English translation — מצורע

Metzora<pg>42</pg>

A.

In the laws of the impurity of a zav

(that is at the end of our parshah)

We find three categories — one who has one appearance,

one who has two appearances and one who has three appearances: one who has one appearance "he is like one who has a seminal emission, impure with impurity of evening"<sup>1</sup>

; one who has two appearances<sup>2</sup>

is impure with impurity of seven

(and his impurity is severe, that he also imparts impurity to a bed and a seat,

and requires "living water"<sup>3</sup>)

; and one who has three appearances<sup>2</sup>

— in addition to his impurity, he also needs to bring a sacrifice when he becomes pure for atonement.

And simply it appears that the difference in the severity of the impurity between these three categories depends only on the quantity of the emissions,

for each additional emission adds to the severity of the impurity.

But we find that there is a difference between them also in the manner of the emissions: one who has one emission is impure even if he had it under duress⁴

(as the law of impurity of keri which is also under duress)

; however, one who has two emissions is not impure unless he had the second emission willingly,

but if the second emission was under duress he is not impure with the impurity of seven days⁵

; and one who has three emissions is obligated to bring a sacrifice even if the third emission was due to duress⁶.

And a reason is required,

The law of one who has one appearance and the law of one who has three appearances are equal,

that it is even if forced,

And specifically one who has two appearances is only willingly⁷.

Furthermore: Regarding the first appearance itself, there is a distinction between one who has one appearance,

one who has two appearances and one who has three appearances: One who has one appearance is impure even if it was forced as above; and likewise one who has two appearances — impure

(with severe impurity)

even if the first appearance was forced⁸

(and only the second appearance must be willingly)

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But one who has three sightings is not obligated to bring a sacrifice unless the first sighting

(like the second)

was voluntary⁴

[And as explained in the Gemara⁹,

that which we learned

(in the Mishnah¹⁰)

"If he saw a first sighting, we examine him"

(whether it was due to an accident)

— even though one who has one sighting is impure even if due to an accident,

and for what purpose is this examination — it is "for a sacrifice",

"for if the first was due to an accident, it does not combine with the three to obligate him to bring a sacrifice"¹¹].

And it requires explanation,

why the third sighting of one who has three sightings obligates a sacrifice even if it is due to an accident

[unlike one who has two sightings,

where the second sighting must be voluntary specifically,

as above)

; and on the other hand — his first sighting

(of the three sightings)

must be voluntary specifically¹²

[unlike one who has two sightings,

where even if the first was due to an accident,

he is impure with a second sighting

(when it is voluntary)].

2.

And this will be understood through the explanation of these three modes in spiritual service:

The matter of "zov" is an illness,

as explained in the Rambam¹³,

that there is impurity that leaves the body in a natural manner¹⁴,

but zov is the impurity that leaves due to illness.

And the distinction in service between these two modes: the impurity that goes out from a person's body indicates the evil that is in a person,

which has two divisions¹⁵

: a)

natural evil that is found in him from the essence of creation,

for thus man was created, that his holy soul is clothed in a physical and material body,

with the evil inclination

(as it is said^*15

"for the inclination of man's heart is evil from his youth")

— in order that there should be the matter of choice; b)

evil not according to the regular nature,

which is like an illness — about which our sages, of blessed memory, said¹⁶

"this illness is the evil inclination" — the evil that is added in a person through sin.

And behold, in this "evil" itself that is added through sin — there are two matters: a)

Through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge evil was added in all human beings,

and it is the "defilement" of the serpent that was placed in Eve

(as our sages, of blessed memory, said¹⁷

"he cast into her defilement")

and through her — in all human beings.

b)

That which a person provokes his inclination upon himself,

by which evil is added to him,

more than the measure of evil that is in him from the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

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And one could say,

that this is the difference between one who has one appearance and one who has two appearances: one who has one appearance hints at the evil

("illness")

that was given in all human beings through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge¹⁸,

and one who has two appearances is the evil that was added in the person through his inciting his evil inclination upon himself.

