Mitzorah: celebrating the remission

The only medical intervention mentioned in relation to the maladies discussed in these parshioth is quarantine.  But much of this weeks parsha discusses the sacrificial rites associated with remission from these dermatological and venereal diseases. 

Despite  ( or, perhaps because of) the lack of therapy, the signs of these diseases would go away.  The parsha describes a ceremony related to the remission.  I imagine that it was both a celebration of the good fortune and a way to ward off a recurrence. It is presented as a thing to do without explanation.

I deal with  many diseases for which a remission is a surprise, an event that  comes despite therapies that work  less than 25% of the time, diseases for which patients often choose an earlier death over a hopeless situation of suffering.  Yet, even in the cases where remission is extremely improbable, sometimes it comes. And sometimes, even if the disease is relentless, there are moments of ecstasy.  Hope is always available.

When these miracle cures occur, sometimes there is an overwhelming sense of gratitude and it can be hard to know whom or what to credit.  Institutions like hospitals hope to glean some of the reward.  That happens.  Religious institutions are frequent beneficiaries.

Often people who are granted these wonderful surprises say that the experience of severe illness and recovery has changed their perspective.  They have rearranged priorities.  That usually does not last long. The forces dragging a person down to the mundane are more relentless than the fear of death.

Every day is a remission .  Do the important things. Don't be afraid

Thazria: Diagnosis

A small area on the skin is noted to be discolored, light, maybe white and the hair in that dime sized region has turned white.  The lesion is examined by a Kohein who is training in diagnosis, supervised by an experienced diagnostician.  They discuss the findings: is it big enough? white enough? what about the variations in shade over the lesion? Diagnosis is difficult, but a decision must be made, so they make it.

A spot on the skin  relegates the bearer to be an outcast.  An area of the body that can be less than 1/100th  of the surface area  can isolate the whole individual, disrupt the family and the community. And we do not even know what it means!This does not seem to be a situation  in which early diagnosis leads to better outcome. Is this contagion? Are we trying to spare the community by quarantining the individual?  The reason is not stated. Surgical removal of the spot(s) is not an option.  It is (for the most part) forbidden. This is a spiritual disease. 

The instructions for diagnosis, evaluation, quarantine, and declaration of remission are given in the parsha.  The reasons and principles behind them are  not  available. The implication that Gd is the master of illness and healing seems to be the basis for these actions: observation, detention, release, banishment.  This is a power that Gd showed Moshe at the burning bush and will demonstrate again in the punishment of Miriam. 

Modern medical  diagnosis also has a mystical aspect.  A diagnosis is made by collecting information that is often not obviously related to the important problem.  The organization of these data lead to an important conclusion. Cracked lips and craving ice can mean a person is iron deficient. Yellow eyes can mean the bile duct is blocked. A white patch can be tzorrath. 

The common thread is that the learned correlation takes priority over logic.  In modern medicine, a veneer of biology sometimes covers black box of correlation, but the correlation takes priority over all rational principles. The similarity between Artificial intelligence and prophecy or biblically revealed truth is deep.  (This topic is explored in my post on Bava Bathra 12b).  Even in the absence of machine generated diagnostic rules, the trust in tradition, consensus, and guidelines means that the health care provider is relying on an intelligence outside her own, a set of rules he does not understand. The process is an application of  texts that are memorized, not understood.  The belief that someone actually understands the principles is often not well founded.  The need for understanding, in the usual, human sense is contradicted by  faith in big data driven artificial intelligence.   Thus medicine, perhaps all science, is an organized  system of beliefs,...a religion, 

We need to learn, again, how to deal with faith.