פרשת מצורע

Bad Is Good?!

כִּי תָבֹאוּ אֶל־אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לָכֶם לַאֲחֻזָּה וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע צָרַעַת בְּבֵית אֶרֶץ אֲחֻזַּתְכֶם

(ויקרא יד:לד)

"When you will arrive in the land ... and I will place Tzara'at upon a house..." (Vayikra 14:34)

The Torah tells us that when the Jewish people will come to Israel, and they will settle in, Hashem will send them Tzara’at (leprosy) on their houses. Usually, when we speak about Tzara’at, it is a result or a consequence for doing a sin like speaking Lashon Hora (speaking poorly about others).In this verse, however, the wording "I will place" seeming like a reward, not a punishment, why?

To understand this, let's examine the process of Tazra'at. When a person finds a spot on tzara'at on their house they need to remove the stones in the wall that has the spot. Rashi alludes to this question explains that when the Jews were coming up to Israel from Egypt, many nations were scared that the Jewish nation would take all their wealth. To prevent this, the Amorie, a nation that lived in the land of Canaan (now called Israel) hid all of their treasures in the walls of the houses.

After the Jews moved into these homes, Hashem sent them: Tzara'at, so they would need to take down part of the house and in doing so would find all the hidden treasures that were left there.

We see that things that happen which seem to us to be bad, really for us to benefit.  With this in mind, how should we treat things that we think are bad?

1) Where can צרעת grow?

2) What is the main cause of one getting צרעת?

3) Where should a person with צרעת go? What shall he/she do there?

4) Describe the procedure of a מצורע becoming pure again. (ויקרא יד:ב-כ)

5) Explain the קרבן that is brought by the מצורע. Why is it this strange collection of stuff?

(רש"י ויקרא יד:ד)

6) Why do you think that a מצורע has to cut off all of his/her hair? (ויקרא יד:ט)

7) When telling us where to שחט the כבש, why does the תורה tell us במקום אשר ישחט את החטת? (רש"י ויקרא יד:יג)

8) Explain וכפר עליו הכהן לפני ה'. (רש"י ויקרא יד:יח)

9) When telling us about צרעת on a house, the תורה says “כי תבאו אל ארץ כנען אשר אני נתן לכם”. Why is this? (רש"י ויקרא יד:לד)

10) What color is a נגע on a house? (ויקרא יד:לז)

11) What is done with the belongings of a house with צרעת? (ויקרא יד:מ-מא)

Last Week's Question: What Bracha is ONLY made on a Wednesday

Answer: Birkat Hachama 

This Week's Question: WHat Bracha is ONLY said once in 28 years?

פרשת תזריע

Dvar Torah

One Word

 ויקרא יג:ב-ג

אָדָם כִּי־יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ־סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל־אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל־אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים: וְרָאָה הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַנֶּגַע בְּעוֹר־הַבָּשָׂר וְשֵׂעָר בַּנֶּגַע הָפַךְ ׀ לָבָן וּמַרְאֵה הַנֶּגַע עָמֹק מֵעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ נֶגַע צָרַעַת הוּא וְרָאָהוּ הַכֹּהֵן וְטִמֵּא אֹתוֹ:

“If a person will have on the skin of his flesh an appearance… The Kohen shall look at it and declare him contaminated.”    (Vayikra 13:2-3) 

In the Parasha reading this week we learn about one who gets Tzara’at - leprosy.  We find that if a person sees an appearance on his skin and it looks like Tzara’at, they need to show it to the Kohen.  When the Kohen looks at it, he can either call it clean, contaminated, or he can’t tell yet and puts the person into solitude for seven days.  After that, the Kohen will check again and decide, clean or contaminated.  Until the Kohen pronounces the person one way or the other, they are not by any means impure or contaminated.

This seems a bit strange.  What if we would treat modern medicine this way?

A man has a sore throat, headache and is dizzy. Imagine if he would not consider himself to be sick until the doctor pronounces him “sick with strep”.  Of course, we know that he was actually contagious before he even went to the doctor.  Yet we find with Tzara’at that the person is not condemned until the Kohen declares him impure.   

Tzara’at is a punishment for speaking slander– Lashon Hora.  To teach this person the power of speech, the Kohen only says one word and makes the person impure. 

From here we can see how powerful and meaningful each and every word we speak is. 

Parsha Questions

1) How long is a woman טמאה after having a baby boy born? (ויקרא יב:ב-ד)

2) Explain the juxtaposition of the laws of kosher and the babies birth? (רש"י ויקרא יב:ב)

3) What special מצוה is done on the eighth day after the birth of a baby boy? (ויקרא יב:ג)

4) How long is a woman טמאה after having a baby girl born? (ויקרא יב:ה-ח)

5) If one finds a נגע on themselves, to whom should it be shown? (רש"י ויקרא יג:ב)

6) Why is a נגע shown to this group of people ONLY? (רש"י ויקרא יג:ב)

7) What color is a נגע? (ויקרא יג:ג)

8) What is done if it is not clear is the נגע is indeed צרעת? (ויקרא יג:ד-ה)

9) Where can צרעת grow?

10) What is the main cause of one getting צרעת?

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TORAH TRIVIA!

Super Stumper Question:

This a question to ask others and discuss the answers.

Answer to last week’s question:

The only Mitzvah that can only be done sitting down is standing up for one’s elders.

Question of the week:

What Beracha is ONLY say on a Wednesday?

 FOOD Section!

Can you guess what this recipe connects to this week’s Parsha?

Spice Cake

Ingredients

Cake:

3 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 sticks margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups soy or almond milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 3 (8-inch) round cake pans.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground cloves.

Cream the margarine, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately beginning and ending with the dry.

When the batter is well mixed and smooth, divide it amongst the 3 prepared cake pans and bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out to cool completely. If the cake layers have domed a little during the baking process, slice off the tops with a long serrated knife so they are flat and even.

Place the first layer, cut side down, on a cake pedestal or serving plate. Spoon about 3/4 cup of buttercream onto the center of the cake. Spread it almost to the very edges with an offset spatula. Repeat with the remaining 2 layers. Garnish the top of the cake with finely chopped nuts and cocoa powder.