[Avodah] FW: Noach and Lashon T'horah

[Zvi Lampel]

My son came home with a d’var Torah that answers a question I’ve had for a long time. Chazal say that the Torah used extra words "not tahor," as opposed to "tamei" (when describing the non-kosher animals Noach was to take into the ark) to teach the importance of using lashon nekiah.

It always bothered me: The Torah nevertheless does use the lashon "tamei" many times (my CD search came up with 238). What happenned to the concern for lashon nekiah?

Answer: To impress upon us the gravity of becoming tamei, or eating tamei, or violating someone or otherewise making someone tamei, the harsh language is called for. When Hashem is instructing Noach as to how many of these non-kosher animals he should allow in the ark, however, a harsh language is uncalled for. Therefore a lashon nekiah is called for.

This is actually the only occurence in Nach of the terminology "sheh-aynah t’horah," and all other references to non-kosher animals involve their unfitness for pure purposes, so the thesis is not really testable. But I think it makes a lot of sense, no?

Zvi Lampel

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