MARITAL AND GENERAL HARMONY

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well.

Mazal Tov to Binyamin Mordechai on his upcoming birthday. Wishing you an amazing year of continued growth Binyomin, with much energy, channeled into good directions, and with much joy!

For the second week in a row, both the Chumash (this week's portion Metzora), and the Rambam, are both discussing the Laws of the 'leper' (tzaraas), and as mentioned last week, Biblical leprosy is different to medical leprosy.

I saw an interesting related Dvar Torah on this subject from the teachings of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, the Rebbe's father as follows:

With tzaraas there is a lesion on the skin, and in Talmud Yevamos 63b, it says that a bad wife is considered as a lesion to her husband.

The Hebrew word for a lesion (of tzaraas) is nega, and the Tikkunei Zohar observes that the 3 letters of NEGA can be re-arranged to form the word ONEG (PLEASURE)

These 2 words nega and oneg represent the far opposite extremes of pleasure and affliction.

These extremes are also seen in the relationship between husband and wife.

In the Shabbos davening we say the verse 'And you shall call the Shabbos day a delight (oneg). This delight manifests in many ways, ONE OF WHICH IS HARMONY IN THE HOME, AND SPECIFICALLY RELATING TO THE HARMONY BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE.

A nega is the opposite of marital harmony. The leper has to be isolated outside of the camp and is forbidden from being with his wife.

We can now understand the the Talmuds comparison of a bad wife to a lesion, since a bad wife brings strife and separation into the home, just as would tzaraas.

We further see that this idea extends to anyone who stirs up arguments and disputes, in the fightings of Korach. The Talmud here (Sanhedrin 110a) says that regardless of who it is who stirs up or perpetuates conflict, he is fit to be afflicted with tzaraas.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak then goes in to discuss the deeper spiritual significance with gematrias etc, and for those interested, his teachings are published in Likutei Toras Levi Yitzchok.

Wishing everyone a Gut Shabbos and much peace and harmony!