By Marco Del Monte
In this Parashah we begin to discuss a form of tzaraat (leprosy) that occurs for various reasons: the most famous being the improper use of speech in a negative way.
The surprising thing is that this form of plague could affect not only a human being but also objects such as garments or even the walls of a house. To cure these forms of "negativity", one would go to the Kohen, who would evaluate the symptoms and evidence of the plague and, as the beginning of the "therapy", recommend isolation. It is written in the Parashah in chapter 13 verse 29 that the plague could strike a specific spot: "Berosh". "Berosh" means not on the head but inside the head, as Rabbi Nachman explains. This means that a person who always finds evil does so because there is something wrong with their thoughts, as the Gemara writes in Masechet Kiddushin 70,a-b: "Kol Haposel Bemumò Posel", that is, "Whoever declares something to be flawed is declaring their own flaw." At that moment, it is their Tzaraat being externalised. In this parashah, the principles of Freudian theories, such as projection, are arguably anticipated by many centuries. Whoever cannot see the good in situations is condemned to isolation. There is a halachah concerning a gravely ill person on Shabbat as to whether it is permitted to turn off a light for them if it causes them distress. Rav Yoram Michael Abargel Z"L interprets this Halachah metaphorically: There are sick people who are bothered by the light; in that case, it is better not to place the light near a person who cannot bear it—meaning one who cannot remain in a situation where either they or another person experiences goodness. The Chachamim tell us that as long as the lamp is lit, there is always a way to "repair", and the repair of this "נגע Nega", meaning plague, can take place by transforming our way of viewing the world; only then will the letters נגע be permuted into the letters ענג Oneg, meaning Delight, a term that particularly accompanies Shabbat itself, the day on which it is a Mitzvah to light the "Candles", the light of positivity!
Baruch... Leadlik Ner Shel Shabbat!
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.