I never particularly enjoy reading this week’s parsha, Tazria/Metzora, rather infamous for its discussion of infectious and contagious diseases. This parsha speaks of quarantine; of sending the affected person outside of the camp so that their illness might not spread; which hits so very close to home this year that it makes me want to shut my chumash, close my eyes, and say “let’s not.”
Every year we are tasked with finding meaning in this difficult text. The Biblical commandment of Passover demands that each and every one of us treat the holiday as if we ourselves had been freed from slavery. Perhaps we can do that here, as we take a moment to feel the very-close-to-home feelings of what it meant for the affected people in this parsha to be quarantined. It won’t take much; we know what it is to be separated from our loved ones, and by now we have all heard stories of those stricken by Covid-19, unable to be with their families in their final moments…
According to Torah, the one with the affliction is to be welcomed back into the community once they have healed. Once we have healed, how will we reconnect with our loved ones? How will we do so safely and gently? And how will we empathize better with those who are affected by this virus, and other infectious diseases moving forward? We can no longer claim the comforting denial of our own mortality, so, how will we let this experience change us for the better?
– Rabbi Callie Schulman
