Cursed for Eternity: Zohar Parashat Tazria

0:03going into the Torah, we go into the Zohar HaKadosh in Parashat Tazria, page 51a. Here the Zohar teaches about what happened with Gehazi. Gehazi was the servant, the gabbai of Elisha, who lied and desecrated the name of God in such a big way that the Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin daf 98 says that he lost his share of the world to come. lied and desecrated the name of God in such a big way that the Gemara in Masechet Sanhedrin, page 98, says that he lost his share in the World to Come. The short version of the story is, aside from all of the other sins that Gehazi did, whether it was immorality or withholding Torah students from learning Torah, or lying and false vows, the biggest thing was the fact that he lied to his rabbi, to Elisha HaNavi, when Naaman, the general of the army of Aram...

1:16who had tzaraat, the famous biblical disease that still has a metaphorical "hospital" in Yerushalayim for spiritual rectification, as it's incurable with any medicine of this world. It's a spiritual disease that also has physical implications. And when Naaman came with Tzara'at and was cured miraculously by following the guidance of Elisha HaNavi, by going and dipping into the Jordan River, this of course was a big Kiddush Hashem. This was completely miraculous; it had nothing to do with the water, it had to do with him humbling himself and listening to the Da'as Torah, the opinion of the Torah. After this, Naaman wanted to convert to Judaism. wanted to convince his entire nation to convert to Judaism and that's what he was planning to do. After getting cured, he also wanted

2:18to give an enormous amount of money and anything else that Elisha would ask for. But Elisha rejected everything, saying to him that he's not looking for money, power, or anything else. He's happy that he was able to help him and to sanctify God's name, and that’s it. He wanted nothing in return. Naaman was so happy about this that he was ready to convert himself and his entire nation to Judaism. But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, chased after Naaman and asked him for money, clothing, and all types of things. name of Elisha, saying that Elisha was too humble to ask directly, but surely he would need something from you. Gehazi is the one requesting, and he sent me. When Elisha found this out, he cursed Gehazi with a curse that lasts until this day, as the verse in the book of Kings 2, chapter 5, verse 27, says that the leprosy will cleave onto you and your descendants forever. That's the background of the Zohar.

3:37As the verse in the book of Melachim II (Kings 2), chapter 5, verse 27 says, "The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you and your descendants forever." That's the background of the Zohar. Why did he curse him that way? Because he made a Chilul Hashem. After this, Naaman, although still impressed by Elisha the prophet, no longer wanted to convert. He decided to become a righteous Noahide, which means that Gehazi stopped not just one person and his family from converting to Judaism, but an entire people, millions of people from converting. Converting to Judaism, from becoming Torah scholars, leads to becoming something that sanctifies Hashem's name, unlike anything else. Therefore, Elisha cursed Gehazi with this horrible curse, and the Torah says that Gehazi, on the spot, became white, and his children also had tzaraat.

5:01also had tzaraat. All of them had tzaraat. In fact, any of his descendants that are still alive today would still have tzaraat. As Rabbi Ephraim said today, I'm sure that if any of Gehazi's descendants are alive today, they're in that hospital in Jerusalem with tzaraat. Why? This was a curse that has no end. in this world. So the Zohar asks in the name of Rabbi Yehuda, who asks Rabbi Yitzchak the question that you're probably asking: We understand that Gehazi did something terrible, but why curse his kids? What did they do? Why were Gehazi's children cursed too?

6:04Cesar beats rock, and Elisha the Prophet saw a level of prophecy unlike any other in his generation. He saw prophecy beyond the norm. Let's see if there is a norm in prophecy, and he was able to see all of the descendants that would come out of Gehazi and the end of times, and he confirmed that not a single descendant of Gehazi would ever be a righteous person. It's therefore better that these descendants have tzaraat. Why? Rabbi Ephraim gave a perfect explanation for this. said in one of the videos. It was live like we have usually on TikTok and Facebook. There's always a couple of terrorists there that are spiritual terrorists, but once in a while, there's literally a real-life terrorist, especially since October 7th. So these Muslims come, and they curse, and they promise they're going to kill people, and they do all types of things. In one of his

7:25Lectures: There was somebody like this that was making awful remarks and threats. One of the Jewish people that was listening made a comment: "Also, why don't you block him? Why don't you block this terrorist?" And Rabbi Freiman, in his extraordinary wisdom, says, "Why should I block him?" Working for Hamas as he has his whole life since he was five years old. It's the same concept here. Elisha and Avi saw the descendants of Gehazi and saw that not a single one of them will be righteous. In fact, they're all going to be problematic people, and therefore he said it's better they have Tzara'at. Therefore, because of Tzara'at, they are not part of society, not part of the Jewish society. They're in their circumstance. Working for Hamas as he has his whole life since he was five years old. It's better. The same concept here: Elisha saw the descendants of Gehazi and saw that not a single one of them would be righteous. In fact, they're all going to be problematic people, and therefore he said it's better they have tzara'at. Therefore, because of tzara'at, they are not part of society, not part of Jewish society. They're in...

8:41Outside of the camp, they're in special hospitals and so on. Furthermore, Elisha said to Gehazi, I was rewarded a double reward as I requested from Eliyahu HaNavi to give me double the amount of miracles that he was able to perform. And I was rewarded that. Why? Because I was a servant of Eliyahu HaNavi and I did my job with full honesty and sacrifice. But you, Rasha Gehazi, you hurt me because you lied to me and served dishonestly, making false vows. And therefore, you'll be punished severely in this world. With this tzaraat and his descendants having tzaraat, in order for you to eventually have olam haba. Why? Because even though he served them with lies, there were parts of his servitude that were good, that actually helped Elisha study Torah, that helped Elisha serve Hashem.

10:08Part of the servitude; let it not go to waste. We'll use that to give you an entrance to olam haba. But that means you'll have to get an enormous punishment first. First, you should know that this actually conflicts with the opinion in the Gemara, in Sanhedrin. It says that Gehazi does not have a share of the world to come, or at least the intent of Elisha. would conflict with what the sages said of Gehazi, even having a share of the world to come; they say he doesn't. Of course, we always go with the Gemara. But the point being is we see the intentions of the righteous Elisha, even though Gehazi was wicked and evil. He still had mercy on this person, without changing the Torah, and... Rather by saying, you deserve an extraordinary punishment for making a false vow. As the Torah says, somebody who makes a false vow loses olam haba. But in order to get that, in order to get that olam haba back and have a chance of getting olam haba back, you'll have to suffer extraordinary suffering in this world. And of course, Gehinnom, and kaf hakela, all the other stuff, but eventually still have a ticket to olam haba that will ultimately allow you in.

11:32forever that he's a Jew, and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, a disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chilul Hashem, a desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew. that he's a Jew and she's a Jew. We don't celebrate non-Jewish holidays, even if they seem harmless. It's a zilzul, a disrespect to the Torah, and could lead to chilul Hashem, a desecration of God's name. Stick to our holy Torah and our own holidays. That's the path of a true Jew.