Tazria - Aharon the Peacemaker

Aharon the Peacemaker

אדם כי־יהיה בעור־בשׂרו שׂאת או־ספחת או בהרת והיה בעור־בשׂרו לנגע צרעת והובא אל־אהרן הכהן או אל־אחד מבניו הכהנים׃ וראה הכהן את־הנגע בעור־הבשׂר ושׂער בנגע הפך לבן ומראה הנגע עמק מעור בשׂרו נגע צרעת הוא וראהו הכהן וטמא אתו׃ 

When a man shall have a swelling in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. The priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body. If the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; so the priest shall examine him and pronounce him unclean. – Leviticus 13:2–3

The condition referred to in our Bibles as leprosy is much different than the skin disease we usually refer to by that name. Miryam’s verbal disrespect of Moshe resulted in the tzara’at condition; therefore, that condition has evolved into an association with לשון הרע/lashon hara, which literally means “the wicked tongue.” Tzara’at has, therefore, become known as a condition of ritual uncleanness caused by the sin of unhealthy speech, the sin of the tongue. We will go into the details of the story of Miryam as we go into the book of Bamidbar, Numbers.

We all know that lashon hara is bad. We can all agree that verbally dissing people and gossiping is wrong. The Torah warns us about the evils of an uncontrolled tongue more than about anything else (Leviticus 19:16; James 3:1–12). Why is it then such a problem? We see congregations, families, associations, and well-meaning groups broken by the evil of unruly, gossiping tongues. Even the political conversation today is paralyzed by the politics of slander and mud-throwing. The proverbial fly in the ointment! Why do we do it, then? We allow ourselves this evil practice, as well as practically every sin in

the book, when we rationalize it. How do we rationalize destructive, evil, gossipy speech? There are many ways; let us look at a few of them.

“I am known for telling the truth!” One of the most deceitful forms of lashon hara is when we deceive ourselves in thinking we are “truth-bearers.” This amounts to nothing else but covering our evil inclination with a cloak of so-called righteousness.

“I have the gift of discernment!” This is when we claim that it is the Spirit of God moving us to say what we are saying. We may even push the hypocrisy further by playing the victim: “Oh, I wish I didn’t have to, but the Spirit is making me say it. I have to obey and say it, right?” Very often, this so-called gift of discernment is actually a critical spirit. As such, the person is letting their own spirit vent while saying that the Spirit of God is moving them. That might be the utmost in blasphemy.

“I must stand up for the truth!” Which is often nothing more than giving way to our desire to elevate ourselves above others, to show that because we stand higher than others, we can see the truth and the whole picture, while also hiding under a cloak of self-righteousness. We are accustomed to telling the post-flood story of Noah getting drunk and being discovered by his son Ham with this referring to probable sexual improprieties. It is not told that way in Jewish teachings. The Talmud teaches this story as a form of lashon hara. The text tells us that when Ham discovered his father in a compromising situation, he “told his two brothers outside” (Genesis 9:22). Shem

and Japheth behaved differently. They “took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness” (Genesis 9:23). Instead of publicizing their father’s fault, they hid it from themselves and others. As a result, they were blessed and Ham’s descendants through Cana’an were cursed. They fulfilled the very important Torah principle proposed by King Solomon, “He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends” (Proverbs 17:9).

Even when we feel that we are right about another’s transgression, to reveal it is divisive, and therefore an abomination to HaShem (Proverbs 6:19). The Talmud is full of stories of rabbis who brought peace to their congregants by deciding to “cover” a transgression. It is exactly what Yeshua does for us. He “covers” our transgressions from HaShem. It is not that they were never there, but he hides them under his favor so that all the Father sees is the light and glory of his Son in us. Moshe did the same thing for the children of Israel concerning the issue of the golden calf. The Hebrew word for atonement is כפר/capar, which means “to cover.” That is also why Yeshua strongly

advised people to resolve their issues with each other in private, not publicly through social media platforms that have today become obscene, international platforms for lashon hara.

These ideas appear in Leviticus because the role of priests was that of peacemakers. How? They were to be the buffer zone between us and HaShem. Their service provided the כפר/covering/atonement that we may be able to approach HaShem. Aharon himself was known as a man who, when he found two people who didn’t like each other, would go to one and say, “Hey, Avi, do you know Ari?” And he would respond, “Yes, but I think he is a…” Aharon would then say, “Come on! You must admit that Ari is an excellent carpenter.” “Well, I may have my problems with Ari, but he is the best carpenter I ever met in my life.” Aharon would then take that precious information to Ari saying, “Hey, Ari, do you know what Avi said about you?” “Well, I can imagine!” “He said that you were the best carpenter he ever met in his life!” “Really! I would have never thought that! I thought all tentmakers were no-gooders, but he is certainly the best tentmaker I ever met. He doesn’t know it, but my tent comes from his shop, and it’s the best I’ve ever had.” Then Aharon would go take that priceless information to Avi. The next time Avi and Ari met, they knew that each other had said good things about the other, which helped repair their relationship.

Aharon was known to try anything he could to make peace between people. He was even known to

sometimes put his thumb on the scale and exaggerate the truth a bit in order to help. This is the true role of a priest: the peacemaker. That is why Psalm 133 was written about Aharon: A Song of Ascents. By David. See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that came down on the edge of his robes, like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there Adonai gives the blessing, even life forever more. (Psalm 133) Sad to say, in our world today, while some may be so concerned to publicize others’ issues and might even put their thumb on the scale of negative judgment, they often totally omit acknowledging the good, or even lift their thumb off the scale when it comes to positive judgment. This is all done when we give in to a sense of personal inadequacy. This negativity about ourselves pushes us to want to dim the light of others by either publicizing their sins or somewhat negating their virtues, all because we think that our light shines brighter when we put down others.

Leviticus 13:45 says, “The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’”

The Shaloh Shnai (Luchot HaBrit) says that it can be read as “unclean” what an unclean person says about others. That is, a person who finds fault with others is really projecting his own faults and imperfections on others. The sages in Kiddushin 70a have said, “Those who try to invalidate others do so with their own blemishes.”

Rabbi and psychologist Zelig Pliskin adds to this, “One means of finding out your own faults and blemishes is to see what faults and blemishes you notice in others. If you focus on certain negative aspects of others, it is possible that you have these same tendencies yourself” (Growth through Torah, Zelig Pliskin on Tazria). You have probably heard it said that when you point the finger at others, you have three pointing back at you and one pointing at HaShem, the Creator of every human being! HaShem blessed the Jewish people by telling them, “‘And you will be a kingdom of cohanim for me, a nation set apart.’ These are the words you are to speak to the people of Isra’el” (Exodus 19:6). At Passover, Yeshua gave the disciples a form of priestly initiation.  He arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel and wrapped a towel

around his waist. Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “You don’t know what I am doing now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” (John 13:4–10)

Peter exhorted the Roman congregation of Jewish and Gentile disciples saying, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). See also Psalm 19:12–13, where David prays to be cleansed from hidden, unintentional sins and to not be controlled by presumptuous sin. Lashon hara is one of those sins that can be hidden from us and unintentional, as it is so easy to do. As disciples and followers of the Rabbi from Nazareth, may our propensity toward restoration and peaceful resolutions become the hallmark of our reputation.