I Had The Mark Just As Plain As Day, I Could Not Be Denied (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo")

         About a month ago, I read a fascinating and troubling article in The Times of Israel (dated March 17th) about the Jews of Norway and Bris Milah during the current pandemic. The Jewish community of Oslo, Norway is incredibly small. Norway has approximately 1300-2000 total Jews. The Jewish community does not have Mohel. As a result, a Mohel from another country is sent for, performs the Bris Milah, and then returns home. With borders closed, it has become impossible for a Bris Milah to happen. In such a case, families have to wait. One Oslo couple was blessed to have given birth to a healthy baby boy just prior to the border’s closing. However, because of the severity of the outbreak and the Shelter at Home restrictions, the family will have to wait until the border opens up and a Mohel can be brought in. The Oslo Rabbi explained that the Oslo community, like any community, has dealt with the case of a baby’s health requiring that the Bris be delayed beyond 8 days. This is the first time that it has been delayed because of external circumstances. After all, since the days of the Roman Empire, the Jewish people have risked their lives to gather for Bris Milah. In the current environment, the issue is not the Mitzvah per se, but rather the gathering together. In places where there is a Mohel, the baby, the father and the Mohel are the only ones in a shared space and everyone has a mask and wearing gloves.
         This week we combine two Parshiot: Tazriah and Metzorah. God tells Moshe the laws of purity and impurity as it relates to birth. God instructs Moshe about the appropriate Korbanot (sacrifices) that a mother should make as she re-enters the camp. God also instructs Moshe about Tza'arat, or for lack of a good translation; leprosy. Throughout the rest of Tazria and Metzora, we are told all about Tzaarat, skin ailment. We are told what it is. We are told how it is diagnosed. We are told how it is treated. We are told how it spreads. We are told what to do in case it spreads. The rest of the Parsha teaches us the appropriate protocol for treatment. The Kohen checks again to determine if that person has become ritually impure. If so, they must be sent out of the camp in order to avoid the risk of the skin ailment spreading to others. The quarantine would last for seven days. Afterward, the Priest would check again, if there was no contamination the person was brought back into the camp, However, if the contamination remained, then the quarantine would continue for another seven days. Then the process would begin all over again. We also learn that if this contamination spread to the clothes or vessels; then everything would be burned and destroyed.
          However, Parsha begins with the case of a mother giving birth to a baby boy and then a baby girl and the number of days the mother is considered to be impure. Amid the case of childbirth and the number of days that the mother is deemed to be in a state of “ritual impurity”; the Torah adds a seemingly irrelevant reminder that has nothing to do with issue of the mother’s state of ritual “purity/impurity”. U’VeYom HaShmini Yimol Basar Orlato - On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Lev.12:3) Why does the Torah choose this moment to remind us that Brit Milah is supposed to be on the eighth day? Why take this Mitzvah, the reminder of a sacred covenant, something so holy and pure, and put it in the same place as a discussion about purity and impurity? We have known about this Mitzvah since the days of Avraham Avinu. Why, in the context of a woman giving birth and a discussion about her status of purity/impurity, does God remind Moshe of the importance of Bris Milah on the eighth day? It is Moshe Rabeinu, I would have assumed that he of all people would know about Bris Milah especially after his wife served as the mohel for her son’s bris as Moshe was preparing to return to Egypt and begin the liberation process. The Or HaChaim explains that the reminder at this time is necessary because B’nai Israel needed to understand that Brit Milah supersedes Shabbat. When Avraham Avinu was commanded to observe Brit Milah, no commandment to observe Shabbat existed. That explains the reminder occurring anytime after the Shamor V’ Zachor et Yom HaShabbat L’Kadsho- Observer and Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. The Toldot Yitzchak (written by Yitzchak Karo) offers another and more plausible response. “Man has been created for the sole purpose of serving his Creator… Through circumcision, he accepts the yoke of Heaven having been marked to serve the Lord and fulfill His commandments” Bris Milah is a physical manifestation of the holiness of the covenant. Tzaarat will serve as the diametric opposite of that purity. Tzaarat will be a temporary physical manifestation of a temporary spiritual shortcoming.
         The Jewish family in Oslo will have to wait for restrictions to loosen in order to bring a mohel. Their son will remain uncircumcised until then. Bris Milah where there is a Mohel will continue to look different because of COVID 19 virus. Indeed this virus is not a physical manifestation of spiritual impurity. It is deadly and as such, it is the physical manifestation of the physical world. Judaism recognizes that under such circumstances, when a life is at risk, then Pikuach Nefesh (saving a soul) supersedes all. Human life is fundamentally holy and pure. Like the Oslo family, we all realize the importance of temporarily reconfiguring and reorienting our Jewish observance. While much of Jewish life cycles are communally oriented, we understand that our physical well being takes precedence and we will creatively seek spiritual expressions of that sanctity and holiness.

