This week’s Parsha is the very first time the Torah speaks about someone contracting Tzaraas , which is a lesion on the skin that appears due to different types of sins. The Torah refers to the person as Adam. The pasuk says Adam ki yieyeh… A person who contracts tzaraas should be brought to Aharon the kohen, or one of his sons, the kohanim. There’s a question here: The Gemara says that the term Adam is an honorific. It’s a very preeminent title. So when a person has in his flesh or his skin Tzaraas , why does the Torah address the person as Adam? He sinned! Why are we honoring him?
I heard from my father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita that the Alshich explains that Tzaraas is not a reflection of a person’s loneliness or unworthiness. Rather, it is an indication of the person’s loftiness and stature. We get Tzarras because we are Adam, because we are great. More is expected from us. That’s why we are stricken with punishment and get Tzaraas. Our struggles and sins don’t come because we are inferior. They come because we are great. We have inordinate potential!
There is a beautiful story about a farmer who was tending to his crops when he noticed a large egg on the ground. Thinking that it was from the hen he picked it up and brought it to the coop placing it next to the other eggs – the chicken eggs. A few days later, the eggs hatched, and adorable chicks came out. However, a funny-looking chicken came out of the strange egg. It turns out it wasn’t a chicken at all – it was an eagle. The other chickens didn’t know that, and they thought even though he looked different he was still one of them. The eagle began to do all the things the chicks did. He dug for worms in the dirt and flapped his wings around. He skipped around the coop making clucking sounds. However, he did not dare to fly. After all, none of the chickens were flying so why should he?
A short while later, the eagle saw a bird flying high in the sky. The eagle asked the chicken what type of bird it was. The chicken said, “That bird is an eagle. He is the king of the sky, and he soars to the greatest of heights. We however can’t do that because we are chickens and chickens don’t fly.”
One day, the majestic-looking eagle landed near the chicken coop. With his eagle eye, he recognized one of his own – a young eagle roaming and playing around. He made his way to the eagle and asked him, “Why are you down here? You’re an eagle. You should be soaring up in the sky!” The young eagle asked, “What do you mean? I’m just a chicken and chickens can’t fly. The adult eagle told the little eagle to jump on his back and they flew high in the sky. The little eagle was amazed. It was so incredible to be so high up. The adult eagle then landed on a mountain and said, “Now it’s your turn to fly.” That is precisely what the little eagle did. He spread his wings and soared high.
The lesson to us can be that like the eagle who didn’t realize his true identity we also fail to realize who we really are. We must realize that we are holy and that we have the ability to soar higher and higher. Because we are so great, we must be careful with what we say and do. That’s why we are stricken with punishment. That’s why we get Tzaraas. Our struggles and sins come because we are great! We have so much potential!
