TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת מצורע
PARASHAT METZORA
April 9, 2011 – 5 Nisan 5771 –ה’ ניסן תשע"א
Annual: Leviticus 14:1 – 15:33 (Etz Hayim, p. 649; Hertz p. 460)
Triennial Cycle: Leviticus 14:1 – 32 (Etz Hayim p. 649; Hertz p. 460)
Haftarah: II Kings 7:3 – 20 (Etz Hayim p. 676; Hertz p. 477)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Parashat Metzora provides a continuation of the laws of ritual impurity found in parashat Tazria. Leviticus 14 includes a priestly ritual manual for the diagnosis of tzara’at – various forms of leprosy – and describes the mechanisms by which a person so afflicted may regain a state of ritual purity and be re-admitted to the mainstream of the community. The efficacy of sacrificial blood in this rite is reinforced by the redness of the “cedar wood and crimson stuff” used in the purification procedure. The slaughter of a single bird and the freeing of a second seem to prefigure the Yom Kippur ritual of the scapegoat, to be found in parashat Acharei Mot and read on the morning of Yom Kippur.
Leviticus 15 explores the laws of ritual purity in detail as they pertain to discharges from both male and female reproductive organs, considering both the discharges that occur in the normal course of physiological processes and those that are deemed abnormal, a physiological dysfunction, or a sign of illness. The effect upon a person of contact with such an impure discharge or with certain inanimate objects (fabric, earthenware, bedding) also is detailed, and so is the effect of contact with the bodily fluids themselves.
The parashah also addresses forms of tzara’at that appear in building stones and plaster – “house leprosy” – possibly meaning mold, mildew or fungus. The
householder is required to talk to a priest, who will order the home to be emptied of
its contents. After the priestly inspection, affected stones are removed. In extreme cases, after a second inspection, the house must be razed. Some of the homiletical interpretations of this law are suggested in the following poem, by an unknown author:
The walls of a house are not built of wood, brick or stone, but of truth and loyalty.
Unpleasant sounds of grumbling, the friction of living, the clash of personalities, are not deadened by Persian rugs or polished floors, but by conciliation, and
concession…
The house is not a structure where bodies meet, but a hearthstone upon which flames mingle,
separate flames of souls, which, the more perfectly they unite,
the more clearly they shine, and the straighter they rise toward heaven. The beauty of a house is harmony.
The security of a house is loyalty.
The joy of a house is love.
The plenty of a house is children. The rule of a house is service.
The comfort of a house is in contented spirits.
The maker of a house, of a real human house,
is God himself, the same who made the stars and built the world.
Theme #1: “Pox Domestica”
“When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess, the owner of the house shall
come and tell the priest, saying, ‘Something like a plague has appeared upon my house.’” Leviticus 14:34-35
Derash: Study
“We seem to have lost the ability to discern the difference between being in a state of ritual purity and being in one of ritual defilement… The Bible is, of course,
keenly aware of these modes of being and here prescribes a ritual for returning to a state of purity from the inevitable contamination to which we are all condemned. It
grows on the walls of our bedrooms like mold, and in the interior of our psyches, an alien growth. It’s immune to cleansers and medicines because it is not evil, dirt, or
illness. But it’s still there. Isn’t that what organized religion is supposed to do? With water and blood and birds, hyssop and cedar-wood and sacrifice (or whatever) – to
make our homes fit again for habitation.” Rabbi Lawrence Kushner
“This is a miraculous sign, to warn people against indulging in malicious speech
(lashon ha-ra). If they do recount slanderous tales, the walls of their homes will change; and if the inhabitants maintain their wickedness, the garments upon them will change” Maimonides
“It was a happy occurrence for them when leprosy infected their homes. This is because the Amorites had hidden treasures of gold in the walls of their homes during
the 40 years when Israel was in the desert, and because of the leprous plagues the
walls were taken apart and the treasures were found.” Rashi, quoting Sifra
“Judaism teaches that the home is the great reservoir and fortress of our faith. The home is even more important than the synagogue, for Judaism could conceivably
survive without the synagogue if the Jewish home was to remain intact.” Rabbi
Hillel Silverman
“It is instructive to note the specific colorations – or discolorations – which render the walls ritually unclean: ‘And he (the kohen – the priest) shall examine the leprous plague penetratingly embedded in the walls of the house, whether they are bright green or bright red.’ Can it be that green is identified with money (yerukim in modern Hebrew, an apt description of American dollars) and red identified with blood? A home which imparts materialistic goals as the ideal and/or insensitivity to the shedding of blood is certainly deservant of the badge of impurity! And is not the Palestinian flag waved so ardently by suicide bombers, red and green and white (white being the initial sign of leprosy).” Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Questions for Discussion
What is the essential meaning of the midrash Rashi told? What ills infect our
homes? What treasures await us within the walls of those homes, to be revealed once these ills have been properly exposed and carefully treated? What significance is to be found in the fact that it is the householder, not the priest, initiates the process that is so likely to subvert his own domestic life?
