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Monday, April 27, 2009

The Tzara'at<->Hazir<->Edom Triangle



In the previous post, I showed how the fourth kingdom of Edom that we are currently in is compared to Tzara'at.

In another recent post, I alluded to how Edom is symbolized by the Hazir (although I did slightly digress from that pshat, but that is the commonly held position).

Now, to complete the triangle, I'll show the connection between tzara'at and hazir.

Gemara Kiddushin 49b:

'עשרה קבים נגעים ירדו לעולם ט' נטלו חזירים כו

10 measurements of tzara'at went down to the world: 9 of which were taken by pigs [and 1 for the rest of the world]

Gemara Shabbat 129a-b:

רב ושמואל דאמרי תרוייהו האי מאן דעביד מילתא ליטעום מידי והדר ליפוק דאי לא טעים מידי אי פגע בשכבא ירקא אפיה אי פגע במאן דקטל נפשא מית אי פגע בדבר אחר קשה לדבר אחר

Rav and Shemu'el, who both say: Someone who does this thing [of bloodletting] should taste something and then go out because if he does not taste something, if he meets up with a dead body, his face will turn green; if he meets up with someone who killed someone, he'll die; if he meets up with something else [i.e., a pig], it is bad for something else [i.e., tzara'at]

Rashi there:

בדבר אחר. חזיר: קשה לדבר אחר. צרעת שהחזירים מנוגעים הם כדאמרינן בקידושין י' קבים נגעים ירדו לעולם תשעה נטלו חזירים

Something else. pig: Bad for something else. Tzara'at since pigs have tzara'at as it says in Kiddushin "10 measurements of tzara'at went down to the world: 9 of which were taken by pigs"

See also Rashi in Ketuvot 61b ד"ה דבר אחר חזאי ביה.

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Now, isn't it interesting that during Parshat Tazria/Metzora, a swine flu broke out in one of the lands of Edom?

5 Comments:

At Tue Apr 28, 03:03:00 AM 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you explain further why pigs have 9 levels of tzaraat, and what does that mean? I would understand if pigs had 9 levels of hypocrisy, but I don't get the tzaraat thing... because a pig cannot speak. (please excuse me if this is a stupid comment.... just trying to understand it all)

 
At Tue Apr 28, 03:14:00 PM 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tzara'at is not the flu. It is a very specific spiritual skin disease. Don't twist around Divrei Chazal to fit in with your personal worldview.

 
At Tue Apr 28, 03:38:00 PM 2009, Blogger Neshama said...

Well maybe there's a connection with this: 10 measures of Z'nus (ervah, immorality) came down to the world, and 9 measures went to Yishmael.

So I heard from Rav Wolfson Shlit"a, as I heard on a tape (that has so much more great stuff soon as I can type it out!).

 
At Tue Apr 28, 03:54:00 PM 2009, Blogger Neshama said...

Forgot to send you this:

Healing with Light
http://habayitah.blogspot.com/2009/04/month-of-splendor-iyar-part-i.html

and A Second Chance
http://habayitah.blogspot.com/2009/04/month-of-splendor-iyar-part-ii.html

 
At Tue Apr 28, 11:32:00 PM 2009, Blogger yaak said...

Anonymous #1: A good question, but I don't believe tzara'at ONLY comes for Leshon Hara. It's an existance, which people/homes/clothing can contract due to Leshon Hara.

Anonymous #2: I never said that tzara'at was the flu. Nor am I saying that people who get the swine flu are getting tzara'at. Please reread the post.

Neshama: the "10 measures of Znus" quote is mentioned in the same gemara. Thanks for the links.

 

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