Drash on Tazria-M’tzora 2025

Rabbi George Mordecai

Emanuel Synagogue

When Rabbis deliver divrei Torah on Tazria/Metzora, most have more than a little difficulty finding a way to make this parsha relevant for our lives. After all, how is learning about the ancient Israelite priests’ use of archaic rituals to deal with skin afflictions relevant to us today? I would always hope to avoid giving a sermon on this week’s parsha; that is, until the onset of Covid a few years ago.

Tazria/ Metzora gives us insights into the ancient Israelite process of purification from skin diseases. The priest was called upon to examine the tzara’at – skin affliction. If the rash was not severe s/he would be permitted to return to the camp. However, if the disease appeared to be serious the person would be considered impure and would need to quarantine by removing him/herself from the encampment until such time as the rash disappeared. The priest would then be called upon to re-examine the person and begin a process of purification. A sacrifice would take place and then the one afflicted with tzara’at would return to the encampment but not to their home. After seven days another sacrifice was offered. S/he would only then be declared healed at the completion of this process.

What we learn from this parsha and the process of purification is not ancient cutting-edge medical insights into the nature of disease control. Rather, it is the care with which the Torah describes the relationship between the priest and the afflicted person. There are many places in our tradition where the value of a person’s life is equated with an entire world. In a powerful articulation of the individual’s importance, it states that: “Miriam, when she contracted tzara’at, was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not journey on until Miriam was readmitted.” (Numbers 12:15). A Midrashic interpretation of this verse further states that “God as well as the people waited for Miriam to re-enter the camp.” (Mekhilta d’ Rabbi Yishmael, Beshallah).

Pandemics and plagues are traumatic times for us. Civilisations and societies have been destroyed but also transformed as a result of major pandemics. For example, we have learned how the ferocity of the bubonic plague helped end the feudal hierarchy in England. It allowed for a social mobility that was not possible before that time. The speed of the Arab conquests in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran were, in part, due to a form of the bubonic plague that had devastated both the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires for century before!

What is lost to us when studying the history of these periods are the personal stories of those who perished, their families and the orphaned children who never knew their parents. The Torah brings the nature of personal suffering into full view, teaching us how to respond both as individuals and as a community to a person in times of sickness.

Many of us know people who have died from Covid. Often loved ones, children – due to quarantine restrictions – could not be with a parent as they took their last breath. The emotional toll on their lives as a result of this has been devastating.

It is in times like these when we can truly see the wisdom and insights that flow from our tradition. Just as God and Israel waited for Miriam to re-enter the camp, we need to do everything possible to extend our compassion and care for all people living through difficult times. This is core pillar of our tradition.