Over and over again the Torah tells us the importance of being holy. Kohanim must be especially careful and avoid becoming tomei. Since something tomei cannot be seen or felt, the Torah must tell us exactly which objects give off tumoh so that we can know to stay away from them. Without the Torah giving us this important information we would have no idea of its danger, nor would we know what we must stay away from.
For many years people would touch many radioactive substances without having the faintest idea how dangerous they were. The deadly radioactivity coming from a piece of uranium would not be seen or felt by any of our senses.
It looks no different than an ordinary stone. Yet today we know that it gives off invisible rays that kill a person. Only with a special machine, called a geiger counter, can we actually detect the strong rays present.
At the present time there is no machine that can detect the dangerous presence of tumoh. We know of its existence only because Hashem gave us this information in the Torah. We are told that if we chas v’sholom make ourselves tomei in this lowly world then Hashem will make us tomei in the world-to-come. Perhaps now in this lowly world we are unable to detect the great damage the tumoh does to us. Yet in the world-to-come the terrible damage will be felt quite clearly.
Imagine a person who has no sense of smell. He discovers an excellent oil with which he decides to anoint his body. Little does he realize that this oil has a terrible disgusting odor. It smells worse than rotten eggs. Wherever he walks everyone runs away from him. The stench is unbearable. Yet, since he cannot smell anything, he can’t understand why everyone is running away from him. He sees nothing wrong with the oil he is using.
So too it is with things that are tomei. We can’t see anything wrong with these objects. It’s only when we come to olom habo that we realize the terrible damage that it has done to our neshomo. But then it’s too late. Nothing can be done about it anymore. Hashem in His great mercy has warned us about it in His Torah. We should have listened while we were able to.
There are many invisible forces in this world that one is unable to detect with his five senses. Nobody has ever seen, felt or tasted gravity or magnetism. We only know that they exist because of the effect they have. If two pieces of metal pull toward each other or push each other away then we assume that there must be an invisible force that causes it to happen. We call this force magnetism. When we throw things up they fall back down. Certainly there must be a force pulling them down. This invisible force we call gravity.
In the very same way, tumoh and kedusha are invisible forces that we cannot detect with our five senses. We only know of their existence because the Torah tells us that they exist. There is no machine that can detect their presence. One would be very foolish to deny their presence simply because he does not see or feel them. After all, there are many other forces we can’t see or feel as well. The Torah’s warning as to their great danger should be enough of a reason to be very careful not to become contaminated from tumoh’s invisible force.
By eating foods that are tomei we not only become contaminated in this world down below, but we cause permanent damage to our neshomo that will chas v’sholom feel the after-effects in the world-to-come. Woe be it to theneshomo that will enter olom habo and suddenly realize the terrible damage that has been done to it by the tumoh it has received in the world below.
Luckily, the Torah forewarns us of this problem.. Let us not take it lightly. There are many other various forms and forces of tumoh that the Torah warns us to avoid, such as the magic forces of oyiav and edomi or following in the perverted ways of the goyim.
Eretz Yisroel is extremely sensitive and cannot tolerate any type of tumoh. It is for this reason that it has spit out the many nations who have tried to inhabit her.
In these modern times, when the perversion and corruption of the outside world can so easily be brought into our homes with the mere flick of a switch, we must be far more careful and much more on guard than ever before. The powers of tumoh lurk everywhere. They sneak their way into our homes through the electromagnetic waves penetrating the atmosphere. Never before in history was the goyishe culture and influence made so accessible to us. We don’t even have to leave our homes to find it. It is brought to us on a silver platter, and we don’t even protest.
If someone would only invent a tumoh-scope machine that could detect these deadly waves, I’m certain that the needle would jump right into the RED!
If we want to make sure we don’t become contaminated in olam haba, then we must make sure to keep our homes free of this deadly tumoh. Our homes must become places that allow the holy Shechinah to enter and rest.Kedusha cannot co-exist with tumoh, for they are exact opposites and mutually exclusive. It’s only when we keep the chukim and mishpotim properly that we are zoche to the true life. If we want to enter the Holy Abode of Hashem Himself, we must make sure to keep ourselves holy down in this world. Only those who keep themselves holy down below will be rewarded with being able to be close with the Holy Shechina in the world-to-come.