CONNECTING TAZRIA-METZORA TO PSALM 91

2ND NISAN, TAZRIA, DAD'S YAHRTZEIT

CONNECTING TAZRIA-METZORA TO PSALM 91

With a little work you can connect this week's double parsha Tazria-Metzora to Psalm 91:

In Psalm 91, verses 3 and 6 there are references to pestilence or to plague and to lesions, all of which are mentioned in this week’s double parsha Tazria-Metzora, and which unfortunately the entire world is coping with today.

כִּי הוּא יַצִּילְךָ, מִפַּח יָקוּשׁ;    מִדֶּבֶר הַוּוֹת

3 For He will save you from the snare that traps from the devastating pestilence.

 מִדֶּבֶר, בָּאֹפֶל יַהֲלֹךְ;  מִקֶּטֶב, יָשׁוּד צָהֳרָיִם

6 Pestilence that prowls in darkness, destruction that ravages at noon

דֶּבֶר = pestilence or plague

 לֹא-תְאֻנֶּה אֵלֶיךָ רָעָה;  וְנֶגַע, לֹא-יִקְרַב בְּאָהֳלֶךָ

10 No harm will befall you, nor will a lesion draw near to your tent.

נֶגַע = lesion, leprosy or plague

As an aside, I have a personal connection to Psalm 91.  Years ago, working as a geological consultant, I was engaged in doing some field work.  It was one of those beautiful late autumn days in a West Virginia forest.  The morning air was crisp and cool. 

As I walked, I heard a buzzing sound that I took for the last chirps of some sought of insect. As I stepped forward over what appeared to be a fallen log, the buzzing noise stopped, and I paused.  My field partner yelled at me: “Mike, Run!!”  And I did.  When I looked back, the fallen log, at least four feet long and thick as your leg, was moving and disappearing down a hole.  It was a huge diamond back rattler and I had walked over it.  I think one of the lessons for this Jew was to be a little more “observant”.

 עַל-שַׁחַל וָפֶתֶן, תִּדְרֹךְ;    תִּרְמֹס כְּפִיר וְתַנִּין.

13 On a lion and a viper you will tread; you will trample a young lion and a serpent.

14 For he yearns for Me, and I shall rescue him; I shall fortify him because he knows My name.

And just in case I needed a little more persuasion, the point was brought home a few months later. Doing some more fieldwork I had reason to climb up to the top of a very steep and tall ridge. The climb was difficult for me and when I reached the top, I rested and looked around in order to catch my breath and get my bearings.

It had snowed earlier in the morning and there in front of me on a patch of newly fallen snow was the largest paw prints that I had ever seen. And there just ahead of me along the ridge line was a cave which I guessed housed the creature that made those prints. I didn’t hang around to ask its name or check whether it was an old or young lion, but when I had a chance to gather my wits I thought back to Psalm 91, Verse 13 and 14 regarding lions and such, and the prerequisites for obtaining Divine Protection.