Monday, April 7, 2008

Tazria (brings forth seed) Lev 12:1-13:59

The priest is to examine the sore on his skin Lev 13:3

According to the Talmud*, "a priest may inspect all the leprosy symptoms save his own leprosy symptoms." Mishnah Nega'im (Plagues) 2:4

*The Mishnah (repetition) is the written codification of the oral law said to have been handed down by God to Moses at Sinai along with the written Torah and passed on from generation to generation of sage and disciple. The Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah the Prince around 200 AD. Further commentary on the Mishnah was added throughout the centuries. This commentary is known as the Gemara (completion) and was finished around 500 AD. Together, the Mishnah and Gemara make up what is known as the Talmud (learning, or study).

Perhaps you have heard the following: "A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client." It is hard for us to be objective about ourselves. Especially if we are the ones in power who get to pronounce who is clean and who is not, we would be tempted to pronounce our selves clean. "It's just a flesh wound." "I've had worse." "I feel fine." "I'm getting better. I think I'll take a walk." (Quotes courtesy of Monty Python und der Holie Grailen)

On the seventh day the priest is to examine him Lev 13:5
"The priest is to examine the whole person, not only the diseased limb. He is to see what is whole and healthy about the person, not only what is afflicted." Meshekh Hokhmah. (A commentary on the Torah by Rabbi Meir Simhah ha-Cohen of Dvinsk)

When a person is ill, it is common to identify that person by what ails him or her. In focusing on the ailment, we may miss that there is a whole person. And it doesn't have to be an ailment, it can be anything about a person. When Hannah, Samuel's mother, was praying in bitterness of spirit before the Lord at the temple in Shiloh, Eli the priest 'watched her mouth' and accused her of being drunk. Had he taken time to ascertain the situation, he would have known that Hannah was a deeply grieved woman who was pouring out her soul, not drunk from wine.

When anyone has an infectious skin disease, he must be brought to the priest Lev 13:9
Why would he have to be brought? Wouldn't a person go on his own? Maybe, maybe not. Before Jesus healed the invalid at the pool, he looked straight at the man and said, "do you want to get well?" John 5:6 What a question! The man had been lying at the pool unable to get to the healing waters. Yet other people went in ahead of him and offered no help. It must have been incredibly frustrating. Why ask that question then? Wouldn't it seem obvious that he would want to get well? People in uncomfortable situations may elect to stay in that situation. Change is hard and can be scary. Even if the change is for the better, it's not always pleasant to have to through with it. And for another matter, we may not always be aware or acknowledge to ourselves that we need help.

In the case of tzara'at of a house, it is said that "he will come" (Lev 14:35), meaning the person will go by himself. It was thought that tzara'at first affected a person's home. If the person did not repent, it affected his clothes. If he remains unrepentant, it affects his body. By this time, he has become so used to his wicked deeds that he sees nothing wrong with them. At that point, he must be brought to the priest by others.

What is this about being unrepentant and tzara'at moving from house to clothes to body? Tzara'at was considered a divine punishment. It was seen as an outward manifestation of inward moral corruption. The classic example is at Numbers 12 where Miriam is stricken with leprosy for speaking against Moses. The tzara'at on the walls of the house was a warning from God to change your ways.

"The Talmud tells us that if a person commits a sin once and then a second time, he comes to think of that particular action as permissible." Iturai Torah (a Chassidic commentary on the Torah)

"The punishment for sin is another sin. The reward for a mitzvah is another mitzvah." Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers). Sin and obedience bring their own rewards. Once a person sins, it become easier to do so again. And the more often you do, the more natural it seems to you.

Objections invariably get raised about tzara'at being a divine punishment. What about people who are born with defects or contract some loathsome disease through no fault of their own? Are we not blaming the victim? This is not a new question. Jesus once healed a man who had been blind since birth. And the disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John 9:2 And the answer Jesus gave is one which should echo in our ears today. "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." John 9:3

We are not God. We do not get to decide if someone who has a scaly affection has been somehow morally corrupt. The work of God is done through humanity. We are the work of His hands. Doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God. How do we do this? By loving our neighbor, and the stranger, as ourselves. It's up to the priests to make the determination if one is unclean or not. And whatever the priest says, so it is. And if a person be pronounced clean, he is to be treated as such, despite appearances.

The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' Lev 13:45

At first blush, this may seem rather harsh. It's not enough that the person has be isolated from the community? He also has to advertise that he's unclean? Isn't that humiliating? I thought the Bible was against public embarassment.

Advertise? Yes. Rashi notes that "the sufferer must warn all that approach that he is impure so that they stay away from him lest they become contaminated." If you're sick with the flu, you stay at home so as not to infect your coworkers. You don't go out to visit or host parties yourself. You are saying that you are unclean and warning people to stay away.

The Talmud has another viewpoint. It is consistent with Judaism and the Talmud in particular that different viewpoints are presented. One calls out not only to warn others of the contagion (Moed Katan "little festival" 5a), but also to elicit compassion and prayers on one's behalf. (Chulin "ordinary things" 78a)

There are some who will give you a full organ recital if you ask how they are. That is, they will list in detail every problem with every organ in their body. Every disease known to man, and some as yet undiscovered, inhabit the frail body of this person. And then there are those who will not admit of illness. If I don't acknowledge it, it's not real. Or, I don't want to be a complainer or an organ recital. Or, there are others worse off than me, what do I have to complain about? Does not God care about those made in His image? The work of God to heal those afflicted with illness cannot be done unless the person is presented (by him/herself or others) to be healed. And if we are not equipped with the medical knowledge and skill to physically heal the sick, we can at least pray and offer our compassion.

And one final note on this verse: Rabbi Abraham Twerski read the verse as "the impure shall call out 'impure.' " That is, people tend to project their own failings onto others. "A corrupt person sees corruption all around." (Talmud Kiddushin "holy things" 70a)

The impure person is not saying s/he is impure but that everybody else is. This is not the impure person warning others to stay away from him because he is impure but rather he sees everybody else as impure. If I am impure, so are you. What, you think you're holier than me? Doesn't the Psalm say that 'there is no one who does good, not even one'? Who are you to look down at me? Get off your high horse. And to such a person, you have to ask, "do you really want to get well?"

Have a good week, y'all.

No comments: