There is a very revealing Verse at the beginning of the Parasha: “When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly affection on the skin of his body, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.” [Vayikra 13:2]. Usually, a sick person goes to the doctor without having to be coerced to it, so why regarding the Tzaraas the Torah states “He shall be brought to Aaron” as it understates that he would not go on his own chef? The Parasha describes the condition afflicting body, clothing, or home in great details: This is tzaraas. Although it is generally translated as “leprosy,” most commentaries insist that the condition otherwise known as Hansen’s disease has nothing in common with leprosy aside from being a translation one can relate to. The Rambam [laws of Tumas Tzaraas chapter 16], who was a world renown physician, insists that the symptoms of tzaraas are so different in its varied manifestations, that it has nothing to do with the physical malady known as leprosy. The Parasha itself seems to concur as the Verse describing the first step of the rehabilitation process states: “The kohen shall examine the affection on the skin of his body: if hair in the affected patch has turned white and the affection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a tzaraas affection; when the kohen sees it, he shall pronounce him impure.” [Ibid, 3]. This Verse raises two difficulties: 1). How is it that for a life-threatening ailment, the person who must perform the examination and the healing is not trained as a physician but a born a kohen? 2). As described above the tzaraas is a physical ailment, so why is the sick person declared impure? Speaking in condemnation of others be it divisive, hateful speech, slander, character assassination or even non-constructive, frivolous chatter, reveal a profound personality disorder and evilness. Even if things are truthful, the raconteur transgresses the prohibition “to not slander.” If lies are included, the slanderer also transgresses the prohibition against “defamation”. Just as it is forbidden to slander, so it is forbidden to hear it, and all the more so to believe it and accept it as certain truth. The Talmud [Erchin 15b] informs that slander kills three people: the slanderer, the recipient and the slandered The Tosefta [Nega’im 6:6] defines the reason of the ailment as a payback to the vilifier. His intention was to have the slandered hated by the community, as a just retribution he will be excommunicated for 7 to 14 days. The tzaraas is a spiritual ailment that exposes what one did to his fellow in supposed secrecy, in full denial of Hashem omnipresence and that He is aware of all deeds. Hence, the seriousness of the sin cannot be contested. Thus, the kohen’s diagnosis of tzaraas is the first step along a long path of spiritual rehabilitation – but it is a step that cannot be skipped: “Treatment” cannot begin until the kohen has made his declaration — unlike the physical ailment of leprosy which, if left untreated, whether a doctor pronounces a diagnosis or not, can result in death. The ailment is not considered tzaraas until it is declared so by a kohen and is not treated until the kohen’s diagnosis is pronounced. [Rashi 14:36] Naturally, a person lives in complete denial that he has any blemish, to his eyes he is perfect and a Tzadik. Hence, one is totally unable to associate his ailment with tzaraas, he will adamantly declare that it is a skin disorder. Thus, avoiding facing the kohen and the “treatment” that will ensue have for effect that the symptoms will worsen until he will no longer be able to go himself to the kohen, he will have to be transported to him. Then, the kohen will not prescribe pills or creams but excommunication with the prohibition to any Jew to address him at all, whether it is family members or friends. He cannot pray in a Minyan, even with 10 afflicted by tzaraas like him, and he is left all alone to support himself. The treatment to the tzaraas is nothing else than the very medicine he wanted for his fellow. Here’s the fabulous story of the Chalban; A first glance at Rav Chaim Ezra Hakohen Fatchia doesn’t reveal the illustrious kabbalist behind the simple facade. Without a beard and long peyos, and wearing only a simple cap, one wouldn’t know that the Chalban [milkman] has been deeply involved in kabbalah since he was 9. “I have yichus going back many generations. My teachers were mekubalim who opened the door to me to this world. At the age of 9, I began to read the kabbalah books of my father, Rav Ezra Hakohen Fatchia, that were in our house. Without asking my parents, I went up to the roof and learned myself. At a young age, I went to the mikvah and maintained purity. I came to