And based on this, the reason is also understood that one who has one appearance is impure even if forced, whereas one who has two appearances is not impure unless the appearance

(the second)

is willful:

The evil that is found in man from the impurity of the serpent is not in his will and choice,

and it is not in his power to nullify it.

And as the Alter Rebbe explains¹⁹

that which Chazal said²⁰

"Four died because of the serpent's venom",

that there was no sin in them²¹

and they died only because of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge

(which was caused by the serpent's advice)

— this is not only

(as the simple understanding of the matter)

that they died because "a decree of death was decreed upon all descendants of Adam the First"²²,

but rather because through the sin of the Tree of Knowledge "impurity" was placed in every person

(as above),

therefore,

"even though²³

they are complete righteous ones, nevertheless there still remains in them some trace of the impurity of the serpent that they could not remove entirely"

(and since there is in them impurity and contamination,

therefore there is in them the matter of death²⁴).

And this is the inner content of the impurity of "one who had a single emission",

that "what is his Torah — and that which goes out from him etc.,

behold he is like one who had a seminal emission, impure with impurity until evening"¹

— even though also a zav with a single emission is a matter of illness:

Since the impurity of the serpent is found in every person in a way that he cannot remove it entirely,

therefore there are matters of evil and impurity that come upon a person against his will and he cannot prevent himself from them²⁵.

And since the source of this evil is from the impurity of the serpent that is in him in the nature of his creation and it is not in his will and choice to remove it entirely,

therefore this is like the impurity of keri and not like the severe impurity of a zav.

And so,

the two extremes in the impurity of one who has a single emission — on the one hand it is a light impurity

(only evening impurity and it does not render a seat or bed impure),

and on the other hand the impurity is even when the emission is through coercion — they are from the same reason: the impurity is also through coercion,

for the definition of this impurity is connected with the evil that is not dependent on the will and choice of the person²⁶,

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And for this very reason it is impure only with a light impurity

(impurity of evening etc.).

And all this in one who has one appearance,

but a zav who has two appearances,

that is,

that he incites his evil inclination upon himself more than the natural evil

(which he cannot remove entirely),

behold this impurity is only when the appearance is not through duress²⁷,

and then he is impure with a severe impurity,

impurity of seven days etc.

3.

And it can be said,

that the concept of one who has three sightings is — that he is established in impurity,

and this means that his evil inclination has become so ingrained in him that the evil is fixed in him in a manner of "established".

And this is also the reason that this law applies even if the third sighting is due to coercion,

it can be said,

that this is in accordance with what the Rambam wrote&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;

that "it is possible that a person will sin a great sin or many sins until the judgment is given before the Judge of truth that the payment from this sinner for these sins that he did willingly and knowingly will be that repentance is withheld from him and he is not given permission to return from his wickedness"

[And as he explains there at length regarding Pharaoh,

that this that God hardened Pharaoh's heart is not a contradiction to the "great principle"&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;

of free choice,

"because he sinned of his own accord initially and harmed Israel etc. the judgment was given to withhold repentance from him etc."].

And as explained in the books³⁰

regarding the matter of "the dominion of the wicked",

that when a person immerses himself greatly in matters of evil, may G-d forbid,

then he is subdued under the dominion of evil,

that even when he already wants to free himself from the dominion of evil, he does not have the ability to overcome the evil,

and he is "forced" to do the will of the evil inclination.

And therefore, even though this seeing is under duress,

behold, since its beginning was with will³¹,

he is punished also for the duress that comes afterwards,

because he caused this duress through his negligence at the beginning.

And based on this it is understood simply that one who has three emissions is not obligated to bring a sacrifice unless the first two emissions

(including the first emission)

were with desire

[unlike one who has two emissions,

who is impure with impurity of seven days even if the first emission was under duress]

— because this matter,

that the person is established in impurity to such an extent that he is already in the category of one under duress under his evil inclination

(and they punish him also for this)

is only if "he transgressed and repeated"&lt;sup&gt;32&lt;/sup&gt;,

two emissions&lt;pg&gt;46&lt;/pg&gt;

with desire,

but not so if only one emission was with desire,

even though he is impure with impurity of seven days,

he does not have the definition of "one who has three emissions".

