Drash – Tazriah Metzorah

Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM

Emanuel Synagogue

Our parasha: Tazriah Metzorah, deals with afflictions of the skin and diseases which can affect houses and clothing. When a person is suspected of having tzara’at, a skin disease, they are brought before the priest for diagnosis. If they are found to have tzara’at, they are taken outside the camp for a period of isolation, after which time, they are inspected again by the priest. If he determines they are healed, there is a ritual performed which brings them back into the camp and back to the community.

This portion may seem archaic in its approach to illness, disease and affliction of the skin, but (excuse the pun) if we scratch a little below the surface, we find an incredible, beautiful and rich teaching about the treatment of those who find themselves outside the camp, of those who face illness, physical or spiritual, of those who are most in need of nurturing, care and support. When the person is taken outside the camp, it is the priest, the highest spiritual authority in the community, who ministers to them. It is he who tends to their wounds and cares for them whilst they are in isolation. He reaches out, embraces them with his presence and his tenderness until they are ready to return to the fold.

Even though there is a physical separation of a person, alongside there is an elaborate process by which the community remains in contact with them, and when it is time for them to return, there is a celebration and joyous welcoming.

Rabbi Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi writes: “Leviticus…concentrates on reconnecting the persons who have been isolated and on bringing them back to the center…Leviticus 14 illustrates the tremendous investment in the social and religious reconnection and rehabilitation of persons formerly stigmatized and excluded by virtue of the disease. The most marginalized, isolated person is reintegrated with an elaborate ritual, comparable only to that of the Ordination of the High Priest.” (“Healing and the Jewish Imagination” as quoted in Rabbi Elyse Goldstein “D’var Torah Reform Judaism.org)

The community reached out, through their spiritual leader, to care for and minister to the people outside the community and they came together to welcome them back into the fold, to surround them with their embrace. There was no stigmatisation, no separation, no pushing them away but instead, a warm and beautiful welcome back and reconnection to the community.

Since the horror of the events of October 7th there have been so many seeking a return to community, a need to be enfolded in the embrace of our congregation and reconnecting with what is deep within. From the darkness we have seen the power of being together, of arms reaching out and holding one another, of how important it is for us to be like the High Priest; welcoming, open, with compassion and love, caring for all our people. We have come to understand what it means to be there for and with one another.

When the High Priest met with the people, he was commanded to “ra’ah,” “to see,” a command repeated over and over in his instructions. The Torah is sparse with language, it avoids unnecessary repetition, so the emphasis on seeing is deep and profound. It calls on us not just to visit with each other but to see one another, to truly look and notice, see and understand. Each of us has our unique journey, we all enter the holy, sacred spaces of the synagogue carrying our own burdens and sorrows, our own joys and comforts, and it is for each of us to look at one another, to “ra’ah” to see not just the outside, but the souls of those with whom we share our journey. Our communities are sacred and holy because they are places where we can be seen, we can be welcomed and brought within the circle of embrace.

We have a sacred duty to reach out, to love and care and to welcome and embrace all those who surround us, with the compassion, kindness and healing love of community.

Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM