[Avodah] Shemini and Tazria-Metzora-- from R. Yisrael Salanter

[Prof. Levine]

The message below was recently sent to me. Rabbi Dr. David Berger 
author of "The Rebbe, the Messiah and the Scandal of Orthodox 
Indifference" once pointed out to me that the classic source for the 
statement about worrying more about what comes out of our mouths than 
what goes into them is Matthew 15:17-20 and Mark 7:18-23. YL

From: Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush News:April 16, 2010
DEVAR TORAH
By Rabbi Moshe Sokol, Ph.D.

Why does parashat Tazria immediately follow parashat Shmini?

Rav Yisrael Salanter, famed founder of the mussar movement, is
reported to have asked the question this way.

Parashat Shmini includes the laws of kashrut. Parashat Tazria
includes the laws of tzara'at, which Chazal teach is the consequence
of speaking lashon ha-ra.

Thus, parashat Shmini teaches us what is forbidden to put into our
mouths, and parashat Tazria teaches us what is forbidden to leave our mouths.

I might add that the laws of tzara'at extend over two parashiyot,
Tazria and Metzora, while the laws of kashrut extend over only one.

Perhaps that is a hint about the relative importance of each category
of halakha. While both are absolutely crucial and the word of G-d,
perhaps we should be worrying a bit more about what we say than what we eat.

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