The Need for Reminders
Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s sermon in 5767
On Wednesday after paying a shiva call on the upper west side of Manhattan I hopped on the train to meet a friend for lunch in midtown. As I came up the stairs at the Times Square station I experienced the magnitude of the lights and activity there as I do each and every time that I emerge from that station. The word impressed is not the correct word but one is certainly aware of the enormity of it all. What always draws my attention the most is the billboards; some are 2-3 stories in height while others are well over 20 stories in height.
The same thought runs through my mind every time I see the ads- that must cost a fortune of money! Why would a company spend that much money on a sign? And the realization that always sets in is- it must be worth it. Research is done before the money is spent and that research must conclude that heavy and pricey advertising affects consumers’ choices. That research must show that putting an item in front of you and forcing you to look at it and think about it will have an impact on your choice and action.
What great mussar!
And now I am going to tell you how Times Square helps us understand Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut and the parsha that we read this morning.
Probably the main focus of the two pasrshiot is the Metzora, the leper as it is translated. The Metzora is a person who has a skin disease that is something like leprosy and the parsha details the diagnosis and cure for the disease, to use the colloquial terms.
But this morning I am not interested in those details, rather I want to focus on one word, the one that introduces the concept and the description of the person afflicted with the disease. In chapter 13 the Torah tells us:
(ב) אָדָם כִּי יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת . וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים:
2. When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a swelling, .. he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests;
“When a man”- that is not really precise. The word in Hebrew for man is איש, not אדם. Maybe the better translation is a person! The first human being, invested with the spirit of God and created in the image of God is called Adam. That term seems to connote more than simply a man or woman.
Thus the Netziv, commenting on this verse points us to the Zohar which explains that “Adam” refers to an אדם חשוב, to an important person.
While that might be a more correct reading it does present a problem in our interpretation of that verse.
It is well documented in our tradition that Tzara’at is a physical manifestation of a spiritual disease and the one transgression most often pointed to as its cause is the sin of Lashon Hara. Thus we go to the Cohen and not to the doctor, the cure is through sacrifice and other temple rites and thus it is given prominence in the Torah. If it were simply a disease it would have no place in our Torah.
And so we ask ourselves, if the person afflicted with the disease is a sinner, how important can he or she have been?
I want to present two possible interpretations and I think that they both come together nicely:
The first explanation is given by the Netziv and relates to the nature and purpose of Tzara’at. We generally view it as a negative, as an affliction or a disease, but it could also be thought of as a warning and an opportunity for spiritual correction and growth. Instead of allowing us to continue to sin and have that sin imbed itself more deeply into our personality and behavior God sends us a reminder that our spiritual conduct is not in order and gives us the means to correct it. Think of Tzara’at as a kind of advertisement for better behavior. The ads in Times Square might look better but I am not sure that they are any more effective.
The Netziv argues that not everyone is entitled to that kind of warning. Not everyone merits that type of warning. Only an Adam Chashuv merits that kind of divine intervention. Thus it is Adam ki yihyeh…
There is however another possibility as well. Maybe the Adam is there not because of the first half of the verse which talks of the person’s having the disease but because of the second half of the verse which tells us of the person’s actions following the awareness that you have tzara’at. וְהוּבָא אֶל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים:
The person must first recognize that there is a spiritual problem and then must act upon that recognition and go to the Kohen, thus initiating the road to spiritual recovery. That person, the one with the awareness and ability to act upon it is indeed an adam gadol!
The first explanation speaks to the importance of the reminder, the ad. The second speaks to the importance of the response to that reminder. Each step is important and relevant to us today, although not in the specific tzara’at case.
Take as an example, albeit a tragic one, the Massacre this week on the Virginia Tech campus. It certainly made us aware – again – that mass shootings occur at schools. We are now aware. We certainly feel bad for the victims and we might even send a check to help out. But will we respond to take steps to ensure that it does not happen again? Will gun control laws change? Will schools implement programs to attempt recognize the signs better in the future? Will teachers be trained? Or will we forget all about it in a few weeks and not really act upon the awareness.
Now let us transition to Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha’atzmaut.
There is a lot of opposition to the celebration of these days in the religious world. Why were they instituted and why do we observe them? Because we well understand that we need reminders and without those reminders we would simply continue through the daily grind without stopping to think. As crazy as this sounds, if we did not force ourselves to take the time out to think about the Holocaust and the State of Israel we would rarely stop to remember the tragedy of the Shoah or appreciate the miracles and divine providence that led to and continues to sustain the our presence in the land of Israel.
Certainly each of those three days deserves its own analysis and thought and we do not have the time to do it now, but I would ask you to think about the following questions- what did I do on Yom Hashoah and how has it impacted my life? How will I react to the reminder? Was I even aware that Yom Hazikaron and Yom ha’atzmaut were coming up this week? What does the state of Israel mean to me? How will I react to these annual reminders?
Those are some very powerful questions.
