Learning from Parashat Tazria
Rebecca Bushee celebrated becoming a Bat Mitzvah on April 21, 2018.
Imagine a world where most of the children from ages eight to eleven are dying. A mysterious and fatal disease has taken the lives of 98% of America’s kids. Those that live are developing freak abilities. To address the growing fear of the freak abilities that they possess, the government offers a solution for the remaining children- to send them to a “rehabilitation camp.” If it was your child who survived, what would you do? Would you send them to a camp? A few small time newspapers are spreading rumors that the camps aren’t all that they seem, that there are horrors happening to the kids being sent to them. The government couldn’t possibly be deceiving you, right? Do you trust them?
Luckily, this scenario is dystopian fiction; the plot of Darkest Minds–a book I recently read which got me thinking about my parshah in a different light. But this type of situation might very well have happened to the people of Israel, thousands of years ago, had the laws in my portion not been set.
This week’s double portion, Tazria-Metzora, talks through impurities and a skin disease called, Tzara’at. It thoroughly describes what to do in the event that someone contracts Tzara’at. The parashah goes into almost painstaking detail about what to do in this event, and makes it apparent that this is not a permanent affliction.
Going back to Darkest Minds–would the parents in the novel have reacted differently if their god, or another convincing authority figure, had told them in thorough detail, what to do with their child in order to cure them? That, if they only followed certain instructions, their child would be cured? I am certain that those parents would felt more secure. They also might not have been so fearful of their children’s mysterious condition that they allowed the government to take their children away.
I imagine that what the Israelites might have experienced with Tzara’at was somewhat similar. The Torah presents a God-given set of instructions to permanently cure this mysterious condition. The Torah’s prescribed actions gives the Israelites a sense of control. It removes for them the unknown factor- the fear, suspicion and hatred of those afflicted. When a group of people in a society is feared or oppressed, they might lash out in an attempt to regain control of the situation, which only leads to more fear and aggression directed at them. The Torah’s treatment of Tza’arat avoids this vicious cycle. It is as effective for the health of the community at large as it is for that the individual suffering from tzara’at.
Humans need a social life. If our connections to other people are severed, we fill that void with a connection to something else–like an object or drawing– something with enough resemblance to a human that we are able project emotions onto it. When a person is Isolated for a long period of time, it’s their sanity on the line. Without parashat Tazria, the afflicted Israelites would be forced by society to isolate themselves, they would be avoided and ignored. Even if they were not actually contagious, they would still carry the stigma of being “afflicted”. The growing fear of others would fester and the society would slowly fall apart.
For my Bat Mitzvah project, I volunteered at the Watermark. The Watermark is a place for people to retire to, where people are cared for if they can’t care for themselves. While I was there I helped out on the memory floor, and on the assisted care floor. I helped the patients and staff with tasks around the building- including helping to distribute food at meals and playing games with the residents. I thoroughly enjoyed it there.
When I was volunteering on the memory floor, I noticed a keypad near the main door and that a code was necessary to enter and exit the unit. When I asked staff members why, they responded that it was there for the safety of the residents on the floor. It was then that I first began to think critically about the isolation part of Parshat Tazria. The memory unit was home to people with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Schizophrenia, and the code was there so that they didn’t wander out and get lost. It made me realize that the prescribed isolation in Tazria was as much for the safety of the community as it was for the afflicted.
I learned many things throughout these past several months. Like how my visits to the Watermark not only helped the residents feel more connected to society, but helped them feel more comfortable. This is unlike Darkest Minds, because in that story, the children are supposedly isolated for their own safety, but that turns out not to be the case, it’s actually only for the safety of society and the continued control of the government. Therefore, the vicious cycle in this situation continues, and propaganda from the government makes it worse. Parashat Tazria is put in place to specifically prevent the situation in Darkest Minds or a similar thing from happening. Tazria is sensitive to the needs of the afflicted, in their acute condition, and in their long term social integration. But Tazria is also sensitive to the safety of the community. And you need both to have a working society.
Thank yous:
I’d like to thank my parents for all of their support and love throughout the entire process! I’d like to especially thank my mom for helping out with my Hebrew and torah. I’d also like to specially thank my dad for help on my speech!
I would like to thank my brother for staying out of my way, and giving me BIG shoes to fill.
I would like to thank Rabbi Yosef and Rabbi Abe for their help on this speech, and their immense support in general.
I would also like to thank Eliana Seltzer for her help with ALL of my hebrew, prayers, torah, haftorah, and her constant positive attitude.
I’d also love to thank my family, friends, and BZBI community for being here today to witness me become a Bat Mitzvah.
I’d especially like to give a shout out to those in my family that traveled all of the way from Minnesota and California to be here!
And finally, I’d love to thank Alexandra Bracken for writing Darkest Minds and giving me such a great idea for a speech.
