In a world where we witness the suffering and malady of so many diseases, this week's double Torah portion of Tazria-Metzora leaves us wondering. With its focus on priestly ritual, the sacrifices and purity laws, the entire book of Leviticus is hard enough; yet, this week's topics of skin ailments and bodily emissions raises eyebrows and begs questions. From leprosy or other skin lesions to moldy houses to bodily emissions, the prescriptions for healing were similar.
We are all familiar with the leper, an outcast due to the lesions on his body. He is sent out of the camp to dwell alone. Today, we know that leprosy is a real disease which, when properly treated by doctors and with medicine, can be cured. Yet, for the leper of the bible, the doctor was the priest, and the medicine seems to be the sacrifices brought by the priest and later by the individual infected with leprosy.
The priest helped make the official diagnosis, underwent ongoing inspection to confirm the removal of the infectious disease. If considered a leper, the priest visited him and underwent an elaborate (and strange) process of purification rites involving two birds, cedar wood, crimson and hyssop designed to ward off the disease and thought to help with curing it. One bird was slaughtered; the second dipped in its blood along with the other materials, and eventually sent away. Then, another purification ritual was performed, including placing sacrificial blood on the metzora's right ear, thumb and toe, along with special purification oils. Finally, a sin offering and a burnt offering were prepared.
At the same time, the Torah offers no true medical instructions or ways to prevent widespread contamination. Biblical leprosy, it seems, was not simply a physical ailment to be treated with ancient medicine. Alternatively, rabbinic lore likens metzora ('leper') to its closely associated Hebrew words motzi shem ra (one who is found to have a bad name). In other words, says the midrash, leprosy is supernatural phenomenon afflicting those who engage in evil or slanderous talk. The classic example the rabbis offer is that of Miriam who was stricken with a skin disease after gossiping about her brothers' relationships with their wives. Moreover, Rashi suggests that Moses suffered from a severe skin disease resulting in his hands turning white as snow after complaining to God about the Israelites who would not listen to him.
Rabbi Israel Salanter (the founder of the Musar movement linking Judaism's ethical and moral teaching to spiritual discipline) finds a deeper insight in the placement of this discussion of the leper to the previous parashah, Shmini. In the previous portion, he says, the Torah lists laws of kashrut, identifying a long list of animals and birds that may or may not be eaten. Therefore, he says, these laws of the tzaraat - the leper - are juxtaposed to remind us that we have to be as scrupulous about what comes out of our mouths as we are about what goes into them. Some, he says, are more concerned about not eating non-kosher food than they are about eating up' a person through lashon hara.
Rabbi Salanter's teaching is rich in symbolism. As Jews, we elevate the primal need for nutrition turning it into an opportunity to encounter God, so too we elevate our natural need to connect with others human beings turning them also into moments of encounter. As Jews, we bear obligations to both mitzvot bein adam l'makom (mitzvot between humans and God) and mitzvot bein adam l'havero (mitzvot between one human to another). Keeping kosher is important, and so too is avoiding evil speech. Refraining from gossiping is an obligation and so too is setting aside our work on Shabbat. To be a good Jew means observing ritual and living side by side in love and unity. To be a good Jew means that we understand that we have the capacity to reach the Divine through our ritual and through our behavior. Anything less is dangerous to our body and spirit, a malady that indeed calls for spiritual remedies beyond that which modern medicine can provide.
Shabbat Shalom.