Sunday, April 30, 2017

Toras Hashem Yemima

One issue that often concerns me is when I find Torah being taught inaccurately. Lest you misunderstand, allow me to assure you that I am aware that there are many areas of Torah in which there are disagreements as to how to understand something, and where there is room for varying interpretations. I am not talking about that. I am talking about situations in which matters are simply being taught incorrectly. Despite the fact that all of my children have exclusively attended Orthodox schools, I have been surprised on numerous occasions when they have been taught something in a manner that is incorrect.
The latest such instance took place this past Friday night as one of my children was sharing a Dvar Torah they had been taught at school which was copied from Yemima Mizrachi Speaks. I have never heard her speak, but had only heard positive things about her in the past, and was quite surprised at the inaccuracies in what was being taught. I have copied it to my right and will go through sharing with you what I found to be incorrect. Some of the points are significant, and some are less so, but I have pointed them out as well as they show the overall sloppiness.
"When a man woke up to find a suspicious spot on his body he immediately knew, "I sinned." He approached the Kohen, the Kohen quarantined him for seven days..." Whoa! Let's stop there for a moment. When a man found a suspicious spot on his body that appeared to possibly be tzorass he actually knew nothing until he went to the Kohen. The Kohen may quarantine him for seven days, but there were two other possibilities as well. The Kohen might declare him tahor (ritually pure) and he goes home with nary a worry, or the Kohen may declare him tamei (ritually impure) without the need for a quarantine period to see what will happen to the spot. But when a person wakes up with a suspicious spot, he certainly doesn't know that he has sinned nor he he certainly destined for quarantine
The next paragraph begins, "Now imagine that you awake one morning to find your walls covered in spots. "Oh my! I sinned," you cry." Why was it necessary to dramatize the story with the finding of "spots" when one spot will suffice? And, again, the person does not know if she has sinned, all she knows is she must consult a Kohen. And sometimes the spot was not even due to sin, but in order to find hidden treasure! Furthermore the Pasuk says that the person informs the Kohen כנגע נראה לי, something that looks like tzara'as appeared to me. He does not know for certain nor does he even express himself in a manner that indicates that he knows.
"Tzara'as on the house emerged  as a result of stingy behavior. "Yesterday she came to borrow my mixer, and I told her I don't have one." What happened when a house contracted tzara'as? It was demolished. As the house goes down, you beg forgiveness for your sins, and then you're never miserly again." She leaves out the best part of the story here. What our Sages teach us is that the house and all it contains does not become ritually impure until the Kohen declares it so. Therefore prior to the arrival of the Kohen the home owner would empty the contents of the house onto the front lawn to prevent their become tamei. The neighbor would see the "mixer" and that would cause the stingy homeowner to repent out of humiliation. But why does she say that a house with tzara'as  is demolished. Yes, that is one possible outcome, but at this point in the story is by no means certain. It is more likely, even if there is tzara'as, that only the affected bricks will be removed and nothing more.
And then in the next paragraph she writes "The parshiyos that discuss tzara'as, Tazria and Metzora, are indeed celebratory because they offer clarity. They provide crystal clear reasons for every kind of spot that afflicts a person, his clothes or his home." Actually, they do no such thing. Besides the fact that some spots could be skin cancer, ketchup or the scribbling of a two-year old, and may not be tzara'as at allthe Torah does not say one word about the cause of those spots which are tzara'as. The reasons behind the spots are found in the Talmud and the Talmud offers many possible reasons as to why the spots may have arrived. It is still the person's own obligation to figure out what message God is sending to him among all the possibilities.
In all fairness, I have no idea who is responsible for these inaccuracies. Was this what she said in her speech? Did someone else transcribe and do a poor job? Why doesn't Artscroll have competent proofreaders? But most of all, I am trying to understand the need for these inaccuracies which seem to have been germane to her point. Was the point so important as to twist the Mitzvah to make it fit the point?
As I mentioned above, this is by no means the first time I have come across such things, and I do not mean to single out Yemima Mizrachi other than the fact that it is her teaching that ended up at my table this past Shabbos.
Very troubling.

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