Scapegoats still

 Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

 

Lev. 16:1 -20:27

 

Précis: Acharei Mot begins with Adonai speaking to Moses after the death (acharei mot) of Aaron’s sons. It describes the rituals for Yom Kippur, including the prescribed sacrifices. There are specific details about the purification of the Sanctuary, vessels, and the priests. Following this description, rules for the slaughter of meat (including the prohibition against eating blood) are reiterated. The parasha concludes with a listing of prohibited marriages. 

            The opening words of Kedoshim are “You shall be holy” (kedoshim tihyu), and it continues with various descriptions of how the People are to strive for holiness. Included are fundamental laws, such as fearing one’s parents and observing Shabbat. Consideration of the poor through the commandments to leave the corners of fields for gleaners is included, as are mandates which complement the ethical principles of the Ten Commandments (being honest, avoiding vengeance). Specific bans against magicians, soothsaying, witchcraft and defiling the dead follow, as are reminders to avoid human sacrifice. This parasha is often viewed as the very core of moral teaching for the Jewish People.

Lev. 16:21 “And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over him all of the iniquities of Israel, and all of their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them on the head of the goat and shall send him away into the wilderness.”

            This verse is the proof text and origin for the concept of a scapegoat. It is generally defined as “a person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place.” There are many scapegoats these days due to the partisan, racial, religious, and ethnic intolerance with which the world is plagued.

            As has been the case for thousands of years, the Jewish People are the epitome of scapegoats today. All the world’s sins are laid at the feet of Jews: we run the media (yet the media is filled with antisemitic tropes); we run the banks (yet the greatest wealth of the new billionaire robber baron class is predominately non-Jewish, and the Arab “sovereign wealth funds” can control the finances as they want); Jews maneuvered the United States into its war against Iran (and yet Trump “prohibits” Israel from bombing Hezbollah)​. 

             Israel, and Jews, are attacked from all sides. To those on the left, Zionism does not fit within the ambit of progressivism, as Israel is viewed as colonialist and the concept of a religious-oriented state is somehow inconsistent with liberal political theology (Muslim countries to the contrary). On the right, the so-called “America first” brand of Christian nationalism, increasingly common among MAGA adherents, has a difficult time accepting the “special relationship” between the US and Israel, and antisemitism is increasingly accepted among the podcast influencers ​(witness Tucker Carlson's insinuations that a Zionist cabal is responsible for Trump's failure to deliver his campaign promises).

The greatest scapegoating involves blaming all Jews for the acts of the Netanyahu government. Israel’s actions, although certainly merited in the most part, have become the basis for so-called “anti-Zionism” which is nothing less than the newest face of antisemitism. ​Both “mainstream” ​and “social” media are filled with pictures of destruction in southern Lebanon, but we never see the pictures of Hezbollah’s rockets striking Israel. No, Israel and the Jews are scapegoats for all of the world’s evils, while those protesting “Zionist colonialism and aggression” never seem to think about the horrid deaths in Sudan, the genocide by Syria against its Kurdish citizens, the slaughter of Iranian protestors by the Iranian regime, the Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians, or the countless other outrages around the world. Only Israel and the Jews are the target.

Make no mistake: as gas prices rise because of the war with Iran, Jews will be blamed by those who accept the idea that the United States is at war with Iran for and at the behest of Israel. Antisemitic stickers are already appearing on gas pumps. The scapegoat lives. 

Purity of Life

Tazria-Metzorah

Lev. 12:1-15:33

 

Tazria begins with laws concerning the need for ritual purification of women following the birth of children and the laws of what is usually referred to as “leprosy” of the skin and on garments (although this translation is most certainly erroneous; it appears to refer to an affliction which renders the person, garment, or home ritually impure).

Metzorah discusses laws for the purification of “lepers” with sacrifice and water. It also discusses growths on walls of a house which cause ritual impurity. The parasha concludes with a discussion of bodily secretions which are another source of ritual impurity

 

Lev. 12:1-5 “The Lord ​s​poke to Moses, saying ‘Speak to the Israelites…    When a woman at childbirth bears a male she shall remain unclean seven days…she will remain in a state of blood purification for thirty-three days…If she bears a female, she shall be unclean two weeks… and shall remain in a state of blood purification for sixty-six days.’”

            This is a very uncomfortable set of rules related to childbirth, at least to modern readers. The preliminary question is why childbirth leads to impurity. The traditional explanation informs us that neither procreation nor childbirth are sinful. The “defilement” of childbirth is a natural event. Just as women become ritually impure in connection with monthly periods (and men impure with nocturnal emissions), blood associated with childbirth leads to impurity. This is at least logically connectable.

            But the next question is perhaps more difficult: why is the time doubled when the child is female? As noted in The Jewish Study Bible (p.222), “The ancients may have believed that there was a difference.” In short, we really don’t know. There is some Talmudic discussion of the issue, but I could find no clear answer. One suggestion is that the shorter time frame for a male is due to the fact that male children are circumcised on the 8^th day and immediately become part of the Jewish People. Another discussion suggests that since Eve was taken from Adam’s side, a female is somehow “less” than a male. I am not persuaded by either point of view.

            There is yet another suggestion which I find persuasive and perhaps meaningful. When a female child is born, the mother undergoes purification not only for herself but also for her daughter, who in time will herself be a source of life. This interpretation suggests that the female child is associated with a greater degree of life for which added purification is required. This in turn re​- enforces the Jewish emphasis on the importance and value of every life.