Tazria-Metzora; Leviticus 12:1 –15:33

These are two of the most difficult parshiot in the Torah. During a leap year these two parshiot are separated but often they are read together as they are this coming Shabbat.

Parshat Tazria turns to the ways in which human beings become impure while much of Metzorah deals with efforts to purify. These Torah portions are messy. Filled with descriptions of menstrual blood, semen, burns, and baldness. There are descriptions of the fungus’ that can plague a home or fabric or even leather. Tradition holds that that the disease of tzaarat is a physical manifestation of some spiritual problem. Tzaarat seems to be visited on the person because of some punishment for sins or even because of some lapse in character.

The tradition says that the primary cause of tzaarat is the sin of slander from a play on words in the Midrash. Also as recorded in the Talmud, in Arachin 16a , tzaarat is the punishment for the sins of bloodshed, false oaths, sexual immorality, pride, robbery and selfishness. We don’t know exactly what Tzaarat was or is but it was often translated as leprosy. Clearly not the disease we know as leprosy today (Hansen’s Disease) but nevertheless clearly some kind of skin affliction. The High Priest was responsible for determining the affliction of tzaarat. The Kohen, High Priest does not treat the affliction he only diagnose the condition

And yet, when we actually turn to the text itself, the various conditions described are not about any kind of disease as punishment. The reasons for these various afflictions are not here in the book of Leviticus. Nowhere in this text is morality given as a reason for these varieties of afflictions. Instead these conditions of the menstruating woman, the woman after childbirth, or the individual with a skin condition are things that just seem to happen. The text presents what to do with the individuals who have these impurities—in parshat Metzorah the text prescribes how the individual returns to a state of purity through certain sacrifices and a kind of quarantine.

Nevertheless, the traditional interpretations have for years lead us to read these verses with an eye towards disease and punishment. What did the individual do to bring about these states of impurity? And upon close examination of the text –the answer must be sometimes they did nothing at all.

Sometimes disease is random. Just as a car breaks down, sometimes our cells or bodies break down. The question is not if but when. So too in the Torah portion recognizes that people will fall ill and the priest is the one who will be called upon to identify conditions that happen to people. And yes, sometimes those situations can cause impurity—both of the physical cleanliness kind and yes, too of the spiritual kind. Our Torah text is concerned with helping the individual and community stay in communion with each other

When a person is sick—they often must stay at home to heal. This self-imposed quarantine while serving an important purpose in healing also causes an individual to be cut off from community. And the longer a person has an illness the longer they are cut off from friends and even sometimes family. Parshat Metzorah recognizes and prescribes the ways for the impure to rejoin the spiritual community following menstruation or tzaarat.

That is why it is important to check in with friends who may be ill or going through a difficult time. They too may feel cut off from community. It is no secret that the mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim—visiting the sick is one of our most important mitzvot. The Shulchan Aruch states that each time we visit a person who is ill—we take away 1/60 of their illness. By keeping that communion of friendship and relationship we help add to their healing and recovery.

Shemini; Leviticus 9:1-12:47

The Torah Portion for this week is a rich portion filled with both legal literature and interesting narrative. Shemini begins with a description of offerings during the inauguration period of the Tabernacle in the desert, climaxing with the ordination/consecration of Aaron and his sons as the High Priests on the eight day. The priestly service and offerings begins with this week’s parasha. Along with the offerings on the first day of sacrificial service, Aaron blesses the People Israel by raising his hands. It is such a special day and unique moment—the Torah tells us that following the blessing of the people, the glory of God appeared to the entire people!

What a feeling of joy and celebration was shared on that day both by the leaders, Aaron and Moses and the priesthood as well as the people.

But our parasha continues the story and we go from the heights of joy and celebration to the depths of tragedy and mourning.

Just as Aaron correctly offered the sacrifices on the newly inaugurated Altar, his two sons, Nadav and Abihu, offer a foreign or alien offering or fire. Nadav and Abihu who just were consecrated to the priesthood and just instructed in the correct offerings required by God, do something they should not have and pay dearly for their behavior. They offered an incorrect incense offering. They are consumed by a fire from God and they died there at the altar. Rashi the great French commentator, says, The Heavenly fire entered their nostrils and burned their souls, as it were, but did not affect their bodies or clothing.

