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.

Posted by Lee at April 20, 2004 03:33 PM