The Three Haircuts

There are powerful forces swirling around us today as a prelude to the ultimate Redemption. Our challenge today is not a dearth of spirituality but our ability to safely and securely absorb these powerful forces. METZORA METZORA

Metzora, Nazir and Levite

Three are the people whom the Torah requires to shave their hair:

A Metzora is one afflicted with a skin disorder that many have confused with leprosy. This condition renders him ritually unclean and he must be quarantined. When he has recovered from this “disease” the Metzora must go through a purification process that includes the shaving of his hair.

The second is a Nazir, one who had made a vow not to drink wine and cut one’s hair. At the end of his term, or if he had become ritually unclean, the Torah commanded him to cut his hair.

The third example of shaving off one’s hair applied to the Levites when they were initiated into their role as the priestly helpers METZORA after the Mishkan, the portable Temple, was built in the desert. They too had to go through a hair-cutting procedure.

The King-Size Gimmel

All three categories that we enumerated are alluded to in this week’s parsha. The Torah, when referring to their shaving of the Metzora, uses the word “V’hisgalach and he shall shave.” The letter gimmel (which is also the number 3) in that word is written in a king-size form. This, commentators say, is an allusion to the three categories of people who must have their hair shaved.

What is the significance of having one’s hair be shaved and why was this applied to specifically these three categories: Metzora, Nazir and Levite? What do these three individuals have in common?

The Role of the Levites

Of all Jews, the Levites were unique in their commitment to Judaism. All through Egyptian bondage and the sojourn in the desert the METZORA Levites never succumbed to the temptation of assimilating. They were prepared to resist any attack against G-d with all means at their disposal. When the Jews got involved with the golden calf, all the Levites refused to participate. When Moses called on them to kill those who were actively involved in idol worship, they did so without hesitation.

And while the Kohain-Priest was also a man of G-d, there was a fundamental difference in their approach. The Kohain was identified with serving G-d with kindness and love. The Kohain’s principle obligation today is to bless the Jewish community from time to time. Aaron was the Jewish people’s greatest defender and lover. However, the Levites were the force of determination and military-like zeal to the cause of Judaism. Souls were on fire to serve G-d with passion and zeal.

The Spiritual Metzora

A Metzora, Kabbalah teaches us, was afflicted with this disease not because he was a lowly individual. On the contrary, it afflicted only the most spiritual individuals. When someone METZORA generated too much spiritual energy and was not capable of integrating into his system because of some imperfection he possessed, it manifested itself in the appearance of a skin disorder. Much like the way the body will break out with a rash or other physical symptoms due to the body’s need to resist an intruding element, similarly, a highly sensitive spiritual individual, will “break-out” when some “foreign” undesirable substance enters their system.

A Nazir is one who feels vulnerable to temptation. By becoming a Nazir, one is given extraordinary spiritual powers to deal with those pressures.

The Common Denominator

So, the common denominator in these three types, the Levite, Metzora and Nazir is that each in his own way possesses extraordinary spiritual energy that needs to be channeled properly to avoid a negative and occasionally a catastrophic result.

To illustrate: A person who is a zealot can very easily use his zealotry to harm innocent METZORA people. The more spiritual one is the more harm some minor imperfection can become as can be seen with regard to a Metzora, who had to be quarantined to protect others from his impurity. And the Nazir, while assuming a heightened spiritual demeanor, has to be cautious lest he becomes arrogant and condescending.

Cutting off their hair was the Torah’s way of curtailing their energy, not allowing it to go awry. It was the Torah’s way of saying to these unique individuals: “You have been endowed with tremendous powers. Use it wisely. Don’t let that it be diverted to other areas. Don’t let it be contaminated by “foreign” influences and don’t allow it to go to your head.”

Beware of Heightened Spirituality

As we approach the Holiday of Passover, when we all experienced the great revelation of G-dliness at the time of the Exodus, it is important that we don’t allow the heightened spirituality to harm us or others. We were thus commanded to eat Matzah and refrain METZORA from eating or even possessing Chametz (leavened bread, dough that is allowed to rise), which symbolizes humility. We have to be humble and get away from anything that would pollute our souls as we rise to the greatest heights.

Climax of History: Choosing Gimmel

And as we approach the climax of history, the coming of Moshiach, we are given extraordinary resources as a prelude to what is to come.

The lesson of the Metzora, the Levites and Nazir is to know how to channel these resources properly.

In the Messianic Age, there will not be any impediment to our ability to absorb the most sublime G-dly light. The Talmud teaches us that “G-d will take the sun out of its sheath and the righteous will bask in it.”

The challenge is now! In these last minutes of exile we have three choices. It may be suggested that the king-size gimmel which appears in this parsha stands for these three METZORA approaches.

We can either generate powerful spiritual energy but not have the capability of absorbing and integrating it into our system, as the Metzora who breaks out with a skin disorder.

Or we can generate a limited and modulated form of spiritual energy that we can easily incorporate into our finite capacity.

The third option is to generate powerful light and find the means to assimilate it into our consciousness. This gimmel-third approach is the dynamic of the period of Geulah, another word that begins with a gimmel.

Let’s choose gimmel and usher in the ultimate period of integrated Divine light.

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