With one Act we Can Sanitize the Entire World and Bring Moshiach
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
This week’s parsha is Tazria-Metzora and this past Wednesday was the 28th of Nissan. The parsha speaks about leprosy-tzaras, a spiritual malady with physical symptoms.
The Baal Shem Tov teaches that everything we see and hear is a lesson in our service of Hashem. What are the lessons from the many striking similarities between the current pandemic of coronavirus and what is described in this week's parsha?
With regard to tzaras, as soon as someone notices a symptom they go for an examination by the Kohen. If the symptom is found to be significant he is either declared contaminated or put into quarantine for 1 to 3 weeks. During quarantine he has to be alone, away from everyone. In the end if he declared to have tzaras it is so severe that if others don’t keep their social distance and pass underneath the tree under which he sits they also become contaminated. The house he lives in and the clothes he wears also become contaminated.
The corona virus reminds us of what is written in the parsha and vice versa. Until now this week's parsha seemed so far off and unintelligible to the modern world. Now we see how a virus that spreads that we do not see but affects the entire body as well as the air around us can change our lives entirely.
The Torah is our life and the length of our days. Normally after one becomes contaminated they go to the mikvah for purification. Just like there is a physical mikvah so too spiritually an impure thought can become purified with the pure waters of the Holy Torah. The words of the Torah especially Chassidus purify our brain, our hearts and our minds to sanitize and enable us to combat the spiritual maladies that we confront.
We are entering the 30th year from the 28th of Nissan when the Rebbe told us that he did all that he can and now it's up to us. How do we acknowledge this day? Is it another day to mark off on the calendar the things that we accomplished or is this day something different altogether? From the words of the Rebbe we see clearly that that is something different. The Rebbe said that doing all we can to bring Moshiach is an ongoing personal obligation upon each and every one of us.
In today’s environment staying well and guarding our health is on our mind 24/7, or at least it should be. We think and feel strongly that we need to be careful wherever we go or with whatever we touch and who we come in contact with. It's not a joke, it's a mortal concern.
We can take action in many ways. We wear gloves, we wash our hands, wear masks and we keep a safe social distance. So too spiritually, we need to think if what we come in contact with is according to the Torah and to the Rebbe’s guidance, and if our thought speech and actions are spiritually safe.
So too spiritually with the coming of Moshiach. We need a 24/7 focus about what can be done to bring about the coming of the Moshiach. This was the Rebbe’s entire focus and this is what the Rebbe passed on to us. Just like every person needs to feel the responsibility that the next thing that he or she does can contaminate the entire world, so too in the positive, maybe the next thing any of us might do may be the thing that brings the Moshiach. Each act either distances or brings the entire world closer to being a revealed dwelling place for Hashem.
It's a 24/7 life outlook and focus. The 28th of Nissan is not just another day that passes that we mark on the calendar. Our experiences during this pandemic show us that it's not impossible to live this way. We can live moment-to-moment with heightened awareness that one good deed can tip the scales and it could be the very next deed that we do.
The point is to go out of a galus mentality entirely and into a geula mentality to know and feel that the very next action is important and brings Moshiach.
A Good Chodesh, a Freilichen and Healthy Month of Refuah and a Good Shabbos
It’s a very good idea to say one extra chapter of Tehillim a day for the sole purpose of showing Hahsem our gratitude for our life and for our health. With emunah, bitachon and simcha will strengthen our immune systems to overcome this pandemic.
