Levitcus Cycle Five Tazria Metzorah

 Tazria Metzorah, our Laws and Love

This is the week of leprosy. There are many details in these parashot...Tazria and Metzarah... that are intricate to Jewish survival. If we look at it literally though we will be lost. 

I'm going to tell a story. This past Pesach I had the opportunity to lead the Seder on a cruise ship. About forty of us chanted and prayed together about our redemption from all captivity, inner (in the mind) and outer (in the political throes of the modern world). This was the glitch though: In order to go on this cruise my daughter and I had to drive from southern Oregon to San Diego and then back.

Half way home, still flying on sunshine and fruit smoothies, my daughter and I found a motel...we were somewhere between LA and Sacramento in a giant agricultural zone. I was buzzed on sugar and my ears were popping like crazy from allergies.  My daughter's skin was peeling from some minor burns.  We got to the motel room and after I returned from a long sunset run...my daughter  informed me that there was a film called The Bible on HBO. 

She thought I would see it was Christian and shut it off. Much to her dismay, I had to watch. I know very little of the Christian myth, don't have time to study it and I believe it's good to at least be informed of the dominant belief system around us. But something seemed odd. Every few minutes....at least before every other commercial break...the Jews (you could tell they were Jews by the kippas and the beards) were stoning someone or slamming someone else into a cross. It didn't make the Jews look too good. Jesus and Mary looked like typical kids from the west...like any of my more intelligent and better looking community college students. Geez, they were just trying to get by. They were just trying to stay alive. The Jews were cynics and stone throwers. The ones who weren't throwing the stones were weak and frightened.  And then...the ones who weren't completely passive or aggressive were the ones following Jesus.

I found my thoughts going wild while I watched.  Stoning for example never historically took place among the Israelites. Yes it's mentioned in Torah. But according to scholars no one was ever stoned to death. Then there is this scene with this poor leper who everyone was yelling at to get out of town. He looked really pitiful. Jesus doesn't mock him though or send him away (as the Jewish inhabitants would so like to do). Jesus puts his hands on him and his skin melds into normalcy.  Well, according to scholars there weren't any actual instances of leprosy during the writing of Torah. No leprosy. No stoning.  The actions of the Jews are based on how we think they may have reacted given later situations because of the rulings in Torah.

 Then how do we deal with it today?

Here's the truth: If we continue to look at our sacred writings literally so will other cultures. Films like The Bible will feel like fact and we will be feeding into the poison of any current anti-Semitism.  Here's more. We also want to give others the benefit of the doubt. If our teachings are symbolic then maybe theirs are as well. No doubt some Christians believe that God didn't personally impregnate a young woman. They believe that the myth is there to act as a release and a way to envision the possibility of peace and love when there is war and violence everywhere. 

Repeat: If we see the sacred writings of other cultures beyond the literal then they will see us beyond the literal. First though, we need to see ourselves out of the literal. We need to catapult ourselves out of envisioning Tazria and Metzorah as simply a reaction to a base disease...or even a reaction to lashan harah (speaking poorly of others). 

Here's a thought:

Rabbi Elliot Dorf describes the laws of Judaism as one might see the human body.  In fact, the laws are equated to the body itself and the soul is equated to revelation and intimacy to God.  The intense investigation to see if leprosy is present or not...the need to define certain states of being that may point to the seed of leprosy...can refer to the need to continually inspect the way we are applying the mitzvoth to our present culture. Some laws may need healing. Some laws may be so leprous that they can't get any worse...and therefore can no longer really be defined as harmful. The real question then becomes...do we still want these laws within our community? Here's a truth though. One leprous law can be contagious to the others. In other words, one law that seems meaningless or cruel in the world today could possibly put into question other meaningful Jewish laws simply because they are on the same body.  If Jews treat women a certain way then wouldn't that treatment call into question other laws that are perfectly valid?  We can turn this to even greater meaning. If we fail to inspect properly and therefore cut off a limb or isolate a citizen of our society because of suspected leprosy then can't that action be seen as unnecessary self-mutilation and/or exclusion? If we don't want to do that to ourselves how can we do that to our laws? As we make determinations whether we are Reform, Conservative or Orthodox it might be healthy (and health is important) to keep these questions in mind.

It's fascinating how Tazria and Metzorah call to attention through metaphor the very type of interpretation they require.  It is a natural process to ask for healing the way we need it. Poor Tazria and Metzorah...there they sit...right between Shemeni and Acharei Moth...begging for meaning and understanding.  They know how they should be seen. It might be a good idea to listen to them. We can also listen to our rabbis.....

In dealing with this question a Sifre quotes Leviticus18:4: My ordinances shall you do and My statutes shall you keep.

But why mention both ordinances and statutes (asks the Sifre)? What is the difference between the two? Well, ordinances refer to rules that would have been entirely logical to write into Torah…like laws about (sexual) immorality and murder. Statutes refer to laws that can easily be forgotten or placed aside in this transforming world…like eating pork, the study and focus on the skin disease or like the Yom Kippur rituals. God legislated them and we don’t have the right to ignore them (Sifre Acharei Moth pereq 13, 194:2-11). Here we really see the connection of health to our body of laws.

Finally, Tazria-Metzorah, intricately linked to our laws,  are also linked to love. That’s what this is all about anyway isn’t it? If we raise it all to the highest possible symbol? The freedom to really love? As the Grateful Dead says…..All you need all you really need…Good Love. At least that’s what their doctor told them!

So may we all have good love on the highway, while inspecting who we are, on the cruise, while saying no to pork, while finding the metaphor in our very existence, while respecting our ancient rabbis and our tradition, while adapting and creating distinctions, while living in this world with so many cultures. And may we all take care of our health and the health of God.