Now one could say that this is harsh punishment for a simple ritual error. But tradition also teaches us that this was more than just an error in execution of the ritual. This was a challenge to the very system that God had just put in place. Traditional commentators say this was Nadav and Abihu using the Altar and the sacrificial service as a way to incorporate idol worship into the new practices of the People Israel. Others draw a conclusion from verses that immediately follow this story concerning intoxication while performing the rituals of the Temple. The text says: “Do not drink intoxicating wine, you and your sons, with you, when you come to the Tent of Meeting, that you not die- this is an eternal decree for your generations. In order to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the contaminated and the pure, and to teach the Children of Israel all the decrees that God had spoken to them through Moses.”

The classic interpretation for Nadav and Abihu seemingly harsh judgment is that they must have been drunk while offering the strange fire to God. Their deaths an important lesson of the sanctity of the Temple service and the solemnity and seriousness with which we must treat the holiness of God and the holiness of worship. We don’t just treat it cavalierly, drunk, or high, or with disrespect. But our spirituality and spiritual needs must be honored with a sense of sanctity and respect as well as our relationship with God. While we no longer offer sacrifices on the Altar, we still should treat our relationship with God with care and the same sense of nurturing and honor that the ancient Temple practices engendered.

In our busy world, often synagogue life, Jewish practice and prayer come at the end of a long list of things we ought to do but sometimes to don’t get around to. This week’s parasha helps us to learn through the tragedies of Nadav and Abihu that we ought to take greater care in our relationship with the Divine.

Then we too will receive and feel the joy that Aaron must have felt as he gave the blessing to the people for the first time; a sense of wholeness and communion with God. That is indeed our goal even today!

Pesach Reflections

Passover is here and Jews around the world gather to reenact the exodus from Egypt and the deliverance from slavery at our holiday table. The Passover Seder meal, through story, song, prayer and symbolic foods, takes us on a spiritual journey from enslavement to freedom. We remember our servitude –Avadim Hayinu—we were slaves. And we remember the plagues that God sent as a sign of strength and might to convince Pharaoh to accede to Moses request—to let the Israelites go.

The haggadah—the book the contains the seder ritual—teaches- b’chol dor v’dor chayav adam l’rot et atzmo k’ilu hu yatzah mi-mitzrayim—in every generation each person is to imagine that he or she is actually leaving Egypt. This story didn’t just happen to some ancestors, thousands of years ago. This is our story. This is our journey. This is our freedom.

This theological idea—that the exodus and deliverance by the outstretched hand (z’roa netuyah) of God to the Promise Land of each Jew in every time and place is a monumental idea. It not only personalized the journey, it helps each Jew to strive for an immediate experience of the Divine acting in the world. Freedom in this case is not some abstract ideal. It is real—you can taste in the matzah broken in half. You can taste in the four cups of wine—each connected to a different verse in Exodus (6:6-7) God makes four promises to Israel- V'hotzeiti - I will bring you out from Egypt; V'hitzalti - I will deliver you from their service; V'ga-alti, I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgments; V'lachkati- I will take you to Me for a people. You can taste in the hope and rebirth of the greens (karpas) dipped in the salty tears of slavery.

Each act of the seder (order) meal—brings us a taste of freedom and helps us to imagine that this moment of deliverance is for you and for me immediate and part of our reality.

This year you might ask yourself and those with whom you gather at your holiday celebration—“How has God delivered me to freedom this year?” Name a moment since last Passover when you believe God was acting in your life or speaking clearly to you. Name those things/habits to which you are enslaved. Discuss the opportunities we each have to break the yoke of servitude to those enslavements.

When we imagine the Passover experience as happening to us and when we acknowledge that there are indeed moments of Divine deliverance, we bring our souls closer to God’s Presence. That is how we will experience the true freedom that comes with faith: a security and confidence and yes, hope that true peace will make its home in each of hearts and ultimately in the world.

Happy Passover.