This week's parashah deals with the laws of metzorá. He is a sick person, afflicted with blemishes, isolated from all settlements. Now, to our surprise, when the Talmud (Sanhedrin 98b) asks about the name of Messiah—the redeemer of the Jewish people—it answers that his name is…metzorá""!"The reason the Talmud gives for calling the Messiah metzorá It is because it is written: "He took up our infirmities and bore our sufferings.” However, if the Messiah endures infirmities and sufferings, how do we know that he is the one who is truly suffering? tzaráat?
The Temple is also called metzorá. Regarding the verse "and the sick person of tzaráat "The one who has the stain," says the Midrash: "the sick person of tzaráat - refers to the Beit HaMikdash - Temple of Yerushalayim.
The explanation lies in the profound meaning of the stains of tzaráat. It is known that the tzaráat It is not a natural disease, but a specific punishment from heaven (to speak). Lashon Hara - the bad tongue). The stain of tzaráat It is the revelation of the power of heavenly judgment, which finds expression in the earthly world in the form of a stain.
That is why the stain itself did not indicate impurity, but had to be shown to the Cohen, and only when he identified it as a stain of tzaráat, The impurity fell upon the stained person. When the Cohen declared that it was a pure stain, it was not a denial not of impurity, but of a revelation of the heavenly severity of holiness, a very high spiritual level. The meaning of the stain being impure is that, in its descent from the highest spiritual levels, something negative can be unleashed from heavenly severity, even to the point of becoming a stain of tzaráat.
The meaning of celestial severity, in its source, is not to inflict punishment or prevent the flow of energy to creations; quite the contrary, as its name indicates. Gevurah, It signifies not only "severity" but also "power" and "intensity," symbolizing the powerful intensity with which God sends His energy into the world. However, when the recipient of such powerful energy is not ready to receive it, it manifests as judgment and hardship.
This is also the meaning of the stain tzaráatIn its spiritual source, it is the intensity of Divine holiness. From this arise the "harsh judgments" as they still exist in the spiritual worlds and, later, the impure stains.
That is why Messiah and the Beit HaMikdash are called metzorá, To express the high level of holiness revealed through them, a holiness of great intensity, surpassing all measure and limit. This holiness will be revealed through our Righteous Messiah and will reside in the Third Temple, because in the times of Redemption there will be no impediments, and holiness will be revealed in the earthly world just as it is in its spiritual source.
This will be accomplished through the fact that "he (Messiah) bore our infirmities." Through this, he refines the last of the Jews in this present age from the "Heels of Messiah," until all become suitable vessels for the "Divine Lights" of true and complete Redemption, swiftly in our day.
Adapted from Shulchan Shabbat.