THIS SHALL BE THE LAW OF THE PERSON AFFLICTED WITH LEPROSY, ON THE DAY OF HIS CLEANSING: HE SHALL BE BROUGHT TO THE PRIEST.

THE PRIEST SHALL GO OUTSIDE THE CAMP, AND THE PRIEST SHALL LOOK, AND BEHOLD, THE LESION OF LEPROSY HAS HEALED IN THE AFFLICTED PERSON.

 THEN THE PRIEST SHALL ORDER, AND THE PERSON TO BE CLEANSED SHALL TAKE TWO LIVE, CLEAN BIRDS, A CEDAR STICK, A STRIP OF CRIMSON [WOOL], AND HYSSOP.

(Vayikra 14:2-4)

 

The tree which Haman prepared for Mordechai was a cedar

The Sages said: Haman cast lots over a cedar tree. He cast them over a grape-vine, but he did not succeed. He said, "Israel is compared to the grape-vine, for it is said, You plucked up a vine from Egypt (Psalms 80:9)." He cast them over an olive tree, but he did not succeed, for Israel were compared to it, for it is said, the Lord named you verdant olive tree, fair with choice fruit (Jeremiah 11:16). He cast them over the apple but did not succeed, for Israel was compared to it, for it is said I aroused you under the apple-tree (Song of Songs 8:5). He cast them over the pomegranate but did not succeed, for Israel were compared to it, for it is said if the pomegranates are in bloom (6:11) like a split pomegranate (4:3). He cast them over the date-palm but did not succeed, for Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were compared to it, for it is said, I said I shall ascend the date-palm (7:9). He cast them over the nut-tree but did not succeed, for the congregation of Israel were compared to it, for it is said, I went down into the garden of nuts (6:11). He cast them over the myrtle, the willow, and the citron, but he did not succeed, for they plead Israel's case and ask mercy for them, for it is said, and you shall take for yourselves on the first day, etc. (Vayikra 23:40). He cast them over the reed, but the Holy One blessed be He told him: "Fool! Israel are compared to the reed which stands its ground in the water, moving with every wind. Even though water is bad for the reed it stands its ground. It is not compared to the cedar, which can be broken by the wind, and idolaters were compared to it, for it is said, Behold, Ashur is a cedar in Lebanon (Ezekiel 31:3). But regarding Israel it is written, it sways like a reed in water (I Kings 14:15). See - the cedar has been prepared for you since the six days of creation - on the tree which he prepared for him (Esther 6:4).

(Yalkut Shimoni Esther 1054)

 

Clean [birds] Excluding an unclean bird. Because lesions of leprosy come as a result of derogatory speech, which is done by chattering. Therefore, for his cleansing, this person is required to bring birds, which twitter constantly with chirping sounds.

a cedar stick Because lesions [of leprosy] come because of haughtiness.

A strip of crimson [wool], and hyssop What is the remedy that he may be healed [of his leprosy]? He must humble himself from his haughtiness, just as [symbolized by] the tola'at [lit., "a worm," which infested the berries from which the crimson dye was extracted to color wool], and the [lowly] hyssop.

(Rashi Vayikra 14:4, Judaica Press translation)

 

The Old Shall be Renewed and the New Shall be Sanctified (HaRAYaH Kook)

Dalia Marx

The parashiyot we read this week, as well as the new scandals of corruption and bribery that are revealed in our country on a daily basis, require us to deal with the afflictions [nega'im] spreading through the body and the home of the nation. Perhaps this is precisely the time to take account of our positive achievements.

Even in these troubled times, I think everyone would agree that there is one area in which Zionism's success has not only been unquestionable - it has exceeded all expectations. I refer, of course, to the revival of Hebrew as a spoken and living language. The efforts of other cultures to follow the example of Hebrew's champions and revive their own ancient languages have been greeted with failure. As a result, many view the revival of Hebrew as a kind of miracle.

The parashiyot we read today offer us an opportunity to observe one of the central mechanisms of Hebrew's rebirth - the novel employment of grammatical schemas and roots that already exist in the language in order to express new meanings. Let us inspect a few examples:

In the course of discussing various afflictions and the methods of their purification, parashat Tazria lists a number of diseases and bodily conditions: baheret ["white discoloration"] (13:4), tzarevet ["scar"] (13:23), sapahat ["swelling"](13:2), tzara'at ["leprosy"], karahat ["baldness of the top of the head"] (13:42), gabahat ["baldness of the sides of the head"] (13:42). These terms all share a common grammatical form: although some of the words vary from it slightly due to the presence of a guttural stop.

When spoken Hebrew awoke to life in the end of the nineteenth century it needed new words to describe new diseases. Rabbi Aharon Meir MaZIA, an ophthalmologist and aboriculturalist who chaired the Language Committee (which eventually became the Academy for the Hebrew Language) from 1926 until his death in 1930, composed a lexicon of medical and scientific terms.

