| |
 |
|
|
|
Tazria 2 And the Cohen shall command and there shall be taken for the person undergoing purification [from Tzara'as] two live kosher birds, a piece of cedar, some crimson [wool] and a hyssop branch. Rashi comments: birds...because Tzara'as comes for speaking badly about others... he must bring birds which are constantly chirping...a piece of cedar... because it comes from arrogance...some crimson and a hyssop branch... What is his solution to become pure? He should humble himself like a worm (this is a play on the Hebrew word worm - towlo'as - which is similar to the word for crimson wool) and the hyssop. If one wishes to purify himself and his attributes, he should serve Hashem with these two seemingly contradictory attitudes. He should be like a cedar - tall and proud - of his commitment to Torah and Mitzvos. Together with this, he must be as the hyssop, humble and forgiving in his dealings with others. Even though these two seem to contradict - in truth they are inseparable. You can not be truly humble without the certainty of who and what you are. In the words of R' Avrohom Yehoshuah Heshel of Apta: Tall and strong as a cedar in reaching for heaven, lowly and humble as a hyssop in dealing with lowly earthly matters. If the solution to so many things is a little humility, why did the Torah not make it a Mitzvah for itself? Explains the Sefas Emes: With a mitzvah we would look for ways to act and to perform the Mitzvah, however every act to display humility as an act of display, is the antithesis of humility. Said the Kotzker Rebbe: All Mitzvos need intention, except humility, intention to behave humbly is the essence of arrogance. Said R' Pinchas of Koretz: For every sin you need some sort of action, whether it is the movement of a limb or at the very least - speech. Except for arrogance. It is possible to be lying on your back in bed, doing nothing at all, and think, "I am one of the great people and better than any one else." R' Yaakov of Lissa, author of the Nessivos and Chavas Da'as, was renowned in his generation as a sage and a saint. He once came to visit R' Mordechai Benet in Nikolsburg, also a renowned scholar, and spent together many hours of enjoyable conversation. R' Mordechai was so taken with his guest that he invited him to speak in the major Shul on Shabbos afternoon, where he invited all the leading scholars of Nikolsburg. R' Yaakov began his lecture and showed his clarity of thought and brilliant insightfulness. At one point R Mordechai asked a question. R' Yaakov paused, thought for a few minutes and ended his lecture, implying that the question was so solid it undermined the basis of his entire presentation. When R' Mordechai went home he checked into the sources and realised that R' Yaakov had been correct after all, and his question was baseless. He immediately went to see R' Yaakov and told him, "I now realise that you were correct all along. Why then did you break off the Derasha rather than point out where I had been mistaken?" "I knew," responded R' Yaakov, "that I was correct. However, I said to myself 'it is preferable that I, a guest and visitor in town, be embarrassed than, Heaven forbid, to embarrass a rabbi in his own community'". |
