The Rebbe tells of two sages traveling in a coach on a mission to help Jews in a distant community. They were speaking words of Torah and as such, they were accompanied by angels. The horses, on the other hand, were going to their destination to receive their fodder, while the wagon driver was motivated by thoughts of his paycheck. The sages had a mission to accomplish and the angels, well, who can know what spurs them.
When describing this setting, the Rebbe would conclude: “Because the horses were thinking about their fodder, are the angels not angels?”
Beyond Comprehension
The mindset that prevails within our world does not enable us to appreciate spiritual reality, but our lack of appreciation does not obstruct the existence of that reality. Concepts like purity and impurity are real. They describe forces as potent — indeed even more potent — than forces in our material realm. Mortals, however, cannot perceive them openly.
This week’s Torah reading, Tazria, focuses on the concept of ritual purity and impurity. Our Rabbis explain the distinction between the Torah’s prohibitions and its laws of impurity as follows: Prohibitions guard against evil that our minds and hearts can appreciate. The laws of impurity, by contrast, protect against a dimension of evil which we cannot comprehend. As the Midrash states: “It is a statute which I (G‑d) ordained, a decree that I instituted.”
The Affect on our Souls
Although the evil associated with a prohibition can be appreciated more readily, there is a more severe dimension associated with impurity. For since the evil associated with impurity is not easily discerned, it is much more difficult to guard against and to eradicate.
To cite an example, when a person eats non-kosher food, he has performed a transgression and must repent. Nevertheless, even before he repents, he may enter the Temple and bring a sacrifice. Casually coming into contact with an impure substance can change an individual’s personal state and isolate him from holiness. For example, were a person to touch a dead lizard, he would be forbidden to enter the Temple or partake of a sacrifice.
Moreover, just as ritual purity is a quality which cannot be grasped by our mortal intellect, it affects the levels of our souls that transcend reason and understanding. It has an effect on the dimensions of our being that are connected to G‑d above the level of logical thought.
When Moshiach Comes
At present, the entire Jewish community is ritually impure, for throughout the ages, since the destruction of the Temple, it has been impossible to maintain a state of ritual purity.
For example, one of the fundamental sources of impurity is contact with a human corpse. To restore a person to a state of purity after such contact, a priest must sprinkle water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer upon an impure person. Since the destruction of the Temple, these ashes have not been available and therefore our entire people are impure.
This will be one of the first achievements of Moshiach after rebuilding the Temple — to restore our people to a state of purity. When that is accomplished, our relationship with G‑d will be lifted to an entirely different level.
Based on the teachings of the Rebbe from Keeping in Touch; reprinted with permission from Sichos in English.
If a man shall have on the skin of his flesh the plague of tzaraat: then he will be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests (Lev. 13:2)
Only a priest (kohen) was allowed to determine whether or not a plague was tzaraat, a severe affliction necessitating that the sufferer to be sent outside the camp for seven days. Only a kohen, whose job is to bless the Jewish people with the priestly blessing, could fully appreciate the magnitude of being sent outside the warm and loving Jewish camp. He could therefore, be relied upon to try all possible means to pronounce the individual clean. (the Rebbe)
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised (Lev. 12:3)
What does the mitzva of brit mila - circumcision - emphasize? Brit mila draws attention to the fact that G-d did not create man in a perfect state from the womb. Just as perfection of man's physical form is by man's own hand, so is it within his means and power to complete his spiritual form by the worthiness of his actions. We learn from this mitzva that through our actions we have the opportunity to perfect ourselves and the entire world both physically and spiritually. (Sefer HaChinuch)
If a woman has conceived and born (Lev. 12:2)
This section of the Torah, which deals with the laws of childbirth, comes directly after that portion which spoke of unclean animals - those which died of themselves, creeping things and insects. We learn from this that in the same way that eating non-kosher food makes a Jew dulled and insensitive to holiness, the opposite is true. Keeping the laws of kashrut ensures that one's children will be spiritually healthy and sound. (Ramban)
When a woman conceives and gives birth... (Lev. 12:2)
Giving birth to a child is compared by the Prophet Isaiah (66:8) to the Redemption. Just as birth takes place in a day, the Redemption can come and the Jewish nation be "reborn" in a moment.
