d’var torah
Torah Applies to Modern-day
Circumstances BY RABBI PETER RIGLER
I Parshat Tazriah
never imagined it! Th ey used to
come into my offi ce when I handed
the b’nai mitzvah students the
Torah portion of Tazriah, and I could
see disappointment.

“Really?” one student said, “Some
kids get Noah, and I get this stuff about
skin disease?”
In Leviticus 13, we read, “And the
LORD spoke unto Moses and unto
Aaron, saying: When a man shall have
in the skin of his fl esh a rising, or a
scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes
in the skin of his fl esh the plague of
tzaraat, then he shall be brought unto
Aaron the priest, or unto one of his
sons the priests.”
A beloved colleague tells the story that
the only time someone was happy when
they saw Tazriah was when it turned out
the parents were dermatologists.

Our perspectives can shift and the
meaning of our text adjusts with it! Th is
portion will never be read the same
way again! What student would want to
embrace a portion about disease?
Th is portion grapples not only with
the disease known as tzaraat, oft en
mistranslated as leprosy, but also with
the societal behaviors in response. An
acknowledgment that disease can be
scary not just for the person who is ill
but for those who live with and near
them who don’t understand what is hap-
pening. Th e symptoms are described in
detail — really graphic detail!
What’s described is leprosy, skin
affl ictions, anything from eczema or
psoriasis to deep infections. It was
actually the priest who would diag-
nose and determine if the person had
to be quarantined, was actually clean
enough to stay in the community and
how/when they could return.

I could never have imagined the
moment that happened for an upcom-
ing b’nai mitzvah student who said,
“Rabbi, I got the most important por-
tion!” Th ey explained that the portion
Tazriah felt relevant in the wake of
Our Torah portion considers, in a
cutting edge way for the time it was
written, how not to cast people aside
when they are sick.

the pandemic.

What my student realized was that
the Torah was struggling with the same
things we are today.

Th ink about the central questions we
are experiencing: How are our leaders
protecting exposure? Is there a connec-
tion between materialism over matters
of health? Does the individual or needs
of the community come fi rst? How are
the needs of those who live on the mar-
gins of our society being addressed?
How do we look at those who are
in the center of the storm including
health workers, teachers, deliverers
and leaders?
Our Torah portion considers, in a
cutting edge way for the time it was
written, how not to cast people aside
when they are sick, how to create safety
and care for the larger community and
how to lead through such a crisis.

Take just one example about the
communal need to care for others.

Th e Talmud reminds us when con-
sidering these verses, one calls out
their infected status not only to warn
others of the contagion but also to elicit
compassion and prayers on one’s behalf
(BT Moed Katan 5a). It is the responsi-
bility of the aff ected person to isolate,
ask for help, social-distance, and it is
the responsibility of the community to
off er the support, prayer and ultimately
whatever assistance was possible. No
one should be isolated more than nec-
essary for as much as the individual
suff ers, so does the community.

Whatever the cause of the separation
from community, it was the priest who
would tend to the individual and help
determine when they could return.

It is precisely because we come back
to Torah text so oft en that in it we con-
stantly fi nd wisdom. Th is is even more
true as our world and lives change like
this reading of Tazriah. A disciple of
Rabbi Hillel’s known as Ben Bag-Bag
said the following: “Turn it, and turn
it, for everything is in it. Refl ect on it
and grow old and gray with it. Don’t
turn from it, for nothing is better than
it (Mishnah Pirkei Avot 5:22).

Our tradition is built on this model.

We return to the text activating prior
knowledge and holding new experi-
ences so that we can gain new under-
standings. We are not alone as life
brings new challenges — we have the
wisdom of Torah to hold and guide
us! JE
Rabbi Peter Rigler is the rabbi at Temple
Sholom in Broomall. Th e Board of
Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud
to provide diverse perspectives on Torah
commentary for the Jewish Exponent.

Th e opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not refl ect
the view of the Board of Rabbis.

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