Metzorah: Shabbath Hagadol

 

This week is Shabbath Hagadol, the Big Shabbath. It is the Shabbath before Passover.  In the Old Country, the sage Rabbi gave his (semi) annual lecture on this day.  The process of purging all leaven, removing everything that changes on its own, is intense or nearly complete. The New Beginning of Passover, wrapped in the celebration of deliverance from the deadly (and other plagues), is at hand. We are the bird, described in the parsha, dipped in the blood of our brother, mixed with the living water, that has been set free to substantiate our recovery from the isolating malady. The Rabbi recognizes that once free, we can choose any direction of flight. The Rabbi tries to guide us, that we do not deviate from the Divine flight path. Good luck! There is a Divine hurricane in the way.

The haftarah chanted on Shabbath Hagadol ends with

הִנֵּ֤ה אָנֹכִי֙ שֹׁלֵ֣חַ לָכֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת אֵלִיָּ֣ה הַנָּבִ֑יא לִפְנֵ֗י בּ֚וֹא י֣וֹם יְ

הַגָּד֖וֹל וְהַנּוֹרָֽא׃

Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome (gadol), fearful day of Gd

This is the gadol of the day. It is the day of salvation, announced by Elijah the prophet.  It is a time of reconciliation and justice described in the passages in Malachai that precede it.  The reading ends just before that. It ends with Elijah and the work that this super-prophet will have done.

The haftarah begins by declaring :

Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to GD as in the days of yore and in the years of old.

But [first] I will step forward to contend against you…

Malachai recognizes the apparent injustices of the world as we see it. Evil can be rewarded with wealth and glory.  The righteous suffer illness and privation. Then, as prophets often do, he predicts a reversal. The evil will be punished and the righteous rewarded. Then Elijah will arrive, assuring justice and harmony. He will drink an infinitesimal from the cup set aside for him at our Seder. There is something to look forward to.  We need that.

 

When a person has a remission from tzoraath [leprosy?] there are two unique, elaborate rituals. The second, a set of animal sacrifices, is fairly familiar except for the application of sacrificial blood and oil to the thumb, ear and great toe of the survivor. Such applications were made when the priests were initiated into their service. I suppose it is an entry service, welcoming the cured leper, who until now could not participate in the sacrificial rite, back in.

The other, unusual, service is not familiar at all. Water, hyssop, and  crimson thread  are ingredients of the ash , mixed with spring water, used to purify those contaminated by death in the ritual of the red heifer. They are a reminder that the cured leper is a living miracle; he had been in a dead-like state and was now welcomed back to the living.

The really weird part of the ritual is the dipping of a matched, living bird into the blood of its brother – mixed with the (defective) purifying  water-  and then set free! The cured leper is set free, but only after an intense purification ritual. Now she can roam freely.  The path may be toward further purity, or it can lead to re-contamination.

Tazriah (the previous parsha) and Metzorah are usually read together.  Tazriah introduces a series of purifying bird sacrifices with the postpartum re-entry ritual that usually involved paired birds. Unsanctified, random birds, flying into the ritual area, could disrupt hundreds of planned rituals. Is it strange that the section ends with the release of bird with that potential?

This year, as missiles fly, with the potential for the darker end of days prophesized elsewhere, I need the comfort of Elijah’s annunciation.

Freedom and power need direction.  

 

  

Thazria: Diagnosis

Thazria: Diagnosis

Most of this week’s parsha involves the diagnosis of tzoraath, a condition that afflicts people, and garments and houses (next week’s reading), rendering them tamei. Reading the parsha requires dealing with unfamiliar words and concepts. Only small remnants of ritual purity, the dimension of the tahor (pure) and tamei ( impure) remain. They have become mysterious restrictions in search of meaning, acts of faith motivated by loyalty to tradition.  We do not attempt to understand them.

The parsha is filled with words that are difficult or impossible to translate. These are descriptors of rashes, swellings, bright spots. They are shown to a trained provider, a Kohen (priest) who uses the published criteria to decide on the significance of the lesion. The difficulty of decision and ambiguity surrounding these diagnoses is reflected in the frequent use of temporary (week long) isolation to see if the lesion spreads or fades.

The King James committee translated tzoraath, the disease that most of the parsha deals with, as leprosy. Many modern translators keep that rendering.  It works because the reader understands neither tzoraath nor leprosy. Leprosy conveys the image of a very serious, horrible disease that affects the skin and requires the victims exile to a colony of the like- afflicted. [ The luckiest lepers go to Hawaii ( Kalaupapa). ] The translation attempts to convey the significance of the finding, not the bacteriology ( a much later concept) or the relationship between the mycobacterium and the disease(s) it produces (still not understood).

John Updike, semi-humorously, identified the cutaneous affliction in our parsha with the homonymic,  Greek derived psoriasis ( AT WAR WITH MY SKIN, New Yorker, 1985). The etymology officials do not connect the Hebrew with the Greek that becomes the English , despite the similarities in sound and afflicted organ.  Updike uses the biblical to magnify the seriousness and the social isolation that comes from this relatively common skin condition, now understood to have an autoimmune, cytokine mediated, mechanism and treatable with  heavily advertised pills and injections that sell for astronomical prices. The advertisements (to patients) emphasize the relief from (self-imposed) isolation that comes from the clearing of the skin. Does the biblical  demand for isolation for the tzoraath victim evolve into the exile of the psoriatic?

