Shabbat Shalom From Rabbi Graetz
Tazria - Metzora, Lev. 12:1 - 15:33
From the contemporary point of view this week’s Torah reading, Tazria/M’tzora, can seem problematic. It refers to afflictions that appeared on the skin, impurities in men and women and, mysteriously enough, in garments and homes. Though for a long time these were read as “leprous signs” they probably referred to all kinds of skin affections that made the “other” look different and blemished, or molds on walls that appeared out of nowhere. The sages playing with the Hebrew words changed the way we read these texts from physical afflictions to something deeper, i.e. spiritual/moral problems in individuals, households and nations. The most frequent treatment of the text is to read the Hebrew “This is the ritual for the Metzorah...” as “ha-motzi ra,” that is one who lets out evil speech. Pinchas Peli defines this type of “lashon hara” as “slander, gossip, tale bearing and all the other forms of damage to the individual and society that can be caused by words.” They all carry consequences (punishments in Biblical language?) and we must be attentive to their dangers.
What about these signs when they appear in a house? Again, in many commentaries the afflicted house indicates a moral blemish rather than a natural occurrence. A home is a family’s private refuge and a “plague” would then represent the breakdown of the family structure, the values that kept a family safe and united. Who could determine this? Who could affirm this with certainty given that the nature of “home” is so delicate that a missed diagnosis, or a false one, could bring upon it the plague that was to be avoided? When someone goes before the priest, the text treads carefully, he will declare: “Something like a plague has appeared upon my house.” (Lev. 14:35) No matter one’s degree of expertise one should not be dogmatic in the affirmation. Rashi says “There seems to me to be a plague.” Something may be wrong and may need to be addressed. Can what is wrong in my household spread to the outside? Am I not responsible for the communal wellbeing? Or is there something from the outside that is spreading into my house and I need to protect it? The words carry grave weight and should be uttered not in condemnation but with care and concern, for timely repair and purification can bring healing.
Ultimately, if these blemishes are of a moral or spiritual nature, they get in the way of our being the best we can be. The S’fat Emet comments on the verse “And God spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, if a person has in the flesh of his skin (b’or b’saro) a sore...” (Lev. 13-1-2) with a midrash from Genesis 3:21. As we leave the Garden of Eden, God makes us garments or/skin (spelled with an ayin). What were we clothed in previously? Garments of or/light (spelled with an aleph). There are times when this “garment of light” shines through: when Moses descends from Mt. Sinai, when parents contemplate their new born child, when one is immersed in doing something one feels passionately about, these are occasions when our “original garments” shine through. When “ego,” pretense, guile take over the garment of light is concealed, we are afflicted and in need of healing. To be isolated (quarantined) is not necessarily a bad thing, it keeps us concentrated in healing, protected from distractions and attractions, allowing us to work on ourselves, our family, our community until we are ready to emerge and re-engage purified and healed. The sages, who dealt in the world of words, are convinced that how we speak to one another, how we refer to each other is of crucial importance in this process. “Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile...”
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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