The Weekly Sedra – Tazria – Life Is A Mess

Der baal agalah shmaised, dee ferd briken-zich, un-dervaile fort-men (Yiddish). – Reb Mendel Futerfass.

Life is queer with its twists and turns; as everyone sometimes learns, Many a failure turns about; when you might have won had you stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow; you may succeed with another blow.

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit; it’s when things seem worse that you must not quit. – Author unknown.

Who said that life was supposed to be smooth sailing – unmarred and unhindered by adversity and resistance? Whoever said that life was meant to be tranquil and challenge-free was certainly not quoting the Torah. The Torah makes no such claim.

The fact is that the Torah is replete with the opposite message. From the lives of our ancestors, to our slavery in Egypt, to the Israelite’s forty-year journey in the desert, the recurring theme is one of challenge, adversity, failure and triumph. King Solomon sum’s it up in Mishlei (Proverbs) rather succinctly: “Sheva yipol tzaddik v’kam” (a Tzaddik – righteous person – falls seven times and rises).

Life is indeed a messy business – a cacophony of challenges, setbacks, and victories. There is nothing neat or tranquil about it, nor is there supposed to be. As one of my spiritual mentors was wont to say: “You want tranquility? Visit the cemetery; among the dead it is very peaceful. Among the living there is strife and disorder.” But is challenge, adversity and turmoil a good thing? What does Judaism believe?

The Torah’s perspective on adversity or, as some refer to it, “bad things happening to good people,” is extremely positive. The deep-rooted Jewish belief is that everything that happens – even that which appears to be negative – is for good.

This outlook is underscored by the Talmudic declaration that we must bless the Lord for the seeming evil in our lives even as we bless Him for the good. Hence, according to Jewish law when a Jew hears good tidings, he blesses G-d who “is good and does good.” And when he hears bad news of death or destruction, heaven forbid, he similarly praises G-d: “Blessed are you O Lord, the true judge.”

The notion that every occurrence is infused with good, pertains to all adversity, even to Divine retribution. The following observation made by the classic Torah commentaries in reference to the affliction of Tzaraas – which constitutes a large portion of this week’s Parsha, Tazriah – is a fitting illustration of this fundamental Jewish principle.

The Torah renders the Mitzora, one with a leprosy-like malady – a condition brought-on by spiritual deficiency – spiritually impure and requires him to be quarantined. A unique characteristic of the Tzaraas condition was its capacity to manifest itself in a person’s body, garments, as well as the walls of his home.

In the adjacent Parsha, Vayikra, Chapter, 14 Verse 33, the Torah relates the following instruction: “When you arrive in the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I will place a Tzaraas affliction upon a house in the land of your possession. The one to whom the house belongs shall come and declare to the Kohen saying: ‘A sort of affliction has appeared to me in the house’ . . . The Kohen shall return on the seventh day; he shall look and behold the affliction had spread in the walls of the house. The Kohen shall command, and they shall remove the stones that contain the affliction . . . If the affliction returns and erupts in the house after he has removed the stones . . . it is a malignant Tzaraas in the house, it is contaminated. He shall demolish the house – its stones, its timbers, and all the mortar of the house . . .”

Needless to say, when Tzaraas struck, in whatever form, it was not a happy occurrence. In the case of the afflicted house it was particularly distressing, since in its worst form, it would result in the demolition of the house – a rather costly and devastating ordeal on the part of the owner. Yet ironically, the commentaries perceive this destructive form of Tzaraas in a positive and constructive light.

From the peculiar manner in which the Torah introduces this topic: “When you arrive in the land . . . I will place a Tzaraas affliction upon a house . . .” – the implication being that this is some type of good tiding, Rashi asserts that the Canaanite inhabitants – resigned to the fact that the Israelites were poised to conquer the land – went ahead and hid their valuables in the walls of their homes. In order to enable the Jewish owners to acquire this wealth, G-d placed the affliction on the wall where the treasure was buried so that the stones would have to be removed and hence the treasure uncovered.
Amazing! We’re talking about a person who had been stricken with a serious catastrophe, perhaps as a punishment for damaging transgressions! Still, our sages see in this Divine mercy and blessing. How is this to be understood?

The answer is that herein lies the very essence of the Jewish perspective regarding adversity. G-d, being the epitome of goodness and compassion, does not perform acts of badness. Even when G-d tests us or exacts punishment, the very act is itself permeated with His loving kindness. Rather than revenge, its purpose is to help us uncover deep hidden treasures, whether within the walls of our homes or the confines of our souls.

Much as with Tzaraas there is nothing pretty or orderly about adversity and challenge, other than the result – the triumph of the soul and the ultimate fulfillment of its earthly journey.