The bulk of this week’s portion, Tazria, discusses various forms of tzara’at, skin maladies which are contracted as a result of engaging in forbidden gossip. Also discussed are certain garment discolorations which constitute “clothing tzara’at.”
This time around, I’d like to take a look at the haftorah reading that accompanies our parsha. For each parsha (reading from the Torah, the 5 books of Moses) there is a reading from the prophets or writings selected because it has some connection to the parsha. For this parsha a passage from 2 Kings 4:42-5:19 was selected by the sages. I want to read from that passage.
2Ki 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.
2Ki 5:2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife.
2Ki 5:3 She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
2Ki 5:4 So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”
2Ki 5:5 And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.“
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Skipping to verse 9
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2Ki 5:9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.
2Ki 5:10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”
2Ki 5:11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.
2Ki 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
2Ki 5:13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
2Ki 5:14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
2Ki 5:15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel;
In this account we hear of kings and prophets and mighty warriors. There is also an un-named heroine. She is only mentioned here in the entire Bible in two verses. Yet, her word to her mistress caused an enemy of Israel to declare that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel. I’m speaking of the little servant girl.
If there is anyone in the story who has a reason not to speak up, it is she. She was taken captive in a raid. This means most likely that her family was killed. At best (if you can say best) she was taken from her family to serve the wife of the commander. The Torah says that she was a na’a’rah k’tanah. This phrase either little girl or little boy is only used a few times in the Tanak. In each case, it is indicating the person to be a child. So, we have a young child speaking up on behalf of her captor and possibly the murderer of her family.
As a result of her compassion, her master is healed from his leprosy. But, most important, through her witness and her concern for her enemy, Naaman recognizes the one true Creator God. In a flash of inspiration, he comes to understand that the idols he has been worshipping are nothing. The God of Israel is God. This is what Yeshua meant when he taught:
Mat 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mat 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
And Paul comments on this concept:
Rom 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Rom 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
We will never lead a sinner to God by repaying their evil with more evil. Judgment belongs to God, not to us. When we show love and compassion to another, especially someone who is hostile toward us, we are a living example of our Lord Yeshua who we follow.
This little girl is an example for all of us. A little servant girl. We don’t know her name. We don’t know what became of her after this story. But her deed is recorded for all time to teach us to talk about our God with everyone we know who doesn’t know Him. The greatest words that we could hear someone who does not know God speak are, “Behold, there is no God in all the earth but the God of Israel and there is no redeemer in all the earth except His Son Yeshua.”
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