Body and Soul: Wholeness and Holiness
D’var Torah for Tazria-Metzorah
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
May 2, 2025
One can only wonder about this week's double portion, Tazria-Metzorah (Leviticus 12:1--15:33). The graphic text and the obsolete methods of diagnosing and treating the ill are shocking to our modern sensibilities. The place these portions occupy in the Torah is also surprising. We've just read about the magnificent Tabernacle, the resplendent clothing of the High Priest, and the glorious appearance of God's Presence in the midst of the entire community. Inserted into the narrative of holiness that characterizes Leviticus, these two portions seem oddly out of place. They add nothing to the narrative and seem to be obsessed not with holiness, but rather with the most unpleasant features of physical impurities. While health and wholeness may be the concerns of the portions, it’s precisely the opposite that strikes the reader. Yet maybe it’s within this word—wholeness—that we can find the answer to our question why these two portions are found specifically here. In applying the ideals of health and wellbeing to our bodies, clothes and even our homes, Tazria-Metzorah equate between physical wholeness and spiritual holiness.
The common saying is that the body is the temple of the soul. Yet in the Torah there is no distinction between the two. Unlike beliefs that existed in other ancient cultures, the Bible’s Hebrew terms for spirit or soul, nefesh and neshama, reflect a single meaning: life. Seen through the Torah’s eyes, the soul is not distinct or separate from the body. This latter understanding only becomes mainstream later in in Judaism's evolution. The Torah sees body and soul as an extension of each other. And because Life is holy, God-given, it deserves a place in Leviticus, our textbook for how to live a life of holiness.
It's probable that the Torah's symptoms of tzara'at—the dreaded disease that for thousands of years was understood as leprosy—were already antiquated by the time they were written down. In the Torah, tzara'at actually covers a broad spectrum of skin ailments. Yet the text does not stop there. The same symptoms are also applied to clothes and houses, reflecting a different and wider range of thought. As understood by the early Rabbis, tzara'at is much more than a skin disease. It's a metaphor for another kind of disease: l'shon ha-ra, slander, the act of spreading false rumors meant to hurt or disparage others.
In the Talmudic tractate Arakhin ("Values"), slander is compared to blasphemy—denying God's existence—and is thus considered the worst possible sin. L'shon ha-ra affects not only the slanderer and their intended target, but also anyone who would stop to listen. The punishment for this offense extends from leprosy itself (see the story of Miriam in Numbers 12:10) to banishment from the World-To-Come, the afterlife. What makes this sin worse, however, is that it is so contagious. The Rabbis teach that when the Torah extends the symptoms to include clothing and even houses, it points to the spread of the disease from the affected individual to their family, community and ultimately all society. Everyone is made tamei—impure—by the hurtful words. Prejudice, discrimination and injustice, in all their forms, are part of the Torah's broad understanding of tzara'at.
But there is yet another great lesson that these portions have for us. After the detailed description of the symptoms of tzara’at, the Torah continues to set out the duties and responsibilities of the priest—examining the ailing person at the onset of the illness and continuing periodically until they are pronounced healthy once again. Presumably, this meeting, which took place outside the camp to prevent further contagion, involved more than just a physical examination. Prayers were probably said, food and sustenance distributed. Caretaking of the sick thus became an important part of the priest’s daily routine, developing into one of the pillars of Jewish culture. “My son the doctor” is more than a proud parent’s boast; it’s a declaration of one of the highest values in Judaism.
As distasteful as Tazria and Metzorah seem to us today, these portions are among the reasons why so many Jews all over the world are involved in the medical profession, from diagnosing to caretaking, from research to the treatment. They teach us that, body and spirit as one, wholeness is holiness, and that health and taking care of the ill are among the most important and sacred duties we owe ourselves and all those around us.
© 2025 by Boaz D. Heilman
No comments:
Post a Comment