How does Jewish tradition help us “to make our homes fit for habitation,” as Rabbi Kushner frames it? Is the loss of the Torah’s system of ritual purity and defilement, and its concomitant spiritual lessons, actually a spiritual disability to contemporary Jews? Who might we compensate for the wisdom and meaning inherent in this major area of biblical religious life?
“House leprosy” is but one explicit example of the Jewish home as a microcosm of the tabernacle: The Jewish home is itself a sanctuary of sorts. Where else do we see
this relationship expressed? How do we as individuals and families demonstrate our
priestly roles in our domestic tabernacles?
Lashon ha-ra – gossip, slander, malicious speech –long has been associated with parashat Metzora, and it is a favorite topic for rabbinic sermons when this Torah
portion is read. How does malignant speech undermine family life, which contains
our most loving and intimate relationships? How is the same principle applicable to our shared communal homes?
How cogent is Rabbi Riskin’s interpretation of our parashah? Is his polemic merely a logical extension of the customary connection between parashat Metzora and hate
speech (lashon ha-ra)?
Theme #2: “Remaining in Guarded Condition”
“You shall put the Israelites on guard against their uncleanness, lest they die through
their uncleanness by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them.” Leviticus 15:31
Derash: Study
“This is a major statement of policy. Although an impure person may not be guilty
of any offense against God, as is true in these laws dealing with illness and natural physiological processes, such impurities nevertheless threaten the status of the entire community if left unattended. It is not the condition of impurity per se that evokes God’s punishment, but the failure to rectify that condition so as to restore a state of purity.” Baruch Levine, JPS Commentary
“Death would result not from the pollution itself, but from carrying it into sacred areas, and thus polluting them.” Everett Fox
“The lesson that the Torah comes to teach us is this: We must always see to it that we remain aware of all prohibitions which might be relevant – even if only to make
the determination that they are not applicable. In other words, one should think about what he is doing, and not do things by rote.” Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
“May He who holds in his hands the destinies of nations make you worthy of the favors He has bestowed, and enable you with pure hearts and hands and sleepless
vigilance to guard and defend to the end of time the great charge He has committed to your keeping.” J. Reuben Clark
“Purity of speech, of the mind, of the senses, and of a compassionate heart is needed by one who desires to rise to the divine platform.” Chanakya
Questions for Discussion
What societal “pollutants” or moral “impurities” might be tolerable in everyday life
but properly are kept from contaminating our “sacred areas”? Is this a fair or desirable distinction? Should our religious institutions be islands of piety, propriety, and probity, or should the ideals they represent be demanded in our broader society? J. Reuben Clark was undersecretary of state during the Coolidge administration, as well as a prominent leader in the Mormon church. What are the “great charges” that God has committed to our keeping as Jews? As members of a wider, diverse, democratic society? How do we demonstrate our “sleepless vigilance”?
How does the vulnerable spiritual condition of a person– “if left unattended” –
threaten the entire community? What obligation (or right) do family members, friends, neighbors, and the organized Jewish community have to intervene when the “spiritually challenged” or religiously ill-motivated fail to act on their own? That is to say, is religious apathy or neglect an entirely private matter?
Rabbi Feinstein outlines a system by which the individual remains constantly aware of prohibitive commandments. Is this a necessary ingredient of Jewish religious life,
or does it risk distortion of our tradition as preoccupied with the forbidden? How
might we remain similarly vigilant regarding prescriptive commandments and affirmative observances – opportunities for Jewish religious celebration?
Historic Note
Parashat Metzora, read on April 9, 2011, includes the laws of house leprosy, which may result in the requirement that an Israelite home be disassembled
stone by stone. On April 9, 1865, generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee met at the Appomattox courthouse and concluded the agreement that
brought an end to the Civil War, a conflict of which President Abraham
Lincoln had observed, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
Halachah L’Maaseh
A 2006 responsum by Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz for the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards reaffirmed and
elucidated the laws of mikveh. Before resuming conjugal relations,
“immersion should take place after the completion of the menstrual period (however short it may be) plus seven additional days.” She points out that this religious obligation of married couples remains in force as a central mechanism for “spiritualizing and dignifying” the marital relationship, even though the aspects of mikveh grounded in parashat Metzora (Leviticus 15) no longer are operative. “Tumah ve tohorah, ritual impurity and purity, is no longer applicable in our time, nor has it been for almost 2000 years. Without a Temple and ashes of the red heifer, we are all ritually impure – males and females, menstruants and non-menstruants, before and after mikveh immersion, even all kohanim.”