Some of the descriptors are words used only once in the Bible (hapax legomenon). Every year I look forward to the בֹּ֥הַק  bohack, a benign skin condition .  When I was a boy in New York, there was a grocery store chain named Bohack. I always thought of those stores as a benign rash in the city. I am fairly certain the name is a coincidence, but who knows?

I try to imagine diagnosing tzoraath. At first, I would be unsure and it would take a long time.  I would look at the lesions with a magnifying glass, under blue light as well as white, I would send a biopsy to the pathologist for analysis; I would send most people into the diagnostic quarantine  because of my uncertainty. With time, I would become more confident… and then overconfident. Experience would use my previous actions to dictate the current ones. I would constantly justify my past decisions in the now.  But I will never have to do that for tzoraath. I am not a Kohen. I just do that for other diagnoses.  

Diagnoses have evolved from the visible and palpable to the microscopic to the molecular. But diagnoses remain murky.  Often, they do not predict the consequences of treatment. Pathologic pronouncements (diagnoses) are often the product of conflicting data  and come down to the judgement of the doctor ( or the AI replacing her). It could be much better. Tradition is a major obstacle to improvement. Microscopic appearance dominates many decisions and misapplied privacy laws prevent the collection of adequate data.  We are still justifying our past decisions.

In mainstream, modern Judaism, Biblical and Talmudic medicine is not applied to current diagnosis and treatment. The tradition provides a framework for understanding one’s place in the world as history proceeds. The success of medicine and science justify their semi-independence from tradition. Contacts remain. Integrating the past into the present is always a challenge… especially when you do not really understand the words.

 

 

Shemini: incomprehensible

Three stories that involve the temple rite introduce the parsha.  The first is the elaborate culmination of the initiation, a spree of animal sacrifices that culminates in the appearance of the Divine spirit.

And Moshe said, This is the thing which the Lrd commanded you to do: and the glory of the Lrd shall appear to you.

Following the instructions leads to the desired result. The people are glorified and uplifted; and the glory of the Lrd is manifest as it desires.

The service is completed, and the text provides a level of detail which assures that all instructions were followed. Finally

And there came a fire out from before the Lrd and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which, when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Success!

The very next sentence briefly relates the central event of Leviticus:

וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹ֠ן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜יבוּ לִפְנֵ֤י י

  ְאֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם

And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before the Lrd, which He commanded them not.

This is the great fatal error that demonstrated the unforgiving nature of the the wellspring of forgiveness.

וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְ

 

And a fire went out from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

They lit the cigarette on the battlefield and the artillery now had a target. Opening Velcro produced enough sound and light for the North Koreans to take aim and bomb a trench. A small action can have fatal consequences.

This drama establishes important religious principles. (1) People are dealing with an entity that they do not understand. (2) The Divine service is mortally dangerous. (3) The most select are at the highest risk. (4) Deviation from the instructions may be fatal.

Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s eldest sons, who had previously been selected to ascend, closer to the Divine ( Exodus 24:1):

And he said to Moshe, Come up to the Lrd, thou, and Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Yisra᾽el; and bow down afar off.

They seem to have believed that  a spontaneous offering, the creative product of their awe and love, would have gained favor for them ( and possibly the people). This idea was treated as a capital violation of the rules. Their incense was rendered toxic to them. This was a warning.

This is a preface to the key sentence of the parsha. Aaraon and the remaining (previously rejected) sons are told to carry on with the initiation, including the feasts of sacrificial meat. The goat of the sin offering was not eaten as directed! One of the incomprehensible instructions had been violated and Moshe was angry.  But this transgression, which wasted a sanctified goat, and occurred on the day that the violation of strict adherence to the instructions resulted in  death,   was not punished. It was explained:

וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה הֵ֣ן הַ֠יּ֠וֹם הִקְרִ֨יבוּ אֶת־חַטָּאתָ֤ם וְאֶת־עֹֽלָתָם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְ

וַתִּקְרֶ֥אנָה אֹתִ֖י כָּאֵ֑לֶּה וְאָכַ֤לְתִּי חַטָּאת֙ הַיּ֔וֹם הַיִּיטַ֖ב בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְ

וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּיטַ֖ב בְּעֵינָֽיו׃ {פ}

And Aharon said to Moshe, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lrd; and such things have befallen me that if I had eaten the sin offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the Lrd?

And when Moses heard this, he approved.

This is a critical point. This deviation could be explained and excused.  The Divine entity understands human emotions. The loss of sons and brothers can lead to an insurmountable loss of appetite. Another person would have been astonished to see the bereaved family feasting. This is something Moshe understands; and that deflects the (expected) retribution.

 

So, which way is it?  Does deviation from the rules bring immediate and severe punishment? Was the Holocaust caused by failure to properly observe the anniversary of Ezra’s death on the 10^th of Teveth?

Or does Gd recognize human limitations and can people understand that, under some circumstances, some of the instructions should  be modified.  Eating the chevon (goat meat) while mourning the death of brothers  would not be pleasing to Gd. Rejecting others because of deviations in custom is not the way to preserve the faith.

Honestly, I can see the possibility of differences in Nadav and Avihu’s actions ( the strange fire, the invented service) and those of their  brothers, Elazar and Ithamar ( aborting the New Moon service), but they are speculative. The ambiguity stands. 

Deviation is dangerous. Gd can take the circumstances into account.

Try your best.