09 Apr TAZRIA: LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO TALK

Parashat Tazria – as well
as the majority of the
following parashah,
Parashat Metzora – discuss
the laws of tzara’at, a skin
condition which would befall
a person mainly as
punishment for sins involving speech.
When the Torah describes the creation of
Adam in Parashat Bereshit, it says Hashem
blew within Adam “a soul of life.” Targum
Onkelos, the famous Aramaic translation of
the Torah, explains this to mean that
Hashem implanted within the human being
a spirit that speaks.
What exactly does a spirit that speaks
mean, and what does this tell us about the
uniqueness of the human being’s speech?
The word “speech” can refer to two vastly
different things. One is mindless talking. A
three-year-old, for example, will babble
nonsense, repeating things he or she has
heard, without investing too much thought
into what he or she is saying. Many adults,
too, speak freely and mindlessly, without
paying too much attention to what is
coming out of their mouths.

Another type of talking is putting into
words a person’s knowledge, experience,
thoughts, perceptions, and understanding
of things. This is what a spirit that speaks
means. As opposed to animals, who just
make noise, the human being is to use his
faculty of speech to express his “spirit,” to
express himself meaningfully.
After a metzora is cured from his
condition, he must undergo a special
process of purification, which involves two
birds. He is shown that he was punished
because instead of speaking with a spirit
that speaks, he was chirping like a bird. He
was just making noise, speaking recklessly,
without much thought.
There is a relatively new phenomenon of
modern-day “chirping” – people expressing
views, opinions and ideas online without
really knowing what they’re talking
about. In the past, only veteran journalists,
who had been researching and covering
major news stories for decades, were able
to broadcast to audiences. But nowadays,
with social media, anybody with a
smartphone can say whatever they want
and attract an audience.

The Gemara in Masechet
Ta’anit teaches that Torah is
compared to water, because
just as water flows
downward, to the lowest
point it can get to, Torah
knowledge is amassed by
those who are lowly and
humble. The prerequisite to
becoming smart is humbly
acknowledging that one has
much more to learn, so
much more knowledge to
gain. And thus the Gemara
comments in Masechet
Berachot that Hashem
“gives wisdom only to the wise.” This
means that only those smart enough to
know how much they do not know can
become smart. If we think we are already
smart and know enough, then we’ll never
become smart…
We must ensure to listen only to those
people who know how to really talk, who
speak with a spirit that speaks, from
knowledge and experience. If we are
interested in hearing about a pressing issue
in the community, we should be listening to

those who have studied and dealt with that
issue or similar issues for many years, not
to somebody who happened to decide to
start talking about it.
The faculty of speech is sacred, one of the
defining characteristics of the divine image
with which we were created. Let us use it
wisely, and speak meaningfully and
constructively. And, let us ensure to pay
attention to those who speak meaningfully
and constructively, who bring to the table
valuable knowledge and experience from
which we can learn.