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Torah Portion -
tazria
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Written by d fine
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In parshas Tazria we first have the laws of a woman who has given birth, then a brief mention of bris milah, with the rest of the sedra dealing with tzara’as. What’s the connection between tzara’as and the previous bits of the sedra? The Sforno (13:2) writes that tzara’as often comes as a result of a woman’s ritual impurity. The Kli Yakar (13:1) goes down a different route in explaining that the bris milah mentioned at the start of Tazria is connected to milas ha’peh (I.e. keeping shtum at the correct times), which is an obvious reference to refraining from lashon hara - the prime cause of tzara’as. Furthermore, the bris milah is the removal of bodily sexual urges (Rambam), which are essentially the illegal desire to connect to people in a negative way. This is similar to lashon hara which is also a desire to come closer to others by telling them the latest gossip, but ultimately it is a negative drive that will break relationships down.
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