Portions Library

A collection of essays on the weekly Torah Portions, from Genesis to Deuteronomy, adapted from Torah Club.

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Metzora

PORTIONS LIBRARY

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Baptizo

The New Testament tells several stories about people being baptized, but the stories do not spell out the details of how the baptism was accomplished. The apostolic writers thought that the method and procedure of baptism was so well known that they felt no compulsion to record any of the details of the ritual.

Topics:

baptism, covenant, death, immersion, infants, Metzora, mikvah, presence of God, purification, repentance, resurrection, ritual, sprinkling

The Leper Messiah

Chassidic teaching concludes that the Talmud hints toward some deeper meaning when it refers to the Messiah as “The Leper.” It indicates that the redeemer suffers the agonies and afflictions of Israel’s exile. He impatiently waits for the final redemption when He can purify the nation, but until then, He personally suffers.

Topics:

affliction, corruption, healing, Isaiah 53, Messiah son of Joseph, Metzora, sickness, suffering. leper Messiah

The Haughty Spirit

A haughty spirit finds it difficult to tolerate other people's character flaws. The haughty person fails to recognize his own shortcomings. Instead, he focuses on the shortcomings of others. Most often, when we speak ill of others, it is because we are defending our own pride.

Topics:

evil speech, haughtiness, humility, integrity, lashon hara, Metzora, pride, proper speech, slander, tongue

Wellspring of Evil

As the average Bible-reader dutifully slogs through the laws concerning biblical leprosy, he might wonder what this has to do with him, and why the Torah spends so much time on the details of this disease. The average person will never be responsible for distinguishing between one type of rash and another for purposes of declaring someone ritually unfit.

Topics:

blessing, cursing, evil speech, lashon hara, leprosy, Metzora, speech, tongue

A House of Leprosy

Day after day you are patterning your mind to concentrate on the shortcomings of others. Moreover, you are poisoning the other members of your household with the same increasing bitterness. One could say that the very walls of your house absorb the evil spiritual energy you are creating. The entire home becomes defiled.

Topics:

biblical leprosy, bitterness, clean and unclean, complaints, critical spirit, evil speech, gossip, lashon hara, leprosy, Metzora, mildew, mold, murmuring, proper speech, speech, tongue

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