Tazria-Metzora

The Haftarah portion for Shabbat Tazria-Metzora (2 Kings 7:3-20) narrated in English by Ronald Guttman. Questions for Discussion: The four individuals who initially defect to the enemy camp are described as metzora’im, sufferers of an ailment that the rabbis understood as punishment for the sin of lashon hara (damaging and/or false speech). Such people were kept at a distance, isolated from the camp (here they are depicted as being “outside the gate”). Initially, these outcasts betray their people, intending to join with the enemy camp and save themselves from the siege, only to discover that the enemy has fled. The story turns on their realization that their silence—in not informing the king of the enemy’s desertion—is a sin. Here, then, the remedy for false or damaging speech is not silence, but speaking out in a positive way. • Is that always the case? When does negative speech need to be corrected through positive speech? • Are there times when silence is more helpful?JTS wishes to acknowledge the generosity of the Jewish Publication Society for allowing us to use their translation.