the kabbalists Rav Shmuel Ervatz and Rav Hillel Simchon, and asked them to teach me. I told them, “It says in seforim that whoever immerses himself in the mikvah, it is permitted to teach him.” So, they taught me. “When I was 13, the Lelover rebbe asked me to come and complete a minyan for him. I was his kohen and we hit it off. I saw by him amazing things, things which if I would say them, no one would comprehend them.” At a young age, the Chalban discovered he had special powers. “When I was 10, I went on the street with my brother and a man passed by. I sensed that he was a thief. I told my brother, let’s see where he’s going to steal. He stretched out his hand to a kiosk and took a bag of money. I wanted to shout “thief!” but my brother covered my mouth with his hand because he was afraid the thief would hit us. After the thief left, we yelled to the kiosk owner, “Eizik! Eizik! They stole your money!” He ran after the thief and recovered his money. Already at that age, I could sense what was going on inside people.” The Chalban was the last of a group of 4 kabbalists who were called after their jobs: The Shoemaker — Rav Moshe Yaakov Ravikov, the Painter — Rav Yehuda Patilon, and the Street Cleaner – Rav Yosef Voltoch. “Heaven arranged that we met. When Yehuda Patilon came from abroad, I began to learn with him. I brought the others to join us. We met in Rokach street in Tel Aviv and learned together. We also had Rav Yehuda Segal, Rav Meir Sabato, Rav Yoshua Sharbani, and Rav Avrohom Cohen in our group. “I told Rav Yosef Voltoch, ‘you’re one of the 36 Tzadikim’ and he talked me down, ‘What are you talking about, that’s nonsense.’ I told him, ‘Rebbe, you can tell that story to anyone else, but you can’t fool me.’ “I know who the 36 Tzadikim are in our generation, but I have no permission to reveal it. I can only tell you that one of them is an old Jew who flees from people. Rav Aaron Hakohen ben Batya. He is a Yerushalmi and he doesn’t want anyone to know who he is, so he is always on the move.” When I was 12 till I was 21, I went around with Rav Avraham Hakohen to all the shuls to collect contributions so we could give the learners money for food. We saw miracles. We would go through the market street to Nachlas Yitzchak and experienced kefitzas haderech. Another amazing thing was whenever we entered a shul, we always came just when they finished Shacharis before taking out the Sefer Torah. It would happen to one shul after another, it was all beyond nature. “Rav Yoshua Sharabani used to be visited by Eliyahu Hanavi. Once he told me he learns every Shabbos with the Ben Ish Chai. When my brother died of typhus, no school would accept us. The only school that did was the Alliance school. My father saw he had no choice, and sent us there, saying he relied on the education at home. They insisted we take off our hat during studies, but I refused despite their shouts and insults. After school, I went to learn with Rav Patilon and other friends. “Before the gulf war, I saw that the Jewish people was in great dangers. I saw that if we don’t begin to pray, the situation wouldn’t be good. All the sages of that generation had already passed away, like Chachom Menachem Menashe, who knew how to make tikunim. So, I began to tell people — let’s get the rest of us together and pray for the salvation of Israel. “I gathered 2000 people with lulavs to the tomb of Rav Yochanan HaSandlar before the war. We prayed that Saddam Hussein should leave this world and missiles should not cause any harm, and that Hashem should put in Bush’s mind to fight these evil people and let us just sit back and watch it.   “I’ve already given exact intelligence to the Israeli army which resulted in successful special operations. I called a senior official in the Defense Ministry and gave him details. When he mentioned it to his higher[1]ups, they were in shock as they were in the process of checking this very information out, and here I was confirming it and giving many details they did not have. “Concerning preventing Iran from getting nuclear bombs, I told the authorities that they should tell the prime minister not to wait, not for Obama or anyone else. We must keep praying and not give up on our prayers. Hashem seeks the prayers of the Jewish people. We must pray for each thing. “Concerning Gilad Shalit, I prayrd that Hashem should bring him back alive. That is the only thing I can tell. I cannot reveal anything else. I prayed that Hashem returns him alive and not as a corpse. If the mouth has the power to destroy, it certainly has the power to build! Defamation destroys and Prayers build!

By Rabbi Fridmann * [email protected] * 305.985.3461

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