did someone become a successful Fuller Brush salesman or a successful peddler of any kind? By introducing himself with the words “Did you hear...?”
When the homeowner hears the words “Did you hear?” his immediate response is “Hear what?” Then the peddler starts to fill in details: “Did you hear about your next-door neighbor?” “Did you hear about your boss?” The way to become a successful rochil is to collect information and to spread gossip. That will get him into people’s homes, and then once the salesman gets into a person’s house, half the battle is won.
Every businessman needs to know the secrets of his trade. The secret of the trade of being a successful rochil is, in fact, to peddle gossip. This is exactly the source of the word rochil in the pasuk “Lo selech rochil b’amecha” – Don’t be a peddler (of gossip) in your nation.
Rav Yannai was impressed that this rochil (peddler), who we would expect to be a gossipmonger, is the one publicizing the pasuk “Mi ha’ish hachafetz chayim....” He is the one preaching shemiras halashon (guarding one’s tongue). That means he is a “recovered rochil.” This peddler was showing Rav Yanai that a person can be a professional rochil – spending a lifetime in rechilus (gossipmongering) – and yet finally come to see the truth. Even a rochil can be rehabilitated.
The most successful person to rehabilitate another sinner is a person who has “been there and done that.” There are various support groups today, such as “Alcoholics Anonymous”, “Narcotics Anonymous”, “Gamblers Anonymous”, etc., etc. The common denominator between all these support groups for people who have addictions is that the groups are all led by people who themselves have suffered from that particular addiction. The key is that they have recovered, or are at least recovering. “If they can do it, I can do it!”
That is what impressed Rav Yanai. It wasn’t the pasuk. There were no new chiddushim in the explanation of the pasuk. The great novelty was that the pasuk was taught by a rochil. If he can be cured, so can I!