Peace,
Rav Yitz

She Has No Pain Like A Child She Is Pure, She Is Not To Blame (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Help Is On The Way")

          Friends of ours celebrated their son’s Bar Mitzvah. We ate, drank, and were subjected to incredibly loud music designed for young people. It always amazes me as a parent, that once you achieve the milestone of your youngest child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, the music at every other Bar/Bat Mitzvah seems so much louder. Yes, I suppose it is an indication of old age. We also sat through several speeches. The Bar Mitzvah boy gave offered interesting words of Torah. The siblings spoke. However, it was listening to both the father and the mother speak that began to understand and thinking about our children’s rights of passage and milestones: Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Weddings, and Bris or graduations. The father spoke and referenced his mother who had passed away several years before. The mother invoked her father who had been unable to attend her older son’s Bar Mitzvah because he, the grandfather of the Bar Mitzvah boy, was in Israel mourning and sitting Shiva for his mother. Through her joy and pride in her son, through her tears and gratitude that her father was able to attend this family event; she demonstrated what every parent understands. At any achievement of a milestone, at every lifecycle event, the parents, we parents understand that the purer the joy, the greater the sense of a desire to invoke and share that moment with a loved one who is unable to be there and, in effect, temper that joy.
          This week’s Torah portion is Parsha Tazria. Parsha Tazria concentrates upon how impurity, a spiritual impurity is passed between people. The majority of the Parsha focuses upon Leprosy as it was considered to be a very physically contagious disease. Parsha Tazria puts the diagnosis, the treatment, and the convalescence in spiritual terms rather than physical terms. We learn that the while this Tumah, this spiritual impurity is present, the stricken individual cannot reside within the camp. After all, God dwells in the camp and we cannot tolerate any impurity near God.
          However, prior to its discussion of Leprosy, Parsha Tazria outlines the somewhat troubling laws concerning impurity in childbirth. Fundamentally, the notion of impurity relates to coming into contact with that which is dead. In Parsha Shemini, Torah outlined impurities that come from dead animals. In this Parsha, we are reminded that a Mother is touched by death during the miracle of childbirth. Isha Ki Tazria V’Yalda Zachar V’Tamah Shivat Yamim Kimei Nitdat Dotah Titmah – When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be contaminated for a seven day period as during the days of her separation infirmity shall she be contaminated (Lev. 12:2). Imagine becoming spiritually impure after being blessed by the miracle of childbirth. Yet, this new mother lost blood; she lost some aspect of her life force during the birth process. As a result, while simultaneously being touched by a new life, she is also touched by her own mortality.
          Perhaps there is no more an intense moment than when a new mother, physically exhausted and spent, holds the newborn. The Rabbis of the Talmud teach that surviving childbirth is an equivalent to a near-death experience and saying Birkat HaGomeil is therefore required. (Praised are You, Lord Our God, King of the universe who graciously bestows favor upon the undeserving, even as He has bestowed favor upon me.) Inherent to surviving a near-death experience is the notion that the individual comes precipitously close to death. Even in the miracle of life, we are reminded of its fragility. Even in death, we are reminded that we are forever striving towards elevated levels of holiness. In the most physical moments, and certainly, childbirth is quite a physical endeavor, we are reminded that it is our spiritual task to elevate that physical moment into a spiritually holy moment as well. As parents celebrating our children’s milestones, we are innately aware of the need to acknowledge our sense of loss and elevate it by incorporating it into our celebration.

              Peace

Rav Yitz

But when things go wrong, wrong with you; It hurts me too (Elmore James -" It Hurts Me Too)

Each night, when family sits down to dinner, I insist that we listen to the news. I insist on this for several reasons. First, I want my children to be aware of what is going on in the world around them. Second, I want my kids to be intellectually stimulated to ask questions about what is going on in the world. Finally I hope they will find relevance between what they learn in school with what they hear on the news. With the news on, we get to discuss all kinds of issues including the events that continue to embroil the Middle East. So the other evening, as we are listening to the news  and heard about six young men from Minnesota, all of Somali descent were charged with terrorism as they were caught trying to leave the U.S. and join ISIS. Each of our children wondered how anyone could become so filled with hate that they would join ISIS. As our kids watched the news and heard about the verdict in the case of the Boston Marathon Bomber, again, they wondered how someone could become filled with so much hate that they behave like that. Then our children attended the community Yom HaShoah commemoration. One of our daughters was asked to escort one of the survivors to light one of the 6 candles that symbolize the six million Jews. The woman along with the other 5 honorees, shared their stories. Again my kids wondered how people could become so filled with hate that six million Jews were systematically wiped out. This time they were able to answer themselves. People can become infected with hate and evil in a variety of ways: including ignorance, prejudice, alienation, and numerous other reasons for hate and evil to infect one’s soul.

