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