It's Not Impurity

 Metzorah

Lev. 14:1-15:33

 

Précis: The parasha 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.15:31: “You shall put the Israelites on guard against their impurity, lest they die through their impurity by defiling My Tabernacle which is among them.”

            As we reviewed last week, “impurity” should be understood to be “ritual impurity,” meaning something which prevents the individual from participating in communal ritual.  What we see here is that the punishment imposed by God comes not from impurity itself, but rather by failing to avoid ritual impurity, or failing to restore oneself to ritual purity through prescribed rituals.

            Only the most observant Jews still try to obey some of these laws, through the mikveh (or immersion in water). But I have another take on this which applies more broadly.

            We are coming out of (please God soon) a time of “physical impurity” which prevented many of us from participating in Jewish communal ritual life. How we go about “purifying” ourselves is a complex matter, and we need to be mindful of both the need to return to physical communal worship while still seeking ways and means to be inclusive to those who are not yet ready to share space with others. Remember: those who hesitate to rejoin communal rituals in person are not “impure.” We need to find appropriate means to restore them to the fullness of congregational life.

Physics and Metaphysicis

 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.13:1 “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.’”

            I admit that writing about this parasha is difficult, in part because it refers to rituals in which we no longer engage, and also because of the weird interplay between the religious officials (priests) and disease. They were not physicians.

            Maimonides, perhaps our greatest exegete, was deeply influenced by Aristotelian logic, transferred to Iberia by Islamic philosophers.  He was also a noted physician of his time, and thus believed that one could rationally explain disease in the natural world. His viewpoint was controversial in his time, but has become revered during the ensuing centuries.

            He attempted to find a human rationale (what he would call “physics”) when science could be used to explain commandments, but acknowledged that some commandments were beyond rational explanation (what he would call “metaphysics”).

            This interaction between science and the commandments of Torah can be illustrated in this verse. Maimonides, who at time castigated his predecessors for basing their conclusions on inaccurate science, would say that while a true understanding the Law is at times within a human being’s reach, there are also times when we lack a rational explanation and we are left only with a continuing search into the metaphysical realm.

            As law (halacha) develops, it needs to be informed by science, a position with which I am certain that Maimonides would agree. As we approach novel situations (e.g., the use of electronics on Shabbat during times of plague), we need to be mindful of this fact.