In order to invent names for diseases that were never mentioned in classical Hebrew sources, MaZIA and others following him used the biblical form for disease names - , a form exemplified repeatedly in our parashiyot - in combination with new roots. For instance; rubella, a disease that causes redness of the skin, is called ademet [adom = red]. Hepatitis, which causes the eyes to acquire a yellow hue (we will come soon to Hebrew's new color-terms), is called tzahevet [tzahov = yellow]. Edema, the pathological retention of fluids in the body, is called batzeket [batzek = swollen]. Rabies, a viral disease often found in dogs is called kalevet [kelev = dog]. One who coughs [mishta'el] may be suffering from sha'elet [pertusis]. The term influenza originates from reference to the occult influence [hashpa'a] of the stars, and so it is called shapa'at. Many suffer tiredness [ayeifut] from jet-lag, or ya'efet, one of the more recent words to be invented by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Sometimes it took a while for a word to really enter the language; some never make it at all. For example, Eliezer Ben Yehudah, the greatest reviver of Hebrew, wished to call tuberculosis (a disease from which he personally suffered) genihat hadam ["groaning of the blood"], but the term shahefet - which follows the standard form for disease-names and is of biblical origin - ended up taking its place.

The vitality of Hebrew is evidenced by the way names for social ills are invented in accordance with the schema mentioned above. For instance: sahevet [taking too much time to execute an action, from sahev = to drag or carry with effort] and sagemet [megalomania of young officers, from sagam = second lieutenant]. Many public speakers are chronic suffers of daberet [loquaciousness, from dibbur = speech], or worse yet, barberet [speaking nonsense, from levarber = to babble].

So much for diseases. May we all enjoy good health!

The schema for color terms is another grammatical form found repeatedly in our parshiyot which has been resurrected in the period of Hebrew's renaissance. Scripture lists many shades of red (argevan, argeman, shani, po'eh, etc.), but many other colors are conspicuous in their absence, such as the colors of the sky and the sea. This linguistic lacuna brought one nineteenth century European philologist to speculate that the ancient Semitic peoples may have not been able to discern the "radiant colors."

The writer, educator, and historian Rabbi Ze'ev Yavetz (1847-1924), who, too, was a member of the Language Committee, employed the schema to fill this lexical gap. This grammatical form is frequently the basis for the terms used to describe the colors associated with different afflictions and diseases in our parashiyot: tzahov (13:30) and shahor (13:31). Elsewhere we find adom (Bereishit 25:30) and yarok (Job 39:8). Yavetz used the schema to create two new color-terms, which, years later, would come to symbolize the range of Israeli political discourse: katom [orange] and kahol [blue].

Rabbi Yavetz's nephew, David Yellin, who was also involved in reviving the language, wrote of his matter:

In my conversation with my uncle, the Rabbi, Gaon, and wonderful researcher, Rabbi Ze'ev Yavetz, may his lamp give light, told me that he wants to fill the gap in our language in connection with the names for light blue [tekhelet] and the color of egg-yolk, for in his opinion kahol is the first color, as Midrash Rabbah (Bamidbar Rabbah 2:7) states that sapphire is "bluish black" [shahor hadomeh le'kakhol]; sapphire is a deep tekhelt and there is no color close to black besides it and the ketem of scripture (see, for example, Lamentations 4:6) - it seems to him that they used it to describe the color "gold" and not gold itself...I have found support for his views in the Arabic language, which uses the word kuh'l to describe the cloudless sky which is purely tekhelet. Ketem in the hitpa'el form means in Arabic: "It appeared with the color of egg-yolk." Now we can say kahol and katom in the same way that we say adom and yarok. (David Yellin, HaTzvi, 11 Sivan 5647, quoted by Reuven Sivan in "Mi'Hayey ha'Milim", Leshoneinu la'Am 18 (5727), pg. 3)

The color of the flower sigalit [violet, from the Aramaic sigla] was similarly renewed and renamed sagol. The color of efer [ashes] was named afor [grey], and the color of the rose [vered] was now called varod.

Eliezer Ben Yehudah's second wife, Hemda, was a fashion critic (and inventor of the Hebrew word for fashion, ofna). She described a social event that took place in the year 1900 with these words: "The women in colorful garb, white, pink [varod] and tekhelet, with flowers on their chests" (Hashkafa 12 Iyyar, 5660, quoted by Reuven Sivan in "Mi'Hayey ha'Milim", Leshoneinu la'Am 23 (5733), pg. 209). In this way she helped to acculturate the name of the favorite color of today's young daughters of Zion.

In parashat Tazria we find another schema for color-names: yerakrak and adamdam (it is interesting to mention that yerakrak seems to have been used to refer to the color yellow - see Psalms 68:14. Yalkut Shimoni Esther 1053 says that "Esther was yerakroket and a strand of grace was drawn upon her." The point is not that her face was drained of blood due to anger or jealousy, but rather that she was a blond.) The renewers of Hebrew were unsure whether this schema implies emphasis, and thus refers to a stronger shade, or whether it refers to a more delicate shade. They decided to accept the latter interpretation, and invented the terms tzehavhav [yellowish], veradrad [pinkish], etc., as well as other diminutives, such as klavlav [puppy].

