Why must one specifically bring live birds for the purification of the metzora (leper)? And what is the connection between the signs that Rachel gave to Leah and the purification of the metzora? Novel insights and pearls for the weekly Torah portion from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a:

Because now is Parshat Metzora, regarding which the Zohar says that one must bring him live birds.

The Zohar asks, what are "live birds"? The Zohar asks, what does "live" mean here? Is it written "a live young bull," "a live ram for a guilt offering," "a live ewe for a sin offering," "a live ram for peace offerings," or "a live young bull for peace offerings"? Why suddenly is "live" required here? If one slaughters, they slaughter a live bird; they don't slaughter a dead bird. Now, in the open field, they slaughter a live bird—vitality (chayus). The Zohar says this all relates to Torah 3 in Likutey Moharan (the primary work of Rebbe Nachman). When we speak of "chayus" (vitality/life-force), we are actually speaking about the Sefiros (Divine emanations)! Birds that come from the upper worlds! Birds that come from the Eagle in the Merkavah (Divine Chariot)! Birds that draw down the sound of melody upon this metzora! This metzora is miserable!! How can a person come to speak against a fellow Jew?? How can one reach such a state?? How can one descend to such a "Sheol Tachtiyos" (lowest depths of hell)?? How can one sink to such a low level, to a sub-human state?? How can one reach such a place, such a place at all? How can a Jew reach this? A Jew? This is the behavior of a gentile! How can a Jew reach such a thing? For a gentile, his whole purpose might be to speak about others—to say about another, "he is like this" and "he is like that," "he is not like me," or "he is better than the other." That is the work of a gentile! A Jew has no such work at all. A Jew needs to hear "pleasantness is in Your right hand forever," "to the Blessed G-d they shall offer melodies." He should hear the pleasantness of prayer, the songs of prayer, the nuances of the Torah, and be in a world of melody all day long, twenty-four hours a day. How can a Jew suddenly fall to such low levels, to such terrible degrees? Therefore, they sprinkle upon the metzora who spoke lashon hara (evil speech) on his extremities; they sprinkle on the tip of his right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. How do people speak about one another? How is such a thing possible? Why do they sprinkle on the thumbs and toes? What are these hints? It is brought in the Ben Ish Chai (Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad) that since these were the signs between Yaakov and Rachel! But what did Rachel do? Rachel took everything she had—her entire future, all of this world, and all of the World to Come—when she gave the signs to her sister Leah! What would her sister do with Esau?! She knew that the moment Leah marries Yaakov, then she (Rachel) would end up in the portion of Esau. She knew what kind of Gehennom (hell) she was entering, and as for the World to Come, who knows if she would have it, who knows what would happen to her. Rachel sacrificed all of this!! A Jew sacrifices for the sake of his brother, for the sake of his friend. Not only did Rachel not speak lashon hara (evil speech) about Leah, but she sacrificed everything for her. So they go and say to the metzora: "You descend from Rachel and Leah, you come from such holy parents, you come from such holy ancestors who gave everything to the other—is it right that you should speak against someone??" As we said on Shabbos, if a person has already reached such a "Sheol Tachtiyos" (lowest depths) that he no longer has any "chayus" (vitality) from prayer, no "chayus" from the Torah, and he is already losing all his vitality, then what does he do? He starts to talk (gossip)! We are looking for people who will pray letter by letter, word by word, as it is written: "with merit and clarity." If a person prays with merit and clarity, only then is the prayer accepted—prayer with a voice and with melody, with merit and clarity!

The lesson has undergone editing, and if an error has occurred, it should not be attributed, G-d forbid, to the Rav (Rabbi Berland) shlit"a, but rather to the writer, "and with us remains our error." The illustration is courtesy of the artist R' Yehoshua Wiseman. For purchase: www.yehoshuawiseman.com

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