Dwelling Outside the Camp

Tazria

Lev. 12:1-13:59

Précis: 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).

Lev.13:45 “As for the person with a scaly affliction, his clothes shall be rent, his hair shall be left bare, and he shall cover his upper lip; and he shall call out ‘Impure! Impure!” He shall be unclean as long as the disease is upon him. Being unclean, he shall dwell apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

This parasha is so often the bane of the bar or bat mitzvah student who is preparing a lesson for the congregation. With its emphasis on what is usually (and erroneously) described as “leprosy” it is not an easy subject for an adult, let alone a 13 year old. One way to help these students is to focus on the phrase “his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

            According to the text, an individual struck with this mysterious illness is forced from the community and isolated. This certainly seems at odds with traditional Jewish mitzvot to help those in need, particularly those who are ill.

            But the parasha also includes ritual details about how to restore that stricken individual to the community. Here, then, is the lesson for the bar or bat mitzvah student (and for us):

            Today, many who are stricken with serious illness may feel isolated and alone, even if we try to be kind and to help. Think of the tragedy of Alzheimer’s on the stricken family. Even if friends and family try to help, those efforts of assistance often fade over the years of struggle, even as the symptoms worsen and the burden on care-givers increases. In a very real sense, the “survivors” all too often find themselves “outside of the camp” at a time when their need for belonging to a larger community is at its greatest.

            The rituals for “healing” described in this parasha provide a way to restore an individual to the community. We need to find ways of engagement so that those who have been “excluded” through our own inaction are restored to our communities.