From Pustules to Probity
At least in the modern era, the portions of Tazria-M’tzora have been the bane of both B’nai Mitzvah students and Torah-studying adults alike. For a religion that strives to transcend the material while embracing the physical, a portion chock-full of bodily emissions, fluids, and leprous outbreaks tests our ongoing attempt to make a 3,000-year-old text relevant to modern life. The rabbis of old also confronted this challenge and, in classic rabbinic fashion, saw the obsession with leprosy as a metaphor for a much more pervasive—if less conspicuous—affliction.
They tie this portion to a later episode in which Moses’ sister Miriam conspires with her brother Aaron to undermine Moses’ leadership. God affirms Moses’ position—as only God can—and Miriam develops leprosy as a punishment. (Don’t ask why Aaron isn’t similarly stricken—the answer is less than satisfying.) The rabbis make this connection through some clever wordplay. They link the word for leprosy, m’tzora, to the phrase motzi ra, or “bringing forth evil” (from someone’s mouth). Thus, Miriam is punished for gossiping about her brother, and the hope is that this will serve as a deterrent for future generations. Later, authorities devote much teaching to this ubiquitous transgression, even equating tale-bearing with a kind of killing.
In our current moment, when the heedless use of social media spreads disinformation and bile that divides us in unprecedented ways, the lessons of the portion as interpreted by the rabbis bring profound insight and compelling reflection to our minds and consciences.