Celebrate Israel!

Tazria-Metzorah

Lev. 12:1-15:33

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).

            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.13:1 “Adonai spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘When a person has on the skin of his body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly infection on the skin of his body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests.’”

This double parasha has been referred to (by me and others) as the bane of bar/bat mitzvah students, who try to explain arcane rituals which are (at least on the surface) out of touch with modern society. Even the Sages of the Talmudic period sought to see the matters metaphorically, assuming that “metzorah” implied the sins of gossip and evil speech. I’ve been talking about such matters frequently in recent weeks, so I decided to make a departure and focus on the celebration of Israel’s Independence which we observed this past week.

            I find it something of an astonishment the degree to which Israel is almost universally castigated. A recent Face Book posting showed hundreds in Britain protesting in favor of Gazans setting fires and attacking the security fence, deploring the unfortunate deaths of some of them at the hands of “Israeli occupiers.” Just underneath the picture, we saw the same street, this time empty, with a tagline indicating that this represented the protests against Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own citizens. An obviously contrived meme, but an effective statement nevertheless of the degree to which real evil doers are left off scot-free while Israel is attacked as being morally reprehensible. This is more than mere hypocrisy. A failure to hold Arabs to the same standards of morality demanded of Israel is simply racism directed at Arabs, because it implies that they are not able to live by universally accepted standards.

            We need to remember that Israel is a 70-year-old vibrant democracy which observes the rule of law, has free and fair elections, recognizes the equality of women, enjoys a standard of living unique to the region, and guarantees freedom of expression and religion to all of its citizens. No democracy is perfect, but the facts that some of the fiercest critics of Israeli government policy are Israelis themselves proves the point.

            We know that Israel is held to an unfair double standard across the world. And in these dangerous times of evil speech, anti-Semites conflate Israel with Jews, wherever we may be found.

            Let’s desist from criticism of the Jewish State for a moment, enjoy its miraculous existence, and recognize that the survival of the Jewish People across three millennia is not an accident.

The need for boundaries

Shmini

Lev. 9:1-11:47

Précis:  On the final day of the week-long ordination ceremony Moses instructs Aaron and his sons on the proper rituals. Aaron makes his offering. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu offer “strange fire” before God. They are slain. Moses tells Aaron that he must not engage in normal mourning rituals. The Priests are prohibited from drinking alcohol while they are engaged in their sacred duties.  Next, God tells Moses and Aaron to instruct the people about the animals they are permitted to eat (part of the laws of kashrut). A general warning to guard against defilement and to be concerned about ritual purity is given.

Lev. 11:3 -7 “Any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud — such you may eat. . .. And the swine — although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is impure for you.”

We completed our observance of Passover last week, a time when some Jews “keep kosher” even when they feel free to eat non-kosher during the rest of the year.  This week, we read about animals which are acceptably kosher, with a specific ban on the arch typical “treif” (non-kosher) food, pork.  

            Why we observe kashrut in general, and avoid pork in particular, is a popular question for debate, both at present and within the centuries of rabbinic exegesis. Some declare that the laws of kashrut are among those mitzvot for which there is no rational explanation. Others, including Maimonides, opine that there is a hygienic basis for the rules. Another school of thought is that the rules of kashrut were designed to prevent social intercourse between Jews and non-Jews.

            As Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin has written (Torat Chayim, 4/22/06), there is another compelling school of thought that suggests that the rules of kashrut are intended to teach us an important lesson:  we need to live within boundaries. As he suggests, “not every appetite is worthy of being satisfied.” I found his thoughts important when I first quoted him in a 2007 d’var, and I find them more compelling now. Our society has coarsened in recent years, and behaviors and language which were previously proscribed are now accepted. I do not cite specific examples, but one needs only glance at a TV, newspaper, or social media to see the truth of this assertion. A loss of propriety and a belief that one is free to ignore boundaries of taste (or truth) is self-evident.

            On one hand, observing kashrut, to me, remains a personal decision. On the other hand, observing boundaries of behavior is a goal which we must all strive for, and one which we must demand of our leaders.