14 Apr TZARIA-METZORA: BEN ADAM L”CHAVEIRO

During the days
of Sefirah, as we
mourn the petirah of
the students of Reb
Akiva who were niftar
because they didn’t
sufficiently honor
one another, we must
increase achdus among
Klal Yisrael and work
on improving in this
area.
The Midrash
Tanchuma (Nitzavim
1) writes, “The nature
of the world: When there is a bundle of sticks,
no one can break them at once. But even a
child can break a single stick. The same is
with Yisrael. They are redeemed when they
are united… When they are united, they
receive the face of the Shechinah.”
This describes the strength of Yidden when
they are united. Each person, individually,
may be weak and easily broken. But as a
community, nothing can harm them.
Rashi (14:4) writes, “Tzaraas comes from
lashon hara, an act of chattering. Birds are
needed for the purification because birds are
always chatting and whistling….”

Why then were two birds necessary for the
atonement and purification of the metzorah?
Why was one chattering, whistling bird not
enough to teach this lesson? What does the
second bird represent?
To answer this question, Rebbe Yehoshua of
Belz zt’l (Leket Imrei Kodesh p.51) tells us
to study the following line from the Zohar
(Tazria 46:): “Just as one is punished for
speaking lashon hara, so is one punished for
the good words that he had the opportunity to
say, and he refrained.”
Rebbe Yehoshua of Belz explains that the
bird that is shechted – and thereby silenced –
alludes to the atonement needed for speaking
lashon hara. The other bird, dipped into the
water and blood mixture and then sprinkled
on the metzora, was set free. This bird
continues chirping and singing, reminding us
to speak many kind words to help our fellow
man.
The Ketzos in his sefer Shev Shmatsa
(Hakdamah 3) explains the Gemara (Shabbos
151b) Aryeh Avi T’rei Lo Nafal, “A lion
doesn’t attack two people.” So why does it
occur at times that a lion will attack a group
of people? It must be that the lion failed to
realize that they were people. They appeared
to be animals, not human beings.

The Shev Shmatsa explains that the translation
of the Zohar’s words, Aryeh Avi T’rei Lo
Nafal, isn’t that a lion won’t attack two
people, because we see that it does. Rather,
the Zohar refers to someone thinking about
how to help others. He is one person and he
is called Avi T’rei, “two” because he always
has other people in his thoughts. Caring for
others is the attribute of a human being. The
lion considers this person a human being, and
therefore, the lion won’t attack him.
This is as the Zohar (Bereishis, Hakdamah
p.13b) states on the pasuk (Bereishis 1:26)
“Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness…” The Zohar says that when one has
rachmanus on the poor and brokenhearted,
to help them, about them it states that he is
a human being. But when one doesn’t have
compassion for others, he is like an animal,
and a wild lion won’t refrain from attacking
him.
Simchas HaRegel adds that this is the meaning
of the pasuk (Tehillim 41:2) “Praiseworthy is
he who contemplates the needy. On a bad day,
Hashem will deliver him.” When one thinks
about the needs of others, and the needs of
those who are poor and broken, he carries
the image of a human being, and he will be
protected and saved from all troubles.
Sefer Chasidim (553) states that a person

should feel the pain and agony of others.
Otherwise, how is he better than animals?
About him it states (Koheles 3:19) “Man has
no superiority over beast.”
The Aruch HaShulchan (and many other
sefarim) writes that on the days of sefiras
ha’omer, we elevate ourselves from being
like animals to becoming humans. The hint
is that on the first day of sefiras ha’omer (the
second day of Pesach), we bring a korban
omer made from barley, which is animal
food. On Shavuos, we bring the korban shtei
halechem, two breads made from wheat, a
product consumed by humans. This indicates
that on these days, we elevate ourselves from
being like animals to being human. As we are
explaining, one attains this elevation when he
thinks and cares about the needs of others.