Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

Download print

Parashat Tazria-Mesora: The Way to Ruin Your Children’s Future

The Haftara read on Shabbat Parashat Tazria-Mesora is taken from the Book of Melachim II (7), and tells the story of four Mesoraim – people stricken with the Sara’at skin infection, which made them impure and required them to reside outside their city. These Mesoraim were outside the city of Shomron during a period of siege, and the story goes on to tell how they discovered the great miracle that G-d performed to rescue the city.

Our Sages identify these four men as Gehazi and his three sons. Gehazi was the disciple and personal attendant of the prophet Elisha, and he was stricken with Sara’at for a grave sin which he committed. As we read earlier in Melachim II (5; this section is read as the Haftara when Parashat Tazria is read by itself), Elisha miraculously cured the Sara’at of the gentile general Na’aman, who then offered to pay the prophet a huge reward. Elisha refused to accept any payment, but after Na’aman left, Gehazi ran after him and falsely told him that Elisha changed his mind. Gehazi’s act of greed and deceit was prophetically revealed to Elisha, who decreed that Gehazi and his children would be stricken with Sara’at. These were the three afflicted men who were residing outside the city of Shomron during the siege.

The question arises, why were Gehazi’s children punished? Why did they suffer from Sara’at because of the sin their father committed?

Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky (1891-1986) once asked, why is the Jewish Nation not producing great Torah sages? There are so many children enrolled in Yeshivot studying Torah at a high level. Why are they not becoming outstanding scholars? He explained that the reason is because of the lunch the children are eating. When the schools send the parents the applications for government subsidies for their children’s lunch, the parents give false information about their income in order to qualify for the discounts. Their children thus end up going to yeshiva and eating stolen food for lunch. And a child eating stolen food in yeshiva will never grow to become a great scholar.

This explains why Gehazi’s children were stricken with Sara’at like him. He was greedy and sought to acquire wealth through dishonesty. When a person lives this way, he ends up raising his children with stolen money. This has a grave effect on their inner beings, and they, too, become sinners.

People who deal dishonestly in business or in conducting their financial affairs justify their wrongdoing by claiming that they are concerned about their children’s future. The truth is, however, that dishonesty is the way to destroy one’s children’s future. We ruin our children’s prospects for greatness if we raise and support them, and pay their Yeshiva tuition, with ill-begotten gains. The best way to care for our children’s future is by living as honest, upstanding, observant Jews, as the Torah tells us to live, and trusting that Hashem will care for us and our families.


Related Parasha
Shabbat HaGadol: The Power of Mesirut Nefesh - 2022 Year
Parashat Tazria: The Self-Destructive Power of Arrogance - 2022 Year
Parashat Tazria-Mesora: Self-Destructive Arrogance - 2021 Year
Parashat Tazria-Mesora: Revealing Our Hidden Treasures - 2020 Year
Shabbat Ha’gadol – Celebrating Our Status as Hashem’s Children - 2019 Year
Parashat Tazria: Eliyahu Ha’nabi and the Berit Mila “Redemption” - 2019 Year
Parashat Tazria- A Gossiper’s Prayer - 2018 Year
Parashat Tazria: Childrearing and Prayer - 2016 Year
Parashat Tzaria: Sara’at and Confronting Hardship - 2015 Year
Parashat Mesora: Correcting the Sin of Lashon Ha’ra - 2014 Year
Parashat Tazria: Learning From the Sacrifices - 2014 Year
Parashat Tazria: Looking Out for Today’s Mesora - 2013 Year
Parashat Tazria: Childbirth and Eliyahu Hanabi - 2012 Year
Shabbat Morning Class - Parasha Tazria / Metzora - 2012 Year
Parashat Mesora- Why a Kohen? - 2011 Year
Parashat Tazria- Divisiveness Within the Family - 2011 Year
Shabbat Morning Class - Parasha Tazria / Metzora - 2010 Year
Sefer/Parasha:
Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudeh: The Foundation
Parashat Ki Tisa- The Root of the Golden Calf
Purim: Drinking “Ad De’lo Yada”
Parashat Teruma: Clean Money
Parashat Mishpatim: The Prerequisite to Success in Torah
Parashat Yitro: The Power of “Ayin”
Parashat Beshalah: The Forgotten Precondition to Prayer
Parashat Bo: Constant Growth
Parashat Vaera: Every Drop Counts
Parashat Shemot: Repentance and Community
Parasha Vayehi: Life After Death
Parashat Vayigash: Tuning In to the Right Frequency
Parashat Miketz: The Positive Effects of Positive Thinking
Hanukah and the Story of Yosef
Parashat VaYishlah: “Son of Your Maidservant”
1002 Parashot found