Purity and Seeking Holiness

Tazria-Metzorah

Leviticus 12:1-15:33

Précis: Tazria is the first of the two parshiot we read this week. It 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 sacrifices and water. It also discusses growths on walls of a house which cause ritual impurity.

Leviticus 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.”

We continue this week with a central theme found in Leviticus: the search for how the Jewish People are to relate to God. The answer, repeated often, is that we are to take actions which are “holy” in imitation of God’s own holiness. These actions, Leviticus teaches us, can only be taken when one is “ritually pure.”

The concept of “ritual purity” is bound up in the religious ritual life described in the Bible. These rituals were to be performed in a precisely prescribed manner, and deviations were not permitted (cf., the death of Nadab and Abihu who offered “strange fire” at the altar). But just as importantly, it is necessary that the individuals who participate in the communal rituals remain ritually “pure.” Ritual impurity could come arise from coming into contact with a dead body, with bodily secretions, or (as in the verse) contact with a “leper.”

Most who read the text simply assume that to be “impure” means “dirty” or “unclean.” But our tradition suggests that what is really at issue is the underlying cause of impurity: a spiritual weakness that was socially “contagious.” Separation from the community was required, but a means of restoration to ritual purity was also available.

 

What possible meaning can these ancient beliefs and rituals have for us today?

      (1) Some say “nothing much” and move on to the next chapters (or books) of the Bible. These verses are just irrelevant to us, 3,000 years removed as we are from their origin.

      (2) Others look at these verses as a historical footnote that helps explain how our own beliefs developed over the millennia. Interesting history, with perhaps some elements of relevancy, but clearly outdated.

      (3) Some view these matters metaphorically. Today, we live in a culture where there is great debate about the appropriate ways for society and its institutions to interact with individuals. In our Torah reading this week, the Jewish People were striving for “ritual purity” in order to be able to take actions that lead to“holiness.” Holiness was to be found, in turn, by acting in the way we perceive God to act: with justice and mercy, clothing the naked, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and seeing to the needs the widow, the orphan, and the stranger.

Every congregation seems to call itself “warm and welcoming.” Perhaps we are. But are we also “caring?” What can we do to see to our own members’ needs and concerns? Our reading this week should be a reminder that our earliest co-religionists were seeking a society where the imitation of God’s attributes was a valued goal. And so should it be with ours.

Something isn't kosher....

Sh’mini

Leviticus 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” or “alien” fire before God. They are slain. Moses tells Aaron that he must not engage in the 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.

Leviticus 11:2 – “Speak to the Israelite people thus: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals.”

           

Of all of Jewish rituals, there are few which offer more intrigue or engender more questions than those regarding “kashrut”- what is permissible for a Jew to eat. In the verse cited, we find the outlines of “land creatures” fit for Jewish consumption. The questions of “why these?” has been discussed probably since the commandments first were heard or written down. Maimonides, in his Guide for the Perplexedopines that “I maintain that the food that is forbidden by the Torah is unwholesome. There is nothing among the forbidden kinds of food whose harmful character is doubted...” Thus, the greatest sage of the medieval Jewish world suggests a health basis for the distinctions.

           

On the other hand, Rabbi Yitzhak Arama, living in the “golden age” of Spain, states in his Akedat Yitzhak that “We would do well to bear in mind that the dietary laws are not, as some have asserted, motivated by therapeutic considerations. God forbid! Were that so, the Torah would be denigrated to the status of a minor medical treatise and worse than that. Apart from that, the alleged ill effects could be treated with various drugs, just as there are antidotes to the most powerful poisons. In that event the prohibition would no longer apply and the Torah would be superfluous.”

           

While various commentators discuss the rationale for these laws, the text itself provides an alternative basis (found in verse 44): "For I am Adonai your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and you be holy, for I am holy." Somehow, by abstaining from certain animals as food, we somehow are attempting to be“holy.”

But what is holiness? The Italian commentator Luzatto looked to the word "holy" and found from its Hebrew root a sense of "set apart" or "distinctness." He suggests that we observe kashrut in order to be separate from other people. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz notes that observing kashrut makes one more sensitive to the holy, since we must make conscious thought about what food we partake in.

When we look for the reasons for kashrut, we can be reminded of God’s presence in all aspects of life, in the need for self-restraint, and as a means to preserve our people.

The discussion which began more than 3,000 years ago continues.