By Marco Del Monte
Shabbat HaGadol
In this week's parashah we continue to speak of tzaraat, that spiritual, we might say psychosomatic, illness caused by the transgression of evil speech.
In leap years like this one, the parashah is usually read before Pesach. What, then, might be the connection between tzaraat and Pesach?
In the parashah we read that one of the acts of purification for the leper consisted of the sacrifice of two birds. The Talmud asks why this particular type of animal is chosen to purify oneself from Lashon Harah? "Rabbi Yehuda ben Levi says: What is different and remarkable about a leper, for which the Torah states he must bring two birds for his purification (Leviticus 14:4)? The Holy One, Blessed be He, says: He acted by speaking malicious words with an act of chatter; therefore the Torah says he shall bring an offering of birds, which chirp and chatter continuously" (masechet Arachin 16b). Not only does the Talmud teach us this, but also that just as the slanderer wishes to create divisions within the people, measure for measure, he himself will be separated and distanced from the people. According to Jewish tradition, the words we speak can fall into two categories: forbidden speech, such as the leper who utters slander; and permitted speech, which is not only recommended but even becomes obligatory to utter, such as words of Torah and prayer, or words that unite one person with another.
In this sense, it seems to me that Pesach represents the anti-Tzaraat: the festival par excellence in which the use of the mouth is employed in an extremely sacred way. The very term Pesach can be read as "Pe-Sach"—that is, the mouth that recounts, the mouth that weaves the praises of Hashem and is happy and content with whatever Hashem sends them, and even if He were not to send more... Dayenu! Moses, the man with speech difficulties, will paradoxically be saved by a cradle called in Hebrew "Tevah", that is, "Word": The word will save Moses and the entire people, just as Noah entered the ark, called by the same name, Tevah, to save man from destruction. It is no coincidence, the chachamim maintain, that Moses was the reincarnation of Noah.
Thus Pe-sach, the mouth that recounts, will be the one that destroys Pharaoh, in Hebrew "Paro", a term which when anagrammed gives "Pe-Ra", meaning the evil mouth, the forked tongue, the one that is divided in two in its form, precisely because it divides, separates. Not only at Pesach do we sanctify what comes out of the mouth, but obviously also what goes into it: one need only think of the demanding process of the days preceding Pesach, just to eat for a week without chametz, without that leavened substance representing the swelling of the ego. We do not divide at Pesach, but let anyone who is hungry come and eat together, even if he is a Rasha! Although it is very difficult, and honestly frustrating, one should not dwell on bad words and people's malice, seeking to take revenge by using their very same weapon, for in doing so we would bring out the worst part of ourselves. Even if it can be tiring at times, the best thing is to pass over... Ah, right! Pesach comes from Pasoach, meaning to pass over!
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach and Pesach Kosher VeSameach!
Happy Passover!
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.