Only in Israel

What causes the disease of tzara'at described in the Torah? The Midrash explains that this skin disease is a punishment for gossip and slander. A person suffering from tzara'at is called a "metzora" because he 'spreads derogatory reports' ("motzei shem ra") (Vayikra Rabbah 16:1. See Maimonides "Hilchot Tzara'at" 16:15, that this is the simple meaning of the text in Deut. 24:8-9).

Given that the root-cause of tzara'at is slander, we would expect that non-Jews would also be afflicted, since they too are culpable for personal damages. Yet, Maimonides wrote that tzara'at is not a natural phenomenon, but a unique sign only found among the people of Israel. Why should only the Jewish people suffer from this ailment?

Divine Speech

There are two levels of speech. There is mundane speech, coming from within the world. And there is a higher form of speech, a holy speech that God granted to the Jewish people. This elevated speech does not come from within the world; rather, the world comes from within it. This is the speech by which God created the world. "By the word of God, the heavens were made; and by the breath of His mouth, all of their host" (Psalms 33:6).

God granted us the power of His speech, the speech that preceded the world, when He gave us the Torah, the blueprint of creation. "He looked in the Torah and created the universe." (Zohar Terumah 161b) This transmission of Divine speech to the Jewish people is hinted in the verse, "I put my speech in your mouth ... to plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth" (Isaiah 51:16).

Redemption of Speech

The Kabbalists explained that the Hebrew name for Passover, "Pesach", is a combination of the words "peh sach" ('the mouth speaks'). The redemption from Egypt, which prepared the way for the Torah's revelation at Sinai, was also a redemption of the faculty of speech. For this reason, we commemorate Passover with an oral mitzvah, the mitzvah to retell the story of the Exodus. And we find that Moses, aware of this dimension of the Exodus, tried to disqualify himself by protesting, "I am not a man of speech" (Ex. 4:10).

Rav Kook wrote in a passage entitled "Redemption of Speech":

"Sometimes we can sense the ties between our speech and the world. This is the beginning stage of redeeming speech from its exile."

"As the soul is elevated, we become acutely aware of the tremendous power that lies in our faculty of speech. We recognize clearly the tremendous value of each utterance; the value of our prayers and blessings, the value of our Torah study, and of all of our discourse. We are able to perceive the overall impact of speech in general. We feel the movement and great stirring of the world that is caused by speech." (Orot HaKodesh vol III, p. 285)

Two Mouths

The most vivid expression of the vast difference between these two forms of speech is the statement of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai, the 2nd century author of the Zohar: "Had I been present at Mount Sinai, I would have asked God that we be created with two mouths: one mouth to speak in Torah, and one mouth for all of our mundane needs" (Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1:2).

We may lack a mouth devoted to Torah and prayer, but we can still express our awareness of the extraordinary nature of holy speech. At the start of the morning service, we recite a wonderful "kavana": "Behold, I prepare my mouth to thank and praise my Creator." With this short declaration, we prepare ourselves to now employ our mouths for a totally different form of speech. We prepare ourselves to use the sublime form of speech that is rooted in the source of Divine wisdom. Since this holy discourse comes from the power of speech that created the universe, our prayers have the ability to influence the world and change its course (Olat Re'iyah vol. I, p. 192).

Now that we have gained some appreciation for the power of holy speech, we can understand why tzara'at only afflicts the Jewish people. Their faculty of speech, based on the Divine speech that transcends the universe, can influence the world for good and for bad. When a Jew misuses this great power, he damages the world, and is punished for this destruction. Tzara'at comes to right this wrong. The verbal communication of non-Jews, however, comes from within the world. Since it lacks the power of sublime speech, they are not punished for its misuse.

(adapted from Mo'adei HaRe'iyah pp. 295-296)

Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison