Standing On The Moon, Where Talk Is Cheap And Vision True (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Standing On The Moon")

           Tom Friedman, in an Op-Ed piece from April 3rd, described the war in Ukraine as a world war:  World War Wired. He maintains that anyone with a cell phone and internet access can watch the war, and bear witness to the atrocities and war crimes being committed by Russian soldiers and Putin.  While the whole world and any Russian with a VPN can see what is happening in Ukraine, Putin remains incredibly popular in Russia and especially outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Thanks to a campaign and a steady diet of misinformation over all media outlets for decades, Putin is even more popular in rural areas and among the older generations of Russians.  If the rural communities tend to be far more isolated and have less access to mass media, or social media, then how did Putin’s decades-long and current misinformation campaign gain credence to rural, isolated communities and older Russians?  The answer seems as obvious as it is profound. People talk, people share ideas, people share information and people share what they hear whether it is true or not. 

          This Shabbat, because it immediately precedes Pesach, is known as Shabbat HaGadol - The Great Shabbat.  The weekly Torah Portion is Parsha Metzorah. Parsha Metzorah discusses the laws for Tamei/ Tahor (Purity & Impurity) as it affects human beings, and it is a continuation of last week’s Parsha, Tazria. We continue to learn intricate details concerning how an individual becomes ritually purified, his/her reentrance into the camp, and the prominent role of the Kohen Gadol in ascribing a spiritual treatment for a physical expression of a spiritual problem. Besides discussing the laws of the Metzorah, the laws of one who suffers from this skin ailment, the Parsha also confronts the issues of the Metzorah spreading to a house and the method by which that impurity is removed from the house. The second half of the Parsha concentrates on the laws of Taharah Mishpachah, the laws of family purity.

        When Tzaraat is discovered on an individual, he or she would go to the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, and undergo an examination. However if the Tzaarat spreads beyond the individual and pollutes the home: U’Vah Asher Lo HaBayit V’Higid LaKohen Leimor- “K’Negah NiReH Li BaBayit” – And he that owns the house shall come and tell the priest saying: It seems to me there is as it were a plague in the house. (Lev. 14:35) Even if the individual sees the Tzaarat, sees the impurity, knows that it is Tzaarat, the individual cannot and must not say that “It is a plague in the house,” but rather K’Negah literally “It is like a plague”. Rashi explains that “even if the individual is learned and has no doubt as to the nature of the plague, he must not utter a definitive judgment, but merely declare “it seems”.  On the surface Rashi’s comment appears to be focused upon the issue of “Purity and Impurity”, and reminding us that the authority to decide and declare Purity and Impurity rests solely upon the High Priest. The MaHaRaL of Prague (Rabbi Yehuda Loew of Prague 1525-1609) takes the lesson a step further. “Since it is but the priest who establishes the Nega (the plague and its legal implications); anyone else would not be speaking the truth.” Therefore K’Negah”- it is like a plague, and must therefore be treated and dealt with as if it was the plague.

          Here in this simple statement “K’Negah” –It seems to be a plague”, we address a health issue. We recognize the potential damage that Lashon HaRah has done. “K’Negah” – it seems like a plague is the Kohen’s diagnosis;  and once diagnosed,  the Kohen can treat the patient. We quarantine the individual/individuals in order to prevent the spread of something that looks like a plague. People who engage in  Lashon HaRah, -  Slanderous/Evil/Malicious speech, people who spread lies and misinformation, have continued enabling and supporting an authoritarian leader and his war crimes. Putin understands that speech, the simple act of people speaking to people still remains the most efficient way to pass along misinformation and alternative facts. With Pesach approaching, ChaZaL, the Rabbinic Sages also understood the significance of speech,  the simple act of people speaking to people. Is it any wonder that the most important commandment of the Seder is to tell the story of the Exodus, and tell the story of freedom? Maybe the Sages understood what Putin cannot understand. Eventually, the story of freedom will crush the misinformation and suppression relied upon by authoritarian leaders.

Peace,
Rav Yitz