(2011/5771)
Modern-day leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is a condition that causes nosebleeds, muscle weakness, dry scalp, and vision problems. If the disease is left untreated, the infected skin, eye, limb, or nerve can be permanently damaged. Additionally, rashes usually develop on a body part infected with leprosy. Because of all the aforementioned, the disease is associated with the biblical ailment Tzara’at. In this week’s Parashah, the condition of Tzara’at is first described as, “Se’eit O Sapachat O Vaheret,” “A rising, or a scab, or a bright spot” (VaYikra 13:2). Is the leprosy that we know of today the same ailment that the Torah describes this week?
According to Seforno (ad loc. s.v. Se’eit O Sapachat O Vaheret), leprosy as defined by modern medicine has no relation to the biblical Tzara’at. Leprosy today is a physical disease that simply shows in the form of a rash, while Tzara’at is a supernatural disease that Hashem afflicts upon man as punishment for a sin or crime he committed in violation of the Torah. Why do we not develop risings, scabs, or bright spots when we commit a sin today? Furthermore, why did occurrences of the disease abruptly stop when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, rather than slowly die out over time?
The Alshich HaKadosh (ad loc. s.v. Adam Ki Yihyeh VeOr Besaro Se’eit etc.) offers an explanation to this seemingly strange phenomenon. During the era of the Beit HaMikdash, when Hashem’s Shechinah resided among Bnei Yisrael, the Jewish people were on a very high spiritual level. There was a force inside every Jew that couldn’t bear the impurity of a sin, and that spiritual force would fight any impurity and force it out of the body, causing it to settle on the skin in the form of a rising, scab, or bright spot. Unfortunately, we are no longer on such a holy level, as our bodies and souls have become accustomed to the impurity of the world around us. We are no longer affected by a little lie, a few words of slander, or a bad thought, whereas those minor transgressions would have caused our ancestors to break out in Tzara’at.
As we no longer develop Tzara’at, people of our generation do not have that “red light” to tell us when we need to change our ways. We must be extremely careful of what we say and how we act, as even though we might not be punished now for our sins, we will suffer the consequences in the World to Come. When a Jew would receive Tzara’at, the disease would not merely indicate to him that he should improve in the future; it would encourage Teshuvah, repentance. It would force the sinner to isolate himself and reconsider his actions so that he could be forgiven. Today, we are not forced to do Teshuvah; as such, if we do not repent, our sins will rapidly pile up. Therefore, in an age without Tzara’at and without warning from Hashem, we must always reconsider our actions on our own so that we can be properly forgiven. We hope that by returning to the piety of the times of the Beit HaMikdash, we will merit in the coming of Mashiach.