Reply To: Dvar Torah: Metzora

In truth, even chirping or speech cannot be at one extreme. We warn from the dead chirping bird to not have bad speech but the living one sent away teaches the need to have good and correct speech. Please read below.

Metzora 1 — Two Chirping Birds
וצוה הכהן ולקח למטהר שתי צפרים חיות טהרות ועץ ארז ושני תולעת ואזב: וצוה הכהן ושחט את הצפור האחת אל כלי חרש על מים חיים: את הצפר החיה יקח אתה ואת עץ הארז ואת שני התולעת ואת האזב וטבל אותם ואת הצפר החיה בדם הצפר השחטה על המים החיים:והזה על המטהר מן הצרעת שבע פעמים וטהרו ושלח את הצפר החיה על פני השדה
The Kohen shall command; and for the person being purified there shall be taken two live, pure birds, cedar wood, a crimson tongue of wool, and hyssop. The Kohen shall command; and the one bird shall be slaughtered into an earthenware vessel over spring water. The live bird, he shall take it and the cedar wood and the crimson tongue of wool and the hyssop, and he shall dip them and the live bird into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the spring water. Then he shall sprinkle seven times upon the person being purified from the tzaraas; he shall purify him, and he shall set the live bird free upon the open field” (Vayikra 14:4-7).
The metzora’s purification process includes two birds, one of which is slaughtered and one of which is sent away alive. Rashi (v.4) explains why birds are used in the purification of the metzora: Like the person who spoke lashon hara, birds are constantly twittering. Accordingly, chirping birds are used as a kapparah for the one who “chirped too much” and shared derogatory information about others.
Unlike all other occasions when two birds are required, here the Kohen does not kill both; the second one is released. As mentioned earlier (Vayikra, Tzav), the Ramban (Vayikra 1:9) maintains that animal sacrifices are intended to cause the one bringing the korban to imagine that he is the one slaughtered, for this will bring him to repent. But what value is there in setting one of the birds free?
The Kli Yakar (v.4: “Ve’taam lishtei tziporim…”) writes that the two birds represent two types of speech: that which is forbidden and that which is a mitzvah, that which must not be said and that which must be said. By engaging in proper and positive speech, the metzora remedies the sin of the improper speech. The forbidden speech, as represented by the first bird that is killed, must cease and desist. True expiation of sin requires that the sinning stop. But that is only half the battle. To atone for the misuse of speech, what is now required is the proper use of speech.
The Kli Yakar specifies just what kind of speech will bring kapparah to the metzora. By using his mouth for Torah and tefillah, he is able to undo the ill effects of causing hurt and harm through that mouth. So while the bird that represents the harmful speech is killed, the second bird must live on, to demonstrate that the antidote for lashon hora is not a vow of silence but a commitment to speak properly. The second bird represents judicious and good chirping: engaging one’s mouth in Torah, tefillah, and constructive talk, which must be strengthened and nurtured.
In his sefer Apirion (cited in Yalkut Lekach Tov), Rav Shlomo Gantzfried brings the same point; to that end, he cites the Gemara (Chullin 89a), where Rabbi Yitzchak quotes the pasuk, “Ha’umnam eilem tzedek tedabeirun — Is there indeed silence when you should be speaking righteousness?” (Tehillim 58:2). While it is true that at times a person is obligated to be silent like a mute (eilem), this does not apply to a discussion of Torah, as it says, “Tzedek tedabeirun — Speak righteousness,” meaning the words of Torah. This is as we see in the Gemara (Erchin 15b): What is the remedy for one who has spoken lashon hara? If he is a talmid chacham, he should toil in Torah. As Shlomo teaches us (Mishlei 15:4): “Marpei lashon eitz chaim —The remedy for the tongue is the Tree of Life”; the tongue is referring to lashon hara and the Tree of Life is the Torah. So we see that one cure for lashon hara is limud Torah.
The Zohar (Vayikra 46b) adds another dimension. Just as a person is punished for malicious gossip and speaking inappropriately, he is also punished for not speaking appropriately. The Zohar quotes the words of Tehillim (39:3) to corroborate this: “Ne’elamti dumiah hechesheisi mi’tov u’cheivi nekar — I became mute with stillness, I was silent even from good; my pain was intense.” According to the Gemara (Berachos 5a), “tov — good” means the Torah. Thus, David HaMelech is telling us that because he was silent and did not speak words of Torah, he was punished, his pain intense.
The Sfas Emes (Metzora 5661) brings the words of the Zohar, along with the words of Shlomo HaMelech in Mishlei (18:21), “Mavess ve’chaim be’yad lashon — Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” He then adds that a person must be careful not only to avoid lashon hara, but to stay away from any speech that will take him away from his true objective — of learning Torah. The two birds are there for two separate purposes: The slaughtered one removes the sin of unnecessary talk, and obviously lashon hara, while the other one is sent away in order to prepare the mouth of the metzora to be used only for divrei Torah.
