The laws of impurity and purity, tuma and tahara, are of the most complex and intricate in Judaism. Not only are these laws detailed and complicated in terms of their observance, they are also seemingly completely irrelevant to our daily lives. This week we learn about the affliction tzara’at. Far too often tzara’at is mistakenly defined as leprosy. While tzara’at may look like leprosy, it certainly is and is caused by very different things. (The JPS translates tzara’at as a “scaly infection”. This is more accurate, yet the word “infection” implies that the condition is medical, which we shall soon see is not the case.) The truth about tzara’at is that nobody really knows what it is. There is no medical treatment to get rid of it. Our Rabbis (Chazal) explain that tzara’at is a spiritual affliction, not a medical one. To prove this notion, the Rambam quotes from our Parsha...
It is extremely easy to read this section of the Torah dealing with the Mishkan and get lost. The precise details seem like an insurmountable of rather unexciting information, rather than a recipe for a connection with God. I would like to make sure that we all understand the bigger picture here – the goal of the Mishkan as stated in the text itself, and the realization of that goal through actions. The goal of the Mishkan is stated almost immediately in Parshat Terumah, the opening section of the Torah on the subject: “And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” Now to discuss this verse completely would take ages – just about every single person who has ever written a commentary to the Chumash, ranging from Rashi to Chasidic masters, has written extensively on this verse. I am not going to focus on this verse; rather I just want to point out that this is the stated goal.
משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה, when the month of אדר enters, our happiness abounds...The question is, how does someone become joyous? How does one increase happiness and, more importantly, what is happiness?