And this is the novelty of the Torah,

that even this one who is a "baal shalosh re'iyot" has a remedy,

that by bringing a sacrifice it atones for him,

and he will return and be healed.

D.

And behold, there is a version in the Mishnah³³

"If he saw the first appearance, they examine him on the second"

(And not "they examine him",

which refers to the first time itself)

— And according to this version, perhaps the explanation is that the first appearance does not require examination,

and it implies,

that always the first appearance can be attributed to an accident,

also regarding the sacrifice of a baal shalosh re'iyot.

And behold, although in halacha we do not hold thus,

and as explained in the Gemara⁹

that we examine the first appearance "for a sacrifice",

nevertheless, since "these and those are words of the living God"³⁴

it is understood,

that also this version — that in one with three appearances,

the first and third appearances are also under duress,

and only the middle appearance must be willingly — has in it a lesson and study in the service of man.

And the explanation in this: according to this version,

the hint in the service from the law of one with three appearances who is liable for a sacrifice even when the first and last appearance are under duress,

is in an opposite manner from the explanation above — that this that he is liable for a sacrifice even under duress is not a matter of punishment for his evil deeds beforehand,

but rather, on the contrary,

it is a result of this that he elevated himself in his level.

And with the introduction of what is explained³⁵

regarding the matter of "and my sin is before me always"³⁶,

that even though when a person does repentance they forgive him with complete forgiveness,

"and they do not mention to him a thing or half a thing"³⁷

of his previous deeds,

nevertheless,

as much as a person elevates himself more in his service to his Creator,

he must do repentance in a more elevated manner,

and furthermore,

that then he must do repentance also for matters that are considered a sin and deficiency only in the finest of the fine,

to the point that in his previous level they were not considered a transgression.

[And as explained in the writings of the AriZal³⁸

that "at every time that they elevate a person's soul above its level, they punish him for light transgressions according to the value of the elevation of that level",

and as related there about "the soul of a righteous great sage whom they were judging when they wanted to elevate him to the great supernal level,

and they were punishing him for that once he was concentrating in the holiness of Uva LeTzion in saying 'we did not labor in vain nor give birth for confusion' and then through that concentration he forgot and diverted his mind from the tefillin"].

And this is along the lines of the law³⁹,

that a Torah scholar upon whom a stain is found on his garment, behold it interposes,

and that is, that same stain which by an ignoramus is not an interposition,

behold when the ignoramus is elevated from his level and becomes a Torah scholar,

then that same stain interposes.

And this is the hint

(according to this version)

in the law of one who has three emissions who is obligated to bring a sacrifice for the last emission due to duress:

This deed

(alluded to in the third vision)

for which he must bring a sacrifice is considered by him&lt;pg&gt;47&lt;/pg&gt;

Coercion,

for in his previous state

(when he did this deed)

this deed was not considered something requiring atonement for it; and only afterwards, when he repented and ascended to a higher level,

then he needs atonement for that deed

(even though now it is in the category of coercion).

And according to this, the inner reason of this view is understood,

that even if the first sighting was under duress, it combines to obligate him in a sacrifice,

for the hint in this atonement is not for one who "transgressed and repeated"

(as explained above),

but rather, on the contrary,

for one who repented of his evil deeds,

that after he repented of his intentional sins

(a second sighting willingly),

behold, in his ascent to a higher level,

he needs atonement also for an act of a small and minor deficiency

(a sighting under duress)

;

And through bringing a sacrifice — "and the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord"⁴⁰

also for this "duress,"

until complete atonement,

"that it will be⁴¹

for acceptance before the Lord and pleasing and beloved before Him, blessed be He, as before the sin, to be a satisfaction for his Maker from his service."

(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Metzora 5725)