Metzorah: Divrei Elimelech

The 1st of Nisan is the Yahrtzeit of Rav Elimelech (ben Chaim Meir Yechiel) of Grodzensk, wrote Divrei Elimelech and Imrei Elimelech. Father of the Piazeczna Rebbe.   “This shall be the law of the Metzorah on the day of his purification (Vayikra 14:2).”

There is a well-known teaching of our Sages: If a person sees that his evil inclination is overpowering him, he shall toil in Torah, and if this disgusting one attacks you, drag him to the Beit Midrash.” Toilet in Torah can push all evil away from a person. However, a person certainly must live in a state of fear of sin.

When a person reflects on the fact that he must take Torah, the Highest Rejoicing of the King, the most precious part of existence, that all the Heavenly Angels desire, and use them for a battle against evil, to rid himself of the impure with in; when he realizes that toil in Torah should be the Unification of God’s Holy Names, for the entire Torah forms the Names of God; and that he could be using his Torah to unify God’s creation and to bring it close to the Creator, and he must use his Torah for such lowly things such as fighting his evil inclination; this will surely bring him to fear for himself. This is the meaning of the verse, “This shall be the law of the Metzorah on the day of his purification (Vayikra 14:2).” “Metzorah,” is understood as Motzi shem Ra, articulating evil with his mouth, or, in our context, using his mouth to articulate the Holy words of Torah for the lowly purpose of battling evil, then he must bring himself to the Kohen, God, and attached to In with love. (Divrei Elimelch – Metzorah)