Leprosy, for example, wasn't just a disease. According to some Jewish traditions, it could be a sign of something deeper, a consequence of wrongdoing. But what wrongdoing specifically? That's where the stories get interesting.
The book of Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers, grapples with this very question. Specifically, it asks, regarding the verse "They shall send out from the camp every leper…", what was the source of this leprosy? Where did it come from?
Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon suggests it stemmed from the sin of the Golden Calf. Remember that story? The Israelites, impatient with Moses's prolonged absence on Mount Sinai, fashioned and worshipped a golden idol. A pretty serious breach of covenant.
But other Rabbis point to the murmurers – those who constantly complained and grumbled against God. It's this second explanation that Bamidbar Rabbah really dives into. So, how did murmuring lead to leprosy?
Well, picture this: God is providing for the Israelites in the desert, raining down manna, that miraculous bread from heaven. According to our Rabbis, this was no ordinary food. God performed miracles so that the Israelites wouldn’t even need to relieve themselves! The idea, they said, was that if God called them “divine” (as it says in Psalms 82:6, "I had said: You are divine"), they shouldn't have to engage in such mundane activities, just like the angels. Plus, God wanted to distinguish His children from the other nations.
But what did the Israelites do with this incredible gift? They became cynical. They started complaining, saying things like, "This manna doesn't flow down! I'm afraid my stomach will swell up and burst!" As Bamidbar Rabbah tells it, God was deeply offended. He felt provoked. Numbers 14:11 says, "Until when will this nation continue to provoke Me? Until when will they not believe in Me?" Notice it says, "signs that I have performed in their midst [bekirbo]," not just for them. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai even interprets bekirbo as "in their innards," suggesting God performed miracles within their very bodies.
The manna, according to Psalm 78:25, was "the bread of abirim." But the Rabbis play on the word, reading it as "the bread of eivarim" – bread that is absorbed in their organs. Yet, despite all this, they complained!
They longed for the "good old days" in Egypt, remembering the "fleshpots" and abundant food. They declared, "Our soul is parched; there is nothing at all; nothing but the manna to look to!" (Numbers 11:6).
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai asks a crucial question: Were they really just craving meat? After all, the manna tasted like whatever they desired! He suggests they were using this as an excuse, a "pretext for how to return to Egypt."
God, however, responded to their request for meat. But there was a catch. Those who had murmured against Him would find that the meat would "examine him," and it would come out of his nose! As Numbers 11:20 says, "Until it comes out of your nose, and it will be lezara for you."
Now, lezara is interpreted in various ways. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says it means croup. Rabbi Huna HaKohen bar Avin, quoting Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, says it means vomit and excrement. Rabbi Evyatar suggests it means a tick or a worm in their intestines. Rabbi Aivu bar Nagari sees it as a warning.
But Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon offers a particularly striking interpretation: lezara means they became outcasts [zarim]. Just as Leviticus 22:13 says, "No zar may eat of it," so too, anyone who blasphemes God becomes an outcast. And how does this happen? Leprosy befalls them. God says they are outcasts from the congregation, hence the command to "send out from the camp every leper…"
So, according to this interpretation, the leprosy was a direct consequence of their lack of faith and their constant complaining. It was a physical manifestation of their spiritual separation from God and the community.
But what about Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon's other explanation, that the leprosy stemmed from the sin of the Golden Calf? He finds support in Isaiah 17:11: "On the day of your planting you will flourish, and in the morning your seed will blossom; your branch will be lost on a day of affliction and mortal pain."
Our Rabbis note that forty days after receiving the Torah, the Israelites made the calf. According to tradition, God even hinted at this to Moses, saying they would only be completely devoted to Him for forty days, referencing Exodus 19:6, “You shall be for Me [li] a kingdom of priests…” The numerical value of the Hebrew letters lamed and yod in the word li, is thirty and ten, respectively, totaling forty.
Different Rabbis debated the exact number of days of true devotion, some saying twenty-nine, others eleven, drawing their interpretations from Deuteronomy 1:2. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta even said they were only completely devoted for one day, citing Deuteronomy 4:10.
Rabbi Meir goes even further, suggesting that even when they said, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform and we will heed" (Exodus 24:7), their hearts weren't in it. As Psalms 78:36-37 says, "But they enticed Him with their mouth and deceived Him with their tongue. Their heart was not true with Him."
Isaiah echoes this sentiment, saying, "On the day of your planting you will flourish (tesagsegi)" (Isaiah 17:11). God says that on the very day He sought to establish them as His nation, they produced dross (sigim).
The Rabbis then offer a series of analogies. One compares it to a king with a beautiful garden of cabbage, only to find it ruined in the morning. Another compares it to a field of flax that turns to stalks overnight. God says to Israel, "And in the morning your seed will blossom [tafriḥi]" (Isaiah 17:11), which they interpret as meaning the seeds flew out, a sign of deterioration.
Ultimately, the verse concludes with "a day of affliction [naḥala]" and "mortal pain." The Rabbis explain that this refers to a day when God intended to give them an inheritance [naḥala], but they failed to sustain His kingdom. The "mortal pain" is leprosy, a disease that causes the body to decompose, leading to the command to separate the lepers from the camp.
So, what do we take away from all of this? Perhaps it's a reminder that our actions have consequences, both physical and spiritual. Or maybe it's a call to appreciate the blessings we have and to avoid the trap of constant complaining. After all, as these stories suggest, sometimes our inner state can manifest in very tangible ways. And sometimes, what seems like a purely physical ailment might just be a sign of a deeper spiritual malaise.