Leviticus - Cycle One - 1201-1533 - Tazria-Metzorah

Imagine. A woman gives birth…then she pops up off the table, gets dressed, and hugs her chortling baby as she sashays out of the hospital. No placenta, no blood, no hormonal reaction, no exhaustion, no stitches, no complications. Creation without a stain.

Imagine. A being-beyond-human feels he might carry a germ of anger or blindness. He gives himself time, looks into his heart, and determines if a mark seems to be a germ at all; for example, if the look of it is deeper than the flesh of the skin. He may need to shave (for example) to see with more accuracy, equanimity and sensitivity… with a zoom lens into his soul. He discerns the type (the level of) the mark ( a sa’at, a safahat or a bahara) and watches. If it spreads, he isolates himself so he can heal. Other beings heal him from a distance. Meanwhile, with precision he extracts the germ. He then continues with his kadosh work. Perfect healing of the stain.

Imagine. God creates the heaven and earth. Afterwards, there isn’t the slightest mess, nothing to clean up, no left over residue. Creation without a stain.

Now imagine. God creates heaven and earth. But afterwards, there is a mess. What if then, as one people, we can see the world as one body and like the being above, focus and heal slander, shedding of blood, vain oath, incest, arrogance, robbery, envy as well as poverty, discontent, feuds, vengeance and victimization. How nice if we can define and separate the slivers of darkness until they are nothing. Perfect healing of the stain.

In my opinion, this is the focus of Tazria, the discernment of that post-creation mess, the tamay from the tahara. The parasha itself is a zoom lens if we allow ourselves to own it, a powerful inner microscope. Unfortunately, such a lens is often the object of doubt. Imagine someone saying during the time of Moses…hey, don’t worry about leprosy, soon we’ll do skin transplants…even Aaron might have laughed. He also might have responded that we need to heal the situation given the present. What does that mean for us today?

First, we need to be aware. Because tamay is described as a result of childbirth (13:1), we know it is natural. Lesson: War is the mess from the creation of nations (and the well-meaning bonding of a tribe or culture.) It must be defined without judgment before it is healed. Next, we need to give this mess a name. In Tazria it is called the touch of leprosy or nega tsaraat (13:3). In this era it is called hatred, evil, vanity. If the mess has consolidated into a human being, it is called Petain, Putin, Hitler. If it has spread from human to human it is called genocide, atrocity, mass murder, torture, destruction. Lesson: In naming the mess we define the boundaries. We don’t want to harm the beauty around it or overlook any piece or part.

Next, we must be cautious before giving the name. In 13:9 we read a person is seen (v’raa) with the leprous curse. The word marah (appearance) is also repeated often. Before definition there is perception (13:1-8) and then inspection by the kohen. Lesson: we can’t see everything ourselves . The germ needs to be discerned with sacred objectivity, time and intention. Insensitive sweeping action is dangerous.

Next, we don’t want it to spread. What if a friend giving advice would shout tamay if she might be angry? What if we could place a little tamay sign on an email? Lesson: The safeguarding of tahara or purity is of great importance. Those who might carry the germ might let others know. Finally, we want to keep in mind that the nega tzaraat can permeate our things (13:47). Lesson: Getting rid of darkness in our bodies doesn’t mean that it is gone.

Of course, being emotionally involved in the possibility of darkness can also expand it. The objective is to discern in a logical, matter of fact way. Only then can we move on. Only then can we reach out and grab that zoom lens and enter into a time of healing.

To expand on this, it’s easy to remember that faulty discernment killed us by the millions. It’s easy to get emotional and even to shy away from sacred vocabulary that was twisted by the Nazis (purification, cleansing). This is all the more reason why we should use those words. We want to see them as Torah and clean their connotation.

So, may we have patience and value the time and work involved in the discerning of nega tsaara. May we be restrained in the use of that term. May we understand that we are one body, one world. May we know that a faulty definition is itself nega tsaara.

May we see that having been wrongly defined we have intense sensitivity of that definition. May we see that sensitivity leads to equanimity and equanimity to accuracy. May we accept the sacred zoom lens and use it with care and precision as we help others. And may we love each other during this time of healing and know that many are the sufferings of the wicked but he who trusts in God, mercy surrounds him. (Leviticus Rabbah 15:4)