The purification process of the metzorah involves a pair of identical birds. One of them is slaughtered, with the blood sprinkled and the other is eventually set free.
The relationship between the birds and the metzorah is clear. The tzipor dror is a wild bird that knows no boundaries, literally ‘as free as a bird!’ This bird is the opposite of everything that the metzorah is meant to internalise in order to be able to re-enter society. The metzorah is becomes afflicted because of his abuse of the power of speech, similar to the bird who tweets and chirps constantly. He therefore has to slaughter the bird and internalise the message of the power of speech.
Why then does he let the other bird fly away into the wild?
Rav Hirsch suggests that the bird is let loose ‘into the open field’ to teach him that the only place one can be free with their tongue is in the wild, away from civilisation. The act of letting the bird go is telling the metzorah the same message, if you want to be part of society, learn to control your tongue, otherwise you are better off in the open field.
Whilst we may not have the birds of the metzorah any more, we certainly have ample opportunities in our interconnected world to tweet and chirp. The message of these birds rings true, destructive speech has no place in society.
Good Shabbos
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