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The Torah's
Weekly Portions The first is located
at very beginning of Perek Hay (Chapter 5); the second begins at Perek
Hay (Chapter 5), p'suk yud-aleph (verse 11) and continues through the
end of the Perek. 1.
Hashem spoke to Moses, saying: 2.
"Command the Children of Israel that they shall expel from the camp
everyone with tzaraas, everyone who has had a zav-emission, and everyone
contaminated by a human corpse: 3.
Male and female alike shall you expel, to the outside of the camp shall
you expel them, so that they should not contaminate their camps, among
which I dwell." 4.
The Children of Israel did so - They expelled them to the outside of the
camp, as Hashem had spoken to Moses -- so did the Children of Israel do: First, I will
provide the commentaries according to the Stone Edition Chumash: (1)
(4)
Did so ... so did [they] do. The double expression alludes to the two
groups that participated in carrying out the commandment: the Israelites
who enforced the order and the contaminated people who left the camp
willingly (Malbim). Rav Samson Raphael
Hirsch goes into a great deal of explanation concerning all three points
of tumah (impurity or contamination).
He begins by reiterating the arrangement of the camp.
The Sanctuary was in the center (the inner sphere), surrounded by
the Kohanim and Levi'im (the inner circle), and finally the balance of
the population (the outer circle).
His first point is that this commandment has nothing to do with
expelling someone from the camp. Rather,
it has everything to do with preventing someone who is tameh
(impure or contaminated) from coming in contact with the Sanctuary.
In Judaism, this concept of "gates" is seen in many
places. In other words, in
order to prevent transgressing a given commandment, many times there are
lesser rules that are in force so that the actual transgression can
never be approached, let alone occur. Second, Rav Hirsch
explains each of these states of tumah.
Tzaraat was somewhat like leprosy.
Unlike the disease today, it was brought about as a result of
someone lowering their level of spirituality - usually through a
transgression of some sort. In
the presence of God, the Hebrew people were on a much more elevated
spiritual level than today. Acts
that lowered that in an individual resulted in tzaraat.
Unlike today's disease, this contamination could be removed by
awaiting sundown (the beginning of the next day) and immersion in a
mikveh. Of course, with that, the tzaraat disappeared and the
person re-entered the camp. The
zav-emission was a seminal emission.
This resulted from a lack of sexual purity and thus was
considered to bring about a state of tumah.
Again, sundown and immersion in the mikveh removed the tumah
state. Now we come to the
perplexing one - coming in contact with a corpse.
Why did God set this up as a state of tumah?
To answer this, we have to return to the concept of separation.
In multiple places in the Torah, God declares that the Hebrew
people shall be separate unto themselves.
Although this is most often used in terms of intermarriage, the
commandment is far more extensive.
The surrounding nations worshipped the dead and, in some cases,
elevated them to the level of deities.
For this reason, God placed this particular point in the Torah.
As was the case with tumah in the previous two examples,
this too was rectified with sundown and immersion. Now we come to the
other controversial point. 12.
"Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them - Any man whose
wife shall go astray and commit treachery against him: 13.
and a man could have lain with her carnally, but it was hidden from the
eyes of her husband, and she became secluded and could have been defiled
-- but there was no witness against her -- and she had not been forced: 14.
and a spirit of jealousy had passed over him and he had warned his wife,
and she had become defiled, or a spirit of jealousy had passed over him
and he had warned his wife and she had not become defiled: 15.
The man shall bring his wife to the Kohen and he shall bring her
offering for her, a tenth-ephah of barley flour; he shall not pour oil
over it and shall not put frankincense upon it, for it is a
meal-offering of jealousies, a meal-offering of remembrance, a reminder
of iniquity: 16.
"The Kohen shall bring her near and have her stand before Hashem: 17.
The Kohen shall take sacred water in an earthenware vessel, and the
Kohen shall take from the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle
and put it in the water: 18.
The Kohen shall have the woman stand before Hashem and uncover the
woman's head, and upon her hands he shall put the meal-offering of
remembrance -- it is a meal-offering of jealousies, and in the hand of
the Kohen shall be the bitter waters that cause a curse: 19.
"The Kohen shall adjure her and say to the woman, 'If a man has not
lain with you, and you have not strayed in defilement with someone other
than your husband, then you shall be innocent of these bitter waters
that cause curse: 20.
But if you have strayed with someone other than your husband, and if you
have become defiled, and a man other than your husband has lain with you
-- !': 21.
"The Kohen shall adjure the woman with the oath of the curse, and
the Kohen shall say to the woman, 'May Hashem render you as a curse and
as an oath amid your people, when Hashem causes your thigh to collapse
and your stomach to distend: 22.
These waters that cause curse shall enter your innards to cause stomach
to distend and thigh to collapse!' And the woman shall respond, 'Amen,
amen.': 23.
"The Kohen shall inscribe these curses on a scroll and erase it
into the bitter waters: 24.
When he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter waters that cause
curse, and the bitter waters that cause curse shall come into her: 25.
"The Kohen shall take the meal-offering of jealousies from the hand
of the woman; he shall wave the meal-offering before Hashem, and he
shall offer it on the Altar: 26.
The Kohen shall scoop up from the meal-offering its remembrance and
cause it to go up in smoke on the Altar; after which he shall cause the
woman to drink the water: 27.
He shall cause her to drink the water, and it shall be that if she had
become defiled and had committed treachery against her husband, the
waters that cause curse shall come into her for bitterness, and her
stomach shall be distended and her thigh shall collapse, and the woman
shall become a curse amid her people: 28.
But if the woman had not become defiled, and she is pure, then she shall
be proven innocent and she shall bear seed: Rav Hirsch's
comments to this particular section are quite lengthy.
Therefore, I'll summarize. However,
prior to that, there is something obvious that needs to be stated
concerning the marital relationship.
In Judaism, there has never has the concept of "until death
do us part." The Torah
has always accepted that not every marriage is a good marriage or
"made in heaven." As
such, Judaism has always had "divorce" for the marriage that
is not beneficial to either party. If a marriage is not
working, if there is adultery, then divorce is the proper method for
resolving the problem - not the method outlined above. This particular
procedure was utilized only in very specific cases.
There are two very important points that must be covered.
First, the wife is the one who must request this, not the
husband. The Torah says the
husband brings his wife before the Kohen.
However, it is at the wife's request.
Second, this is used in situations where there is gossip.
The example that Rav Hirsch uses states that the gossip resulted
either from a situation where people may have suspected that the wife
had been with another man (see verses 13 and 14) or because her attire
was not modest enough for others. This
entire procedure is carried out in public.
Therefore, if there is loshon hara (gossip), it will be clear at
the end that the woman is not guilty of the behavior being discussed
which will put an end to the gossip and hopefully help people restrain
from similar behavior in the future.
As an aside, if a woman were guilty of such behavior, surely she
would request a divorce rather than this. Further, the Torah
states "and there shall be a spirit of jealousy . . . “ In this
particular instance, it is clear that the man does not want a divorce
but would rather have things return to a healthy position - again,
demonstrating that divorce is not the option being considered. There is a final
point, and this procedure was sometimes requested for that purpose,
which has nothing to do with unseemly behavior or loshon hara.
This is the final pasuk (verse) in this section: 28.
But if the woman had not become defiled, and she is pure, then she shall
be proven innocent and she shall bear seed: Notice the last five
words - "and she shall bear seed."
Couples would come before the Kohen and have the procedure done
to produce this outcome - children.
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