parsha bit: Tazria-Metzora
Apr. 19th, 2007 09:24 amWhen a person is afflicted with tzara'at (usually translated "leprosy"),
he is sent outside the camp for at least a week. Obadiah Sforno says
that this is to prompt him to ask God for forgiveness. The isolation
enables him to contemplate his misdeeds, intentional and unintentional;
this, in turn, might lead to personal improvement and repentance.
So isolation leads to repentance which leads to God's forgiveness and
his rehabilitation. (Comments on Leviticus 14:21)