God commanded Noah, tzei min ha'teiva [take leave of the ark]. Sometimes we must take leave of the teiva [in this instance meaning "the word"], in order to find a creative solution. We have seen how biblical words inspired the coining of new terms for diseases and colors that were not present in classical Hebrew and which were needed by Modern Hebrew.

The Sages understood the word metzora [leper] as containing the words motzi [shem] ra ["one brings forth an evil name," i.e., a defamer]. From this they concluded that leprosy is caused by social ills such as gossip (see, for example Vayikra Rabba 16:2-6). In the present article, we have seen examples of the bringing forth of good, new names - names that are evidence of social well-being.

One of the principles that guided those who revived the classical language may be expressed by HaRa'AYaH Kook's formulation: "The old shall be renewed and the new shall be sanctified." Preference is given to neologisms that pour new nectar into old bottles, new combinations that instill Hebrew's ancient grammatical schemas and roots with new meanings - as we have seen in the examples of disease-names cited above - rather than to completely ex-nihilo linguistic creations.

This connection to early linguistic traditions can serve as a model for cultural continuity in a tradition experiencing renewal. May we derive goodly names from our ancient, living tongue! May these names be sweet in our mouths and in our hearts so that they may guide us and our leaders to choose the good and to do the good!

Dr. Dalia Marx teaches at Hebrew Union College and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

 

 

Thoughts on Independence 5767

The story is told of a Jew who wanted to test himself to see if he was clever or gullible. He thought that the best way to do this was to throw himself down the stairs in his home and then notice whether he was injured or remained unharmed. After all, it says the Lord protects the gullible!

So, according to plan, he threw himself all the way down the staircase, sustaining injuries from head to feet, including broken limbs, a fractured skull, and unbearable pain. After recuperating from the many operations he had to undergo, he told his visitors: "I knew that I was clever, but not so very clever..."

Rational Zionism sought to "normalize" the Jewish People. Indeed, in the State of Israel the Jewish People became "normal" - but why so very "normal"!?! Bialik's vision of a "Hebrew thief", etc. has been completely realized. Perhaps even Bialik would not imagine a situation in which there is hardly a single person serving in a public position who is not being investigated for corruption or some other offense. Many years ago I knew a Jew who, in his old age, moved to retirement home which he called a "one star hotel" because the clouds hid the other stars.

I think that many "clouds" interfere with our ability to celebrate Independence Day this year. We emerged scarred from a war that seems to have been executed irresponsibly from beginning to end. Many young lives were lost in that war and it is entirely unclear what it achieved. The gap between rich and poor grows daily. It is unclear if our leaders have any plan or direction at all. Perhaps they are so busy with being investigated and trying to survive that they have no time left for the country's needs. Such situations can bring reasonable people to ask themselves: What good is rejoicing?

Is this "the child we prayed for"?

When they asked Prof. Leibowitz if the State was a disappointment for him, he answered that he was not disappointed by it all - even though he was thoroughly opposed to its character. He had never had any expectations from it besides the single one it had fulfilled: the return of political and governmental independence to the Jewish People. The significance of the State for the people is like that of health for the individual: it must be achieved and protected, but the struggle for "values" - and the struggle for "holiness" all the more so - is beyond them (Ratziti li'shol otkha, Prof Leibowitz, pg. 378).

Should we, as religious Zionists, be satisfied with this minimalist expectation? Can its fulfillment serve as a source of joy, despite the many clouds that mar the State's accomplishments in many areas? True, the answer to this question is not simple, but I think that while Leibowitz's answer sounds too cynical and pessimistic, it expresses a deep Jewish truth. The Mishnah in Berakhot 9:5 states: "One is required to say a blessing over the bad just as one says a blessing over the good." The Gemara (Berakhot 60b) asks: But the blessings are not identical! Over the good one says the blessing, "He who is good and is beneficent" and over the bad, "Blessed is the true Judge"! Rava offers a bewildering answer to this question: "One is only required to accept it joyfully." Rava's "solution" seems only to pose an even greater quandary; can people be expected to say a blessing over the bad "joyfully"?!

I think that Rashi can help us understand the nature of the joy required in such occasions. He explains Rava's answer with two words: b'levav shalem ["full-heartedly"]. We may assume that Rashi knew Hebrew perfectly well and could have written b'lev shalem, but he chose to write b'levav shalem. He seems to be sending us back to a derasha brought by the Mishnah: b'khol levavkha - b'shnei yitzirekha; with all your heart [lev = "heart" appearing in the doubled form levav] - with both your inclinations. One who is called upon to make a blessing over the bad is conflicted. On the one hand, he cannot deny his true feelings and he is not even asked to do so. On the other hand, he must "bend his knee" before God's will and "say the blessing." Therefore, this blessing contains the required complexity.

Perhaps our joy over the independent state is a mixed joy: the questions are difficult and legitimate - but that should not keep us from blessing and giving thanks b'levav shalem for the gift we were given 59 years ago or from hoping that the possibilities offered by the existence of the state can still be realized. Happy Independence Day.

Pinchas Leiser,

Editor

 

 

 

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