Daf Yomi - Yoma 86 - Stain Remains

Daf Yomi - Yoma 86 - Stain Remains

It is said the Kohen shall look, and behold! The tzaraas affliction had been healed from the metzora. Rabbi Refoel Hamburger wonders why the Torah refers to the person who has already been healed from tzaraas as the metzora. Rabbi Hamburger suggests an answer based on the Gemara here that resolves a contradiction in the statements of Reish Lakish. In one statement Reish Lakish maintains that repentance is great because willful transgressions are considered to be inadvertent errors, whereas in a second statement Reish Lakish maintains that willful transgression are transformed into merits. The Gemara resolves this contradiction by stating that in Reish Lakish’s second statement, he refers to repentance that is motivated by love whereas in his first statement, Reish Lakish refers to repentance that is motivated by fear. This idea can equally be applied to a metzora. One who contracted tzaraas repents because he does not wish to undergo the suffering of his condition and he does not wish to be subject to isolation from the rest of the community. This manner of repentance was not motivated by love for HaShem. Rather, his repentance was motivated by external factors, so the Torah still refers to him as a metzora, as he has not yet uprooted the sin from his being.