When stating that death and life are in the hand of the tongue, Shlomo HaMelech is informing us that just as the tongue can cause death and destruction when not used properly, it also brings life, when used for Torah and mitzvos. Words not only take away life, but also give life. This concept is illustrated in a well-known Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 33:1). Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel sent his servant to the market, instructing him, “Bring me the best thing you can find.” The servant brought him a tongue. On another occasion, Rabbi Shimon told the same servant to purchase the worst thing he could find. This time, too, the servant returned with a tongue. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel was startled and asked his servant, “How can the same item be the best thing and also the worst?” The servant responded, “There is nothing better than a tongue that speaks good and nothing worse than a tongue that speaks evil.”
This brings us to another famous incident mentioned in the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 16:2). As a peddler made his way through the towns near the city of Tzipori, he called out, “Who would like to purchase a life-giving potion?” People crowded around him to see what he had to offer. Rabbi Yanai, who was nearby and heard and saw the commotion, told the peddler to come show him his wares. At first, the peddler answered, “Neither you nor those like you have need for it.”
When Rabbi Yanai persisted, the peddler quoted from Sefer Tehillim (34:13-15), “Mi ha’ish he’chofetz chaim oheiv yamim liros tov. Netzor leshoncha mei’ra u’sefasecha mi’daber mirmah. Sur mei’ra va’aseih tov bakeish shalom ve’radfeihu — Who is the man who desires life, who loves days of seeing good? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.”
The Kli Yakar (v.4: “Aval rocheil zeh… “) points out that this peddler, this rocheil, had himself been a baal lashon hara, one who peddled his wares of gossip, causing arguments and breaking up friendships along the way. But now he had resolved to do teshuvah and he had succeeded. As such, he wanted to share his success with others and bring merit to the tzibbur and help them do teshuvah, as well. Therefore, he went to the cities surrounding “Tzipori,” meaning those cities that were similar to a tzipor — the bird that chirps and chatters — with the express purpose of educating those towns where people had stumbled through evil speech and were chattering like birds. Thus he used his tongue for good instead of bad, and went from being the itinerant gossip to the itinerant maggid. He killed his bad bird by releasing his good bird.
We see that this peddler, this recovering gossip, did not merely stop speaking. Rather, he taught others the lessons he had learned. The end of the pesukim the peddler cited instruct: “Sur mei’ra va’aseih tov bakeish shalom ve’radfeihu — Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.” As mentioned, “tov” refers to Torah, so once again, as the Kli Yakar posits, the way to veer from evil is through learning and speaking words of Torah.
But there is more: We must also seek peace and pursue it: “Bakeish shalom ve’radfeihu.” If we constantly look for the good in others and look for ways to make peace, we will find that we automatically avoid evil speech and nasty gossip.
With this in mind, we can understand a citation in the Magen Avraham (Orach Chaim 60:2) when discussing the berachah of Ahavah Rabbah in Tefillas Shacharis. There we find a reference to Kavannos U’Kesavim, where it is taught that the Sheish Zechiros, six events we must constantly remember, are alluded to in Ahavah Rabbah. One of these events is: “Zachor eis asher asah Hashem Elokecha le’Miriam ba’derech be’tzeis’chem miMitzrayim — Remember what Hashem, your G-d, did to Miriam, on the way when you departed from Egypt” (Devarim 24:9). As Bnei Yisrael were traveling in the Midbar, Miriam spoke lashon hara to Aharon about Moshe and was punished with tzaraas (Bamidbar 12), and this is what we are to remember every day lest we, too, fall into the trap of lashon hara. The words that correspond to this reminder in the tefillah of Ahavah Rabbah are: “le’hodos lecha — to offer praiseful thanks to You.” As it says in the Kavanos U’Kesavim, “The mouth was only created to express gratitude and not to speak lashon hara, and this is the remembrance of the incident of Miriam.”
I heard from Rav Aharon Dovid Willner that lashon hara and expressing gratitude are flipsides of the same coin. One who speaks lashon hara is a person who focuses on the negative side of things, never looking at what is good and praiseworthy. He can’t appreciate that all Hashem does is for the good, and he feels entitled to have everything his way. Such a person will also be bothered by the faults he sees in man and will speak ill of him. On the other side of the coin, we have the person who lives up to the ideal of “le’hodos lecha,” of focusing on feeling grateful for all he does have, and of appreciating all of mankind. Such a person will be free from the bottomless pit of negativity — even if things don’t go his way or he finds something unfavorable in another individual. Consequently, he will never feel the need to express something negative about another, let alone Hashem, even at times when his expectations are not met.
Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuvah 1:18) cites the verse in Mishlei (28:12),”Ba’alotz tzaddikim rabbah sifares u’ve’kum reshaim yechupas adam — When the righteous exult, there is much splendor, but when the wicked rise, victims are sought.” Tzaddikim praise and honor others for every virtue and positive quality they find in each individual, while reshaim seek every blemish and fault within others in order to degrade and demean them.
Lashon hara… or divrei Torah? Critique and complaints… or praising Hashem and others? The choices are ours. Which will it be?