This week’s Torah portion, Metzora (Lev. 14:1 – 15:33) picks up
where last week’s left off, discussing the purification rituals for
impurity brought about by a disease which the Torah calls “tzara’at”, which translates as “leprosy”, although its symptoms do
not seem to resemble the disease we know as leprosy today. This week’s portion creates even more
confusion by talking about “leprosy” occurring in cloth or leather, or even in
the walls of a house. What kind of
disease afflicts humans, clothing and walls?
The most common explanation given by the commentators is
that tzara’at is not a physical
illness, but a spiritual disorder. As as
example, the Talmud (Arachin 15b) explains the word “metzora” as a sound-alike
for “motzi shem ra”, one who spreads evil talk; a gossipmonger. It is no wonder why explanations like this
one are given. This is a very confusing
text, and we look for explanations that make more sense than the literal one
does.
However, we should be careful when making those kinds of
associations. In our liturgy, too, we
sometimes run across phrases such as, “we are deaf to their pleas” or “our
blindness causes their pain”. How does
it feel to a person who has a disease or a disability when they hear their affliction
compared to a moral defect? Perhaps we
need to take those factors into account, and not use metaphors that we would
not use if a person with the impairment in question was standing before us.
The Last Time I Died by Joe Nelms
