Thoughts on Parashat Tzariah-Metzorah
Menachem Mirski
In this week’s Torah portion we find an extensive overview of the issue of leprosy, including detailed instructions on how to deal with people suffering from this disease, how long such persons should be isolated from the community and what role is to be played in all these by the spiritual leaders of the community – the priests – what sacrificial offerings should be made to the Supreme One as far as disease and healing is concerned. This is one of the reasons why these instructions cannot be viewed solely as hygiene-related or preventive measures.
Our sages have ascribed dozens of meanings to this disease, from simple ones (pshat) up to mystical ones. However, in all these interpretations we find a recurring theme which can be seen as their common denominator – namely a theological and moral significance – the belief that such a disease does not occur without a reason and in fact it constitutes punishment for a certain sin. Therefore, if someone afflicted with that disease will understand what kind of sin they’ve committed, change their life and undertake specific actions, they shall be healed from it. If they treat their illness as a warning sign, they can live up to an old age in good health and happiness.
One of the first Biblical illustrations of this concept was the punishment of leprosy imposed on Miriam, Moses’ sister, for evil speech (lashon hara) against her brother (Numbers 12.)
Historically the Book of Job provides the first major discussion with this idea, since in its radical interpretation this theory’s implications are being reversed: Not only did your sin cause your suffering or disease, but – since you are ill and you’ve been afflicted with suffering, therefore you must have sinned. Such are the arguments put forward by Job’s interlocutors. At a later time a similar logic can be found on the pages of the Talmud:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “There is no death without sin and no suffering without injustice” (Shabbat 55a.) [/perfectpullquote]
And indeed discussions regarding Divine punishment sent in the form of disease or death sometimes are taken to extremes – for example in tractate Avot de-Rabbi Natan (38) prophet Elijah meticulously interrogates a young woman, whose husband passed away, about the details of her marital relations. This questioning reveals that on one occasion this woman slept in the same bed with him while she had her monthly bleeding. And, even though she remained fully clothed for the entire time so as to exclude any possibility of sexual contact and in order to live in line with the words of the Torah, prophet Elijah still concludes, [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Blessed be God who killed him, for it is written in the Torah: Do not come near a woman during her period of uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.”[/perfectpullquote]
At this point we can hear derisive laughter and a crushing critique voiced by contemporary rationalists: such beliefs regarding health-related issues are held by primitive individuals, who lack any knowledge regarding the real causes of diseases and therefore interpret all instances of illness and suffering from a moral and theological perspective, from the standpoint of good and evil deeds and in relation to the powers which control human life. In addition, not only are they oblivious to the causes of the phenomena they’re discussing, but with their speculations they are also hindering the advancement of knowledge on this subject by offering absurd explanations to others. In other words – they are promoting moral and intellectual ignorance.
In essence the ancient, Biblical concept of what constitutes a healthy life comes down to avoiding all kinds of dangers which could be detrimental to human life and health. Modern medicine, being the child of a naturalistic and scientific approach to natural phenomena, including to human and all biological forms of life in general – in essence represents a completely different approach, wherein humans are generally understood as bio-mechanisms which are prone to various kinds of damages, but the progress of medicine and its achievements can successfully eliminate those threats, or at least most of them, especially if we can detect their symptoms in time. This approach has considerable positive consequences for the quality of our lives and for our longevity, but at the same time it often makes us careless – at times even spoiled – and quite often we tend to downplay various dangers which could otherwise be avoided. Biblical stories and laws show us how our remote ancestors coped with diseases. What can we learn from them? First of all, they teach us to value our own lives.
Ultimately both of the above mentioned paradigms are not mutually exclusive, provided they do not seek to reduce the causes of diseases and suffering exclusively to the factors described in their own theories. This being said, the Rabbis saw that diseases and suffering could provide a mechanism for the moral and spiritual healing of men, a mechanism owing to which humans could improve themselves and draw closer to God. If we limit this logic just to this one premise, there is no reason to reject it up front. Drawing closer to God always leads to some kind of good. Ultimately viewing diseases or suffering as a form of “warnings” against a greater evil is not that foolish after all.
And while they should not be understood literally in terms of “punishment for sins”, nonetheless many of our ailments and misfortunes are in fact caused by our neglects, an inappropriate lifestyle, ascribing greater significance to matters of small importance rather than to truly essential ones or having in one’s life too many important or “important” matters.
Translated from Polish by: Marzena Szymańska-Błotnicka
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