A Tale of Two Birds

There has always been tension between the forces of unity and the forces of separation. Unity with some separation is anarchy. Separation without unity is war. Judaism asserts the need for both. These complementary forces will be fused together through Moshiach. METZORA METZORA

Dismiss the slander and Embrace the words of Torah

This week’s parsha Metzora, discusses the purification process a person afflicted with the skin disorder known as tzara’as would have to undergo. The Metzora — the person with the skin disease described in last week’s parsha — would use two birds for his purification. The first bird would be sacrificed and the second bird would be sent away. What is the significance of the two birds and why were they treated differently.

Among the “simple” explanations Biblical commentators offer is the one based on the notion that the purification process was atonement for the sin of lashon hara, slander. As was mentioned in previous essays our Sages considered this skin disease to be a METZORA punishment for the abuse of one’s power of speech.

To atone for this abuse, one must do two things:

Firstly, one must cease speaking ill of another. This process is represented by the bird that is slaughtered. According to the Midrash, the bird symbolizes the power of speech, inasmuch as birds are always singing. Thus, slaughtering the bird symbolizes ceasing to speak evil.

But, mere silence is not enough. One must learn how to speak properly; by using one’s power of speech for the study of Torah and other positive pursuits.

Hence, the second bird was not slaughtered but sent away. This symbolizes the idea that one must take one’s power of speech and divert (send it away) it to a new area; an area of life that is associated with the Torah, the very source of life.

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Symbol of Peace

On a deeper level, the bird symbolizes the concept of peace. The word for bird — tzippor — is numerically the same as the word for peace — shalom. Furthermore, the Talmud states that one who dreams of a bird should anticipate peace. The Metzora, by his evil speech caused the separation of one person from another, the very opposite of peace. Hence, in the Metzora’s attempt at rectifying his errant behavior, he must bring a bird, which symbolizes peace.

But, why two birds? And why is one bird destroyed and the other sent away?

Removal of Barriers, Good or Bad?

This is to teach us that there are two forms of peace represented by the two different birds. Peace is created when the barriers that exist between two entities are removed. Interestingly, the letters of the word for bird in Hebrew, tzippor, when rearranged, form the name Peretz, which has the connotation of breaking through barriers. When two people cannot get along with each other METZORA because there are barriers that separate between them, the process of peace is achieved by removing those obstacles. This process is symbolized by sending away the bird and allowing it to go free.

There are times, places and situations where the process of removing barriers is unhealthy. The obligation to respect another’s privacy is as sacred an obligation as the obligation to reach out to another and remove the separation that may exist between them. To quote King Solomon, “There is a time to embrace and there is a time to distance the embrace.”

Separation for a Peaceful Marriage

Even within a marriage, which is the most formidable example of peace and unity, there is a Torah mandated period when husband and wife are to be physically separated, allowing each to “have their own space.” The idea of necessary divisions is also reflected in the separate roles for the Kohain, the Levi and Israelites, mandated by the Torah.

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To symbolize the need to establish some barriers even as we remove others, the Torah tell us that one bird (the symbol of the breaking down of barriers) was slaughtered and the other was set free.

The Great Shabbos

It Is by Divine Providence that we read the story of the two birds on the Shabbos that precedes Passover. This Shabbos is also known as Shabbos Hagadol, or the great Shabbos, because of a great miracle that occurred on this Shabbos prior to the Exodus from Egypt.

The process of redemption is also referred to as a time when barriers are removed. Thus Moshiach who will usher in the future Redemption is referred to as Ben Partzi-the Son of Peretz,” or “the one who will break through barriers” that will usher in the age of universal peace.

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Standards will Remain

However, even as Moshiach will remove barriers between people as well as the barriers that exist between ourselves and G-d, he will not do so at the expense of the standards that were established by the Torah.

The separation between the weekdays and the Shabbos, light and darkness, for example, will never be compromised. Moshiach will struggle to maintain these standards and values that might be viewed as barriers, but he will simultaneously remove all the obstacles and barriers that separate us from one another and from our Father in heaven.

Moshiach will also strengthen Judaism by repairing all the breaches in the walls of separation established by the Torah (See Rambam, Hilchos Melachim chapter 11) and the same Moshiach will proclaim and usher in the age of ultimate peace removing all the unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of peace.

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From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Tazria-Metzora by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.