How great is this lowly mundane world! By wearing a fringed four cornered garment the Holy Attribute of Justice gives way to the Attribute of Mercy; By giving charity Heavenly Decrees are annulled! The physical world is like the short end of a lever - a small movement makes the other end move very far. Although our misdeeds can cause havoc in the Celestial Realms, on the other hand small, seemingly insignificant positive actions can have tremendous beneficial influence on the Heavenly Order.
The Metzorah, whose skin was supernaturally discolored and then restored to its healthy state, still has all the limitations of Tumah. In order to regain his proper link to spirituality, two doves (Netzach and Hod) are taken, one (Hod) is slaughtered and its blood is squeezed into an earthenware vessel (the Power of Limitation) containing a small amount of water. The Cohen (Chesed) then takes a long stick of cedar (Tiferes) and a hyssop branch (Yesod), ties them together with a string of crimson wool (Gevurah), dips them with the other bird (Netzach) in the blood and water, and sprinkles seven times on the former Metzorah. The second bird (Netzach) is then sent out to live in the fields (Malchus).
Let us take a deep look into the significance of these actions. The Metzorah's involvement in the world around him was begrudging and negative, thereby strengthening the negative aspects of the six Divine Attributes that Man has the power to influence. By distorting the six corresponding parts of his earthly character, he affected their Divine counterparts. Now by mixing the blood (the selfish aspect) of his Hod (feeling for others) with it's parallel Chesed (water) in a limiting vessel, he thereby regains his emotional balance and can dip his other five characteristics in this mixture. He can then rightfully sprinkle seven times, having reached complete integration (with Malchus), and the other bird (Netzach) is then sent to permanently dwell in the fields (Malchus). He has thus undergone the main steps in rectifying the damage he did, culminated by shaving, immersion and bringing sacrifices, in order to remove the last vestiges of his previous state and to cleave to Holiness once again.
Based on Rabbi Vali's book on Vayikra. More about the concept of Tahara in the next weeks. Questions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva