Miriam’s Leprosy
In my previous essays, I illustrated the View of the Abarbanel - namely that Tza’raat has its source in arrogance. However it flies in the face of normative thinking around this spiritual disease. Rashi at the beginning of Parashat Metzora, quoting the Talmud in Arachin (16b) says that a person contracted Tzara’at because he or she spoke badly about their fellow (lashon hara). It is for this reason that he would bring 2 live birds to the Kohen as part of his purification process - the birds twitter constantly, like people talking unguardedly to one another.
This interpretation is one which has been widely accepted, and finds support later on in the Torah when Miriam receives Tzaraat. Prior to this we are told:
(1) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite!” (2) They said, “Has GOD spoken only through Moses—and not through us as well?” GOD heard it (Numbers 12 1-2).
It is clear therefore that the Torah attributes speaking badly about others to be the source of Tzara’at. Why does the Abarbanel not choose a more obvious well accepted rationale to prove the spiritual cause of the disease?
A Closer Look at Miriam
If we look more closely at the Miriam narrative, we can get a better picture and understanding of the Abarbanel’s view. Miriam speaks to Aharon about Moshe’s marriage to a Kushite woman. She says
He married a Cushite!” (2) They said, “Has GOD spoken only through Moses—and not through us as well and GOD hears” (Numbers 12 1-2).
The Abarbanel explains their complaint:
In my opinion Moshe separated from his wife Tzipora. They claimed that perhaps he separated from her because he needed to be prepared for prophecy at all times. Because Moshe was by nature the most humble of all men, and had little need for intimate relations, he would not want to be close to his wife. Miriam complained about the disgrace that Moshe brought on his wife…if he separated from her for the needs of prophecy, that would not not be necessary, because both Aharon and Miriam were prophets, and they still hear G-d’s voice.
G-d’s response comes immediately:
(6) “Hear these My words: When prophets of GOD arise among you, I make Myself known to them in a vision, I speak with them in a dream. (7) Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. (8) Mouth to mouth I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds G-d’s likeness, and why are you not afraid to speak about my servant Moshe?”
G-d’s response to Aharon and Miriam is that Moshe is qualitatively different from them. He has a far more intense prophecy than they are able to appreciate, and therefore the laws which apply to Moshe do not apply to them. One could easily argue that the reason that Miriam spoke badly about Moshe was because she believed herself to be exactly the same as the greatest of the prophets. That was hubris, and that hubris is the source of the reason that she felt the need to complain to Aharon. The lashon hara that she spoke had its roots in arrogance, and it is for that arrogance Miriam is stricken with Tzar’at.
The Narcissistic Metzora
Perhaps now we can come to a clearer understanding of why a Metzora would need to bring an Asham offering. A narcissistic personality might not have the ability to see his or her own narcissism. When one believes one is correct, and that one is superior to others in all ways, it is difficult to see a fault in oneself. The Torah gently rebukes Metzora by asking him to bring an Asham offering, suggesting that perhaps they made a mistake of which they were not aware. Perhaps they are not as perfect as they believe themselves to be. The Metzora cannot acknowledge it, so the Torah gives them a method of acknowledging that perhaps they had acted in an incorrect manner. That hint would give them an inkling that perhaps they do have faults, and those faults need to be remedied.