The Part and Not The Whole

Tazria 5784 - There is a way to treat the wound without getting rid of everything.

Yedid Nefesh - Rabbi Ariel Wolpe

This is the fun part of the Torah where we get into the (gory) details of various skin diseases like leprousy. What does it have to teach us? How is this relevant? When we read about the process of identifying these maladies the Torah says:

וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל־אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר׃ אָדָם כִּי־יִהְיֶה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ שְׂאֵת אוֹ־סַפַּחַת אוֹ בַהֶרֶת וְהָיָה בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרוֹ לְנֶגַע צָרָעַת וְהוּבָא אֶל־אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אוֹ אֶל־אַחַד מִבָּנָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים׃  

(1) God spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) When a person has on the skin of the body a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration, and it develops into a scaly infection on the skin of the body, it shall be reported to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons, the priests. 

First things first - to the priest? Not to a doctor?! Why does the priest have knowledge of these medical issues? Most of the commentators seem to understand this malady as being unnatural or supernatural - this isn’t a regular disease, it has come about in order to help us recognize some sin that has been committed. Then we read further:

וְרָאָה הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַנֶּגַע בְּעוֹר־הַבָּשָׂר וְשֵׂעָר בַּנֶּגַע הָפַךְ  לָבָן וּמַרְאֵה הַנֶּגַע עָמֹק מֵעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ נֶגַע צָרַעַת הוּא וְרָאָהוּ הַכֹּהֵן וְטִמֵּא אֹתוֹ׃ וְאִם־בַּהֶרֶת לְבָנָה הִוא בְּעוֹר בְּשָׂרוֹ וְעָמֹק אֵין־מַרְאֶהָ מִן־הָעוֹר וּשְׂעָרָה לֹא־הָפַךְ לָבָן וְהִסְגִּיר הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַנֶּגַע שִׁבְעַת יָמִים׃ 

(3) The priest shall examine the infection on the skin of the body: if hair in the infected patch has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, it is leprousy; when the priest sees it, he shall pronounce the person impure. (4) But if it is a white discoloration on the skin of the body which does not appear to be deeper than the skin and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate the affected person for seven days. 

So the priest examines, determines if it is leprousy or not, and then if the infection is only skin deep, we isolate person for seven days. Why seven days? The Netivot Shalom says that it is In order to hit Shabbat at some point no matter when you start. You can’t be purified without going through Shabbat. Shabbat itself helps us purify. It gives us a chance to restart, to re-orient.

And there’s something else really fascinating to notice here. Verse 4 says v’hisgir hakohen et hanega shivat yamim. Rashi says that this means that they shall isolate the leper in one house and they will not be seen for a whole week. All of the Torah commentators explain this like Rashi does, that they must isolate the leper and the leprous article. But the verse itself says nega, “infection,” rather than menuga, “the leper.”

The Tur (Rav Yaakov ben Asher) explains in the name of his father Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel (the Rosh) that in truth they did not actually isolate the leper, just the leprous article, i.e. they wrapped the leprous article in cream or ointment, so that one could figure out after the fact if the affection had healed, and they actually didn’t isolate the actual person at all.

Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! Hate the sin not the sinner! Isolate a piece and not the whole. There is a way to treat the wound without getting rid of everything. 

We need this teaching more than ever today. Shabbat Shalom, and if you’re in San Francisco join us this tonight for a concert and this Shabbat at Congregation Beth Sholom!

-Josh Warshawsky