This week we combine two Parshiot: Tazriah and Metzorah. God tells Moshe the laws of purity and impurity as it relates to birth. God instructs Moshe about the appropriate korbanot (sacrifices) that a mother should make as she re-enters the camp. God also instructs Moshe about Tza'arat, or for lack of a good translation; leprosy. Throughout the rest of Tazria and Metzora, we are told all about Tzaarat. We are told what it is. We are told how it is diagnosed. We are told how it is treated. We are told how it spreads. We are told what to do in case it spreads.

 Basically, Tazriah is a type of Tza'arat, a type of skin ailment which is commonly thought of as leprosy. However this skin ailment is not treated by the resident dermatologist. Even if they had dermatologists in the Torah, we would not bring someone suffering from Tazriah to the dermatologists. Why? The skin ailment was not a symptom of any type of physical malady. Since the person with the skin ailment appears before the Priest, the Kohen, we know that the skin condition must be spiritual malady and not a physical one. Adam Ki Yiheyeh V'Or B'Saro S'Eit O Sapachat O Va'Heret V'Hayah V;Or B'Saroh L'Negah Tzara'at V'Huvah El Aharon H'Kohen O el Achad Mi'Banav Ha'Kohanim - If a person will have on the skin of his flesh a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration and it will become a scaly affliction on the skin of his flesh; he shall be brought to Aaron the Kohen, or to one of his sons the Kohanim (Lev. 13:2-3). The rest of the Parsha teaches us the appropriate protocol for treatment. The Kohen checks again to determine if that person has become ritually impure. If so, they must be sent out of the camp in order to avoid the risk of the skin ailment spreading to others. The quarantine would last for seven days. Afterwards, the Priest would check again, if there was no contamination the person was brought back into the camp, However if the contamination remained, then the quarantine would continue for another seven days. Then the process would begin all over again. We also learn that if this contamination spread to the clothes or vessels; then everything would be burned and destroyed.

While we know that this skin ailment is caused by a spiritual malady, and we learned how to treat the malady, Torah does not tell us the cause of the spiritual malady. For anyone who has ever suffered from an ulcer understands that emotional stress causes physical ailments. Anyone who has suffered from depression understands that emotional stress causes physical ailments such as low energy, lack of sleep etc. So what spiritual sickness that exhibits physical ailments do we learn from the Book of Leviticus? On one hand the Book of Leviticus concerns with the ritual slaughter and laws of the Tabernacle. On the other hand, these laws are based upon the ethical behavior which must exists within human relationships and in our relationship with God. In the Talmudic Tractate of Arichin, which primarily focuses upon the laws of valuations; we learn that the skin ailment is a punishment for the sins of bloodshed, false oaths, sexual immorality, pride, robbery, and selfishness (Talmudic Tractate Arichin 16a). All of these physical occurrences have a spiritual aspect. These occurrences all demonstrate the offender's failure to empathize with the needs of others. It is fascinating to think that in an ideal community, we are not only concerned with our own well-being. We should also be concerned about others as well. Our failure to do so leads to a spiritual sickness. It leads to an artificial sense of self-importance, it leads to a sense of entitlement, it leads to a petty jealousy, it leads to the alienation of others and it eventually leads to erosion of community and society. By removing the contaminated offender from the community two positive results occur. First the welfare, integrity and holiness of the community is spared from spiritual sickness. This is the primary concern since we fear that God will cease dwelling in a community that becomes spiritually sickened or spiritually dysfunctional. The second positive result is that the contaminated offender has experienced the isolation and concern from others. This is exactly what he/she wrought upon the community with such behavior.

            Certainly we can understand how emotions can affect ones physical well-being. The Torah reminds us that our spiritual shortcomings can also affect our physical well-being.  Our psychological well-being, our spiritual well-being, and our physical well-being, according to Tazriah/Metzorah must reflect life. Just as important, we need to have life affirming rituals that we can engage in when we are confronted with things that threat our life affirming existence. We eliminated impurity. We don’t eliminate the person.

Peace,

Rav Yitz