Nullifying evil through guarded speech

במד' מצורע מוציא רע כו'.

In the Midrash: "metzora" (one stricken with tzaraas) is read as "motzi ra" — one who brings out evil.

The Sefas Emes opens with the Midrashic wordplay: the affliction of the metzora is tied to "bringing out evil," chiefly through lashon hara (evil speech) that draws the bad outward.

דהנה נמצא בכל דבר וכן באדם טו"ר כידוע.

For behold, in every thing, and likewise in a person, there is found tov v'ra (good and evil), as is known.

Every created thing, and every person, contains a mixture of good and evil — this is a given of how the world is built.

אמנם כמו שהם כלולין נאמר וירא כו' כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאוד ואמרו זה יצה"ר.

However, as they are bound together it is said, "And He saw … all that He had made, and behold it was very good," and Chazal said this "very good" refers to the yetzer hara (evil inclination).

When the evil is held within the whole and subordinated to it, even the yetzer hara is part of the "very good" — the Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah on "tov me'od") teaches that the evil inclination too serves a purpose.

כי כמו שהוא. הוא רק חלק משהו ונתבטל.

For as it stands, it is only a small fraction and is nullified.

So long as the evil remains a mere part of a larger good, it is batel (nullified) within the whole and does no harm.

אך שצריך ליזהר שלא להוציאו מן הכלל.

But one must be careful not to draw it out of the whole.

The danger is in separating the evil from the larger good and giving it independent expression — that is what makes it harmful.

ואיתא שומר פיו ולשונו כו' ע"ש במדרש הרוכל שהכריז מאן בעי חיי כו'.

And it is brought, "One who guards his mouth and his tongue …" — see there the Midrash of the peddler who proclaimed, "Who desires life?"

The pasuk "He who guards his mouth and tongue guards his soul from troubles" (Mishlei 21:23) and the Midrash of the peddler offering "life" (Vayikra Rabbah) — both teach that life is bound up with guarding one's speech.

כי עיקר החיות בפנימיות האדם לכן צריך לשמור הפה שלא להוציא דבר רע.

For the essence of vitality is in the penimiyus (inner core) of a person; therefore one must guard the mouth not to bring out anything evil.

A person's true life-force lies in his inner point. Guarding the mouth keeps the evil from being drawn out of the whole and given a life of its own.

ורמז של ב' הצפרים נראה שהם נגד יצ"ט ויצה"ר.

And the hint of the two birds appears to be that they correspond to the yetzer tov (good inclination) and the yetzer hara.

The two birds of the metzora's purification (Vayikra 14) symbolize the two inclinations within man.

לומר שגם יצ"ר כשנתבטל הוא טהור.

To say that even the yetzer hara, when it is nullified, is tahor (pure).

One bird is offered and one is sent away alive, teaching that even the evil inclination, once subordinated, becomes pure.

כמ"ש חיות טהורות.

As it is said, "pure birds."

The Torah requires "pure" living birds for this rite — hinting that the once-evil force can be rendered tahor.

והנה הטהרה בא גם ע"י תערובת המשולחת.

And behold, the purity comes also by means of the bird that is sent away.

Purification is achieved not only through the slaughtered bird but also through the live one sent off into the open field.

אף כי לא נעשה ממנו דבר והוא נשלח ע"פ השדה.

Even though nothing is "done" with it as a service, and it is sent away over the open field.

Though the sent-away bird is not brought as a korban (offering) and seems to accomplish nothing, it too is essential.

עכ"ז ע"י הביטול בכלל שאר הדברים וגם שנשתלת אח"כ.

Nevertheless, through its bittul (self-nullification) within the rest of the things, and also that it is sent forth afterward —

Its very nullification within the larger whole, and its release back into the world, accomplish the avodah.

מכל זה בא הטהרה:

from all of this comes the purity.

The combined process — the bittul of the evil and its release once subordinated — is what brings about taharah.

Summary: The metzora "brings out evil." Since good and evil are intertwined in everything, the evil is harmless and even "very good" so long as it stays nullified within the whole; the danger and the cure both lie in guarding one's speech and inner point. The two birds represent the two inclinations, teaching that even the yetzer hara, once subordinated and released back into the world, becomes pure — and from that bittul comes taharah.