Oh, what a challenge this double portion provides! When a Bar or Bat Mitzvah student finds out that this is their portion there is always that moment of surprise, drama and concern. After all, what can that thirteen-year-old do with a portion that focuses on skin eruptions! But these readings have been a source of challenge and, in many ways, insight for centuries. As usual, the portion will “speak” to us today.
The Hebrew word “tza’ra’at”, wrongly translated as leprosy, refers to a series of skin diseases. One of the classic interpretations of this concept has been to relate this to the traditional idea of “la’shon ha’ra” or gossip. No doubt, those of your who will attend Torah study this Shabbat will examine some of the commentaries on this concept, as words can inflict great harms and literally, kill. In this age of social media and cyber-bullying we see examples on a regular basis.
But the readings also can point to another interpretation, one that seems to be equally as relevant, and perhaps a companion to the idea of evil speech. It is this idea that there are things that can infect not only a person, or a building as is outlined in the second reading “M’tzorah”, but even a society. “Tza’ra’at” can be seen as a metaphor for the decay of “moral behavior”. As its’ impact grows,a person, a community, a society can be infected and destroyed. This is decay from within. I was recently facilitating a class on Pirke Avot at one of our Federation sponsored apartments for elders. We began discussing a section on the role of Torah. The group quickly moved to the understanding that, for a society to function, there had to be a set of moral and ethical values that formed the foundation of that society. When those values began to be compromised, altered, politicized, chaos results.
This week’s readings, I suggest, can shine a light on what happens when a society loses its’ moral compass. People get hurt. Civility is cast aside and there is the clear and present danger that fear of “the other” is a primary motivation for decisions. History is filled with empires, cultures and movements that decayed from the inside. If our tradition is one that values the search for the holy (see next week’s readings) then regardless of one’s political affiliation, the treatment of all people as representations of the sacred must be a common thread. Without this foundation, we walk step by step into chaos and oblivion. Once again, the choice is ours!
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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