Secrets of the Bible: Teaching From Kabbalistic Masters by Michael Berg

Author:Michael Berg [Berg, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Religion, Judaism, Kabbalah & Mysticism
ISBN: 9781571897695
Google: TRmuYgEACAAJ
Amazon: B07CMM5ZRT
Goodreads: 39945829
Publisher: Kabbalah Publishing
Published: 2011-09-01T05:00:00+00:00

TAZRIA-METZORA

Except in leap years in the kabbalistic calendar, the Torah portion of Tazria is read together with the portion of Metzora on the same Shabbat. The word tazria means “she conceived,” which refers to the laws of purification after childbirth, and metzora means “leper,” which refers to the complicated rituals for cleansing a leper and the home of a leper. We become awakened on this Shabbat to seize every opportunity to speak positively and to assist others.

A long time ago, the Talmud tells us, there was a merchant who traveled from city to city and from town to town, selling what he claimed was a miracle that could transform anyone’s life. When the great sage Rav Yannai heard about this merchant and his self-proclaimed miracle, he sent a servant to invite the man to his house. When the merchant was told that Rav Yannai wanted to see him, he replied that what he was selling was not for people like Rav Yannai. The messenger insisted, telling the merchant in no uncertain terms that he should accompany him to Rav Yannai’s home.

At the door, Rav Yannai graciously welcomed the merchant, saying, “I hear you have a remedy that can transform people’s lives. Would you be so kind as to share it with me?” The merchant paused a few moments for dramatic effect. Then he reached into his worn rucksack, opened up the Book of Psalms, and began to read aloud: “Who is the man who desires life and loves days that he may see good in them? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking negatively. Refrain from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Then the merchant closed the book and smiled. “This is what I’m selling.”

Rav Yannai clapped his hands and laughed aloud, his eyes sparkling with delight as he invited the merchant to join him for dinner. “I have read this verse many times,” the sage remarked, “but not until this very moment have I realized how important its message is.”

Why did Rav Yannai take such pleasure in the merchant’s reading? The Zohar tells us that lashon hara, meaning “negative or evil speech,” is the worst form of darkness. Its most obvious form is malicious gossip, but there are other kinds of lashon hara. We may talk about ourselves in negative ways, for example, or in a moment of anger, we may say hurtful things to others. If we were asked which is worse, walking up to a stranger in the street and slapping him in the face or speaking badly about someone else over dinner with a friend, most of us would say the former. King David, however, who wrote the Book of Psalms, would disagree. Why? What is so toxic about lashon hara?

To understand exactly why negative speech is so detrimental, we need to delve more deeply into its spiritual source. The seed of pain, suffering, and, ultimately, death was introduced into our world when the serpent spoke lashon hara about the Creator, first to Eve and then to Adam, in the Garden of Eden.

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