This week, we are blessed with a double parsha. That’s two Torah portions for the price of one! These parashot are all about human issues, in every sense of the word. Indeed, sometimes we receive this doubling of Torah as a doubling of the “yuck factor,” but there is deeper (and some surface) meaning for us to glean from this part of the Torah.
When we consider these parashot, we might notice that all the bodily events they discuss are weighed against the concern of ritual purity, which was required to make an offering to God. Much of what we read regarding an individual’s purity status is, at least in part, a concern for the spread of that impurity. Only once a person completed a ritual purification, passed priestly inspection, and made a proper offering could they fully rejoin the rest of the Israelite community.
Of course, today we are not concerned about ritual purity; we make our tribute to God through prayers and mitzvot rather than offerings by fire. Additionally, much of what our ancestors understood to necessitate repurification does not cohere with our understanding of the (wondrous! and) natural processes of the human body. Still, and certainly after coming through those roughest years of the pandemic, we can see that we might apply these principles to our contemporary benefit. For example, we know that isolation can keep illness from spreading and that airing out our homes can be good for our health. I’ve even been told that it’s a good idea to shave my face before going to see a dermatologist! Though it may not always work in reverse, all of this coheres with Torah.
While this perhaps goes without saying for each of these “Two Minutes,” I want to invite you to see what you might find for yourself! This is a double parsha that is often dreaded by B’nai mitzvah students and skipped over by adults…but let us not allow it to be ruined by its reputation. Who knows what we might learn!
You can read Tazria-Metzora here!