Friday, March 28, 2014

Skin Diseases and Liminality--Holy Moments in Tazria

Rabbi Philip Weintraub
Congregation Agudas Israel
3/28/14

A few years back, I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah on Parshat Tazria.  Today I stand before you (albeit not in April) with the same Torah reading.  Tomorrow morning, I will read from the Torah about how long to wait after childbirth before resuming marital relations, many dermatological (skin) conditions, as well as discussions about what to do if clothing or fabrics have strange growths and discolorations.  It all sounds very archaic.  Why would the priest be the arbiter of skin conditions, didn’t they have dermatologists in Torah?  Why does childbirth require a sacrifice and immersion in the mikvah before a couple can return to their normal lives?

While I do not have my bar mitzvah speech in front of me for comparison, I think the main point of this parsha is actually two-fold--focusing on daily life and liminal/transitional moments.  Although some of the details may not determine our behavior today, the ideas remain relevant thousands of years from when we stood at Sinai.

The birth of a child is a holy moment.  It is a moment fraught with tension.  While women have been giving birth for as long as we have been on this Earth, it has always been a dangerous endeavor.  Offering a sacrifice, immersing in a mikvah are ways of giving thanks and marking the success of that mission.  A couple is forever changed when a child comes into their life.  Besides the medical reasons for a temporary suspension of intimate relations, our Torah teaches us the holy nature of this separation.  Giving us time to reconsider our lives, determine our new priorities, discover what it means to be parents and a couple again, is a pretty good idea!  

On the dermatological side, skin diseases are a part of life.  Whether infection or allergy, we itch and scratch and deal with peeling skin.  Thousands of beauty products claim to make our skin younger, firmer, more tone, more tan, less tan, less wrinkly, smoother, less bumpy, etc., etc., etc.  In the Torah there were no dermatologists.  There were no magic creams--although they probably did use aloe!  By having someone, whether priest or doctor, look at rashes and recognize which ones were contagious and required isolation and which were harmless, the health of the community was protected.  

On a similar note today, vaccination is a public health issue and a Jewish value.  By vaccinating your children and grandchildren, you follow the Torah’s teachings of caring for the sick, keeping oneself healthy, teaching our children life-saving skills, and protecting and caring for the neediest among us.  It is one simple act that can save not only one child’s life, but many others!

By discussing, these topics this evening, I want to bring these words out of the shadows.  There is holiness in the details of Torah.  Even the parts that seem out of date, irrelevant, have deep meaning and sanctity.  While reading about skin diseases may sound strange, it is a reminder that every moment of our life is sacred, every choice we make has the potential for holiness.

Next week’s parsha is Metzora, which continues discussions of skin disease, among other topics.  The rabbis separate that word into component parts, speaking of motzi shem ra, evil speech, lies, malicious gossip.  They say that in Torah times, skin diseases were actual punishments for improper behavior, for hurting others with our words.  While today we do not see G-d as punishing us in such a way, we still must be very careful of our speech.  Every word we say, whether carefully or carelessly has great potential to show love or to hurt.

In our shared communities, of the JCC, TBJ and CAI, we have numerous opportunities to speak highly of one another.  Each of our unique communities does incredibly beautiful, holy, helpful work, elevating the souls of all who participate.  Every organization wants and NEEDS the others to succeed, for the good of our shared project, for the good of our community, for the good of Newburgh!  As such, within our organizations--internally and together, we MUST be careful of what we say.  We can create great holiness, and maybe even prevent some eczema, if we only share words of love!

Shabbat Shalom

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Illness and the Sukkah

As we are getting ready for Purim and then Pesach, now might not seem to be the normal time to discuss Sukkot. Yet that is the tractate of Talmud we are currently studying in Daf Yomi. 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daf_Yomi)

Judaism has always recognized that there are ideal and less ideal ways of following commandments.  We are told that we are to live by the commandments and not die by them, that if we need to, we can break one Shabbat, so that we may live for many more Shabbatot.  This compassion extends to the ones who take care of those who are ill, as well.  Not only are we permitted to help an ill person on Shabbat, but we are required to help them.  I remember a scene from one of Chaim Potok's books where the Rebbe himself picked up the phone on Shabbat to call the doctor for an ill person, demonstrating that in an emergency you don't just delegate, but immediately do what is necessary to help!  On the same note, I have seen Orthodox rabbinic questions and answers that say if you drive someone to the hospital on Shabbat, you are also allowed to drive home (and are not stuck at the hospital for up to 25 hours).

On page 25a and discussed on 26a is a very interesting mishnah about what to do if one is sick during Sukkot.
(Hebrew Text From Bar Ilan 16+)
תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף כה עמוד א 
משנה.. . .חולין ומשמשיהן פטורין מן הסוכה. . . .
Translation from the Koren Steinsaltz Sukka p. 118 (http://www.korenpub.com/EN/products/talmud/talmud/9789653015715)
 The ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzvah of Sukka.  

תלמוד בבלי מסכת סוכה דף כו עמוד א 

חולים ומשמשיהם. תנו רבנן: חולה שאמרו - לא חולה שיש בו סכנה, אלא אפילו חולה שאין בו סכנה, אפילו חש בעיניו, ואפילו חש בראשו. אמר רבן שמעון בן גמליאל: פעם אחת חשתי בעיני בקיסרי, והתיר רבי יוסי בריבי לישן אני ומשמשי חוץ לסוכה. 
p. 123:
It is stated in the mishna. The ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzvah of sukka. The Sages taught in a baraita: The ill person that they said  is exempt from sukkah is not only an ill person whose  condition is critical, and even one who feels  pain in his eyes, and even one who feels pain in his head.  Rabban Shimon be Gamliel said: One time I felt pain in my eyes in Caesarea, and the esteemed Rabbi Yosei be Halafta  permitted me and my attendant to sleep outside the sukkah.

[Clarification of Steinsaltz Talmud translation--bold words are the words actually in the Hebrew/Aramaic, regular words are additions/clarifications to make full English sentences.]

The long and short of it is that when we are ill we are exempt from the commandments of living and dwelling and eating and drinking in the Sukka.  Yet this exemption is ALSO for those who are taking care of the ill person.  Judaism recognizes that illness and healing are processes that take a community, that take supportive people.  Whether you are caring for a family member, a friend or someone in the community, you have rights and responsibilities.  A caretaker has to be able to take care of themselves.  

When I meet people in the hospital, I always check to make sure that the caretakers remember to eat and sleep.  If they do not do these things, they will not be able to help their loved ones.  More than fifteen hundred years ago, our rabbis and teachers were teaching the same lesson!