Biblical chapter Lv13 discusses the ritual impurity of leprosy. The atonement procedure for this ritual impurity is discussed in Biblical Chapter Lv14.

A full discussion of the rich and beautiful symbolism of leprosy would require applying the objective methods presented in my article on symbolism. In this weekly digest we simply sketch a few important ideas.

The atonement procedure for the lepor is presented in Lv14 which begins Then shall the priest command to take for him who is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop

Rashi explains the symbolism of each of the underlined items.
• birds symbolize bird-like chatterers
• cedars symbolize lofty mighty people
• hyssops symbolize the lower classes
We could justify each of these symbolic associations by citing verses where these symbolisms are present. Instead we lightly sketch how Rashi applies these symbolisms.

Rashi states: Leprosy is a punishment for chattering like a bird which leads to slander, the core of Jewish sins. The atonement and remedy for slander is an awareness of the rich spectrum of human personality from the lower hyssop-like classes to the mighty cedar like upper classes. Awareness of the full spectrum of human personality prevents a person from slandering people since he understands each individual's behavior based on where they are.

Sermonic points:Rashi does not actually state the symbolic interpretation presented above. Rather Rashi states If a person feels high and mighty like a cedar then let him lower himself till he feels like a hyssop.

However I believe that Rashi interpreted the symbolic items as we have indicated above: There is a full spectrum of human personality. Rashi then gives an example of this very general idea: If you think you belong on the upper class, the cedar part of the human spectrum, then see those aspects of you that belong to the lower class, the hyssop part of the human spectrum. However Rashi would be fully comfortable to apply the cedar-hyssop spectrum in other ways also. In other words we see the Rashi text as an example of a more general symbolic interpretation.

In summary the full solution to slander and sinful idle chatter is awareness of the rich spectrum of human personality. There are many ways to apply this awareness to avoid slander. For example if you see a person who behaves like a rif-raf (like a hyssop) then do not slander him - then find his strong positive attributes, praise him for them until he reclassifies himself among the cedars. The following story of the Jewish expert on slander, the Chafetz Chaim, illustrates this point:
The Chafetz Chayim saw a certain person cursing and abusing people. In other words he saw the hyssop in the person. Everyone slandered the person and described him as no-good. They committed the sin of bird chatter. The Chafetz Chaim inquired: This person had been in the Russian Army for 25 years since he was a child. The Chafetz Chaim immediately saw the cedar like loftiness of the person. The Chafetz Chaim approached the person and said: They tell me you were in the Russian Army for 25 years and the only effect it had on you is that you drink and curse a little more than most people. You must be some type of saint that it affected you this little. Here the Chafetz Chaim performed the atonement procedure for slander by taking/seeing together in one person the cedar/hyssop the lofty and low. The person of course repented symbolized by the ritual purity conferred by the leprosy purification procedure.

Praise be Him who chose them and their learning.