Rabbi's Blog

Is the absence of noise silence? There’s a saying “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” Recently, two things occurred that I caused me to adopt a new saying: “It’s difficult to know when something annoying is no longer bothering you,” or “The absence of something annoying is difficult to pinpoint when it’s gone.”

Due to construction around SDSU, traffic had to be re-routed. For the past eight-months a San Diego Transit city bus, #115, was rerouted to use side streets, including Rockford, which is right in front of my house because the bus turning point was closed during construction. The bus, which is a safety issue particularly regarding children, was also an annoyance as it rolled down the usually quiet streets. A few days ago, I was thinking to myself,  wondering if the bus was still on this alternative route or had it returned to its original route? I cannot pinpoint the time this aggravation ceased. A second scenario wasn’t as grating but nevertheless was still a bit irritating. On my bi-annual visit to the dentist, I was interrogated by the doctor with a series of questions. One of the questions, “are my teeth sensitive to hot or cold” rang a bit too true. It just happens to be that some of my teeth have been sensitive to very cold foods, forcing me to move the food around to other parts of my mouth. The dentist recommended using Sensodyne toothpaste when I brush to cure the problem. Last week one of my family members asked me, “Did it help?” As I was slowly processing, trying to determine whether  it helped or not, I realized that the only way to know would be to test it out by eating something cold.  I had not done this, and therefore I was left to using my mind, trying to determine if the problem still persists or not. After focusing on whether the bus still rolls down my street or the tingling in my mouth still exists, I have come to the conclusion that both have stopped.

The notion that something is no longer there is more challenging to know when something is there. After scouring the double Parshios of Tazria- Metzora, I stumbled upon something similar where at one point in time something did appear and then was gone. The Torah in this week’s Parsha in Vayikra 13:2 states: “Adam Ki Yihiyeh B’Or B’Saro Se’es O Sapachas O Baheres, V’Haya B’Or B’Saro L’Nega Tzaraas, V’Huva El Aharon HaKohein O El Achad Mi’Banav HaKohanim”. “If a person has a white blotch, discoloration, or spot on the skin of his body, and it is suspected of being a mark of the leprous curse on his skin, he shall be brought to Aharon, or to one of his descendants, who are the priests”. The Gerrer Rebbe, in his sefer Sfas Emes, relates in a mystical fashion the significance of the ‘skin’ mentioned in this verse. Before Adam HaRishon sinned, the shine and radiance of Hashem permeated throughout the world and throughout the entire creation. By looking at what was created one could see the Creator. Basically, one could see God through and from within creation and the light from the seven days of creation was completely revealed. But after the sin of Adam and Eve in Gan Eden, they became aware of their bodies and Hashem made for them ‘Casnos Or’ - leather garments. The Torah is not only coming to describe the new wardrobe of Adam and Eve, but is giving us insight into ‘clothing’. At this point the leather garments (leather in Hebrew is ‘Or’ spelled Ayin, Vav, Reish - the  identical spelling of the word ‘flesh’ in our parsha) are presented to cover things up and hide that which had been revealed. The word ‘Or’ in Hebrew as I spelled it out earlier can also be pronounced Eevair, which means blind. Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter, the Gerrer Rebbe, explains that it was difficult to see the light because of the curtain or veil of darkness that separated the two. He goes on to compare skin of the body to the ‘Or’ – the skin of the world.  The natural skin of a human being is porous,  allowing the skin to breath and excrete waste and perspiration from the body. The covering of the world, the Or, also has tiny openings like windows which allow the hidden light to peer through while the waste flushes out of those openings. When the natural skin breaks down and is afflicted, the spiritual infection causes the skin to crack and break open. When something bad happens in the world and the ‘skin’ or the covering of the world is damaged that is a sign that the true inner light needs to come out and shine on the world. 

The Negah/Affliction is a sign of an inner disease that needs healing which comes as a chessed performed by Hashem  to arouse a purification. Therefore, the leper is brought to the Kohain to heal because it was through the Kohain that he was deemed impure. In reality, the Negah/affliction is a necessary component of healing for the individual. A complete and dedicated Jew would be glad to see the afflictions which represent imperfections and shortcomings. The area of the body from which the Tzoraas appears is exactly where the purity will come from. Before the Negah appears, the impurity is sealed underneath the surface of the skin. Through the appearance of the affliction, it is now revealed that the person needs to become pure again. As the skin breaks the Or - light with an aleph, - breaks through the Or  -the skin with an Ayin - and brings about a purification process.

There are many things in life that somehow get in the way of what we perceive as being annoying. As a scab develops over a burn or a cut, it tends to interfere with our mobility, so out of frustration we sometimes pull it off too soon.  It can no longer protect and regenerate the skin which had been regenerating beneath the scab.

At times we experience something that annoys us like a bus making noise or a tingling sensation on our teeth that requires a subtle removal to once again appreciated the way things are supposed to be. Sometimes we actively remove something negative and reveal the positive and other times we go through the natural healing process that eventually brings out the light that shines forth from God’s world. 

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky