TAZRIA - METZORAH, Leviticus 12:1-15:33
YOM ZICHORON & YOM HA'ATZMAUT, ROSH HODESH IYAR
This week we have a double Torah Portion: Tazria and Metzora. In addition we are observing Yom HaZichoron, Yom Ha'atzmaut and celebrating the arrival of the month of Iyar, . And let's not forget the counting of the Omer, It is a busy week.
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Parshat Tazria begins by setting out the rules which govern a woman upon giving birth. In order to regain a status of ritual purity. She must undergo a time-related sanctification process. This process varies in length depending on whether she has given birth to a boy or a girl. It is 41 days for a male child and 81 days for a baby girl.
This raises a question: Why is additional time required when a mother has given birth to a girl?
The beginning of the ritual purification is set out at 12:2 (in part) -
אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ, וְיָלְדָה זָכָר--וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים
"If a woman be delivered, and bear a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days".
And continues at 12:5 -
וְאִם-נְקֵבָה תֵלֵד, וְטָמְאָה שְׁבֻעַיִם כְּנִדָּתָהּ; וְשִׁשִּׁים יוֹם וְשֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, תֵּשֵׁב עַל-דְּמֵי טָהֳרָה
"And if she gives birth to a female, she shall be unclean for two weeks, like her menstruation. And for sixty six days, she shall remain in the blood of purity".
I think the reason for the additional time goes like this:
During the period of gestation there is a presumption that the mother knows or thinks she knows that she is carrying a girl. At that point the mother realizes that it is incumbent upon her to pass on the superior wisdom and understanding, spirituality, sensitivity and teaching skills inherent in a woman to her unborn daughter.
She does this having in mind that one day the unborn daughter will have children of her own and likewise have the responsibility to educate them. Passing on this bounty to her unborn daughter depletes the mother of her natural gifts, and she needs more time to spiritually recover and resume her maternal responsibilities.
What do you think?
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The four lepers bring the news to the guards at the gate of Samaria from Petrus Comestor's 1372 Bible Historiale)
Tazaria, תַזְרִיעַ means sow a seed or inseminated. מְּצֹרָע means "one who is diseased", literally “a leper”. .
The Parshah Tazaria and Metzora concern a person punished with a spiritual disorder called צָּרַעַת, tzara'at. It manifests itself on a person’s skin, something akin to psoriasis. A Kohen is called upon to diagnose the disease.
The only treatment offered for a person with tzara’at is quarantine for a period of time outside of the camp and shaving of the body. After a period of time, if the treatment is effective as determined by the Kohen, the person undergoes a purification process. Firstly the person immerses in a Mikveh, a sort of spiritual repair and cleansing. The person must wait until the end of the day, for nightfall, and the beginning of a new day before entering back into the camp. He is now permitted to partake in, to eat sacred food, the Korban, a part of the holy offering. By consuming some of the Korban, the person has been fully restored to spiritual health
Tzara'at may also affect one’s clothing and even one’s home. We don't have this type of disease currently and we do not understand how all the details are relevant to our practical lives. But we do know that there are times when our spiritual being has been diseased and requires repair and purification.
The Tazria-Metzora and one of the haftarah for Metzora when read alone deal with people stricken with skin disease. In Parashah Tazria at 13:46 provides that the person with skin disease "shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be,".
It is not difficult to connect the Torah readings with the situation that we still have been facing today with the Covid 19 virus. I’ll leave it to you to make your own conclusions.
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With a little work you can connect Tazria-Metzora to Psalm 91:
In Psalm 91, verses 3 and 6 there are references to pestilence or to plague and to lesions, all of which are mentioned in this week’s double parsha Tazria-Metzora, and which unfortunately not long ago in terms of Covid-19 the entire world was coping with.
כִּי הוּא יַצִּילְךָ, מִפַּח יָקוּשׁ; מִדֶּבֶר הַוּוֹת
3 For He will save you from the snare that traps from the devastating pestilence.
מִדֶּבֶר, בָּאֹפֶל יַהֲלֹךְ; מִקֶּטֶב, יָשׁוּד צָהֳרָיִם
6 Pestilence that prowls in darkness, destruction that ravages at noon
דֶּבֶר = pestilence or plague
לֹא-תְאֻנֶּה אֵלֶיךָ רָעָה; וְנֶגַע, לֹא-יִקְרַב בְּאָהֳלֶךָ
10 No harm will befall you, nor will a lesion draw near to your tent.
נֶגַע = lesion, leprosy or plague
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As an aside, I have a personal connection to Psalm 91. Years ago, working as a geological consultant, I was engaged in doing some field work. It was one of those beautiful late autumn days in a West Virginia forest. The morning air was crisp and cool.
As I walked, I heard a buzzing sound that I took for the last chirps of some sought of insect. As I stepped forward over what appeared to be a fallen log, the buzzing noise stopped, and I paused. My field partner yelled at me: “Mike, Run!!” And I did. When I looked back, the fallen log, at least four feet long and thick as your leg, was moving and disappearing down a hole. It was a huge diamond back rattler and I had walked over it. I think one of the lessons for this Jew was to be a little more “observant”.
עַל-שַׁחַל וָפֶתֶן, תִּדְרֹךְ; תִּרְמֹס כְּפִיר וְתַנִּין.
13 On a lion and a viper you will tread; you will trample a young lion and a serpent.
14 For he yearns for Me, and I shall rescue him; I shall fortify him because he knows My name.
And just in case I needed a little more persuasion, the point was brought home a few months later. Doing some more fieldwork I had reason to climb up to the top of a very steep and tall ridge. The climb was difficult for me and when I reached the top, I rested and looked around in order to catch my breath and get my bearings.
It had snowed earlier in the morning and there in front of me on a patch of newly fallen snow was the largest paw prints that I had ever seen. And there just ahead of me along the ridge line was a cave which I guessed housed the creature that made those prints. I didn’t hang around to ask its name or check whether it was an old or young lion, but when I had a chance to gather my wits I thought back to Psalm 91, Verse 13 and 14 regarding lions and such, and the prerequisites for obtaining Divine Protection.
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PRICE OF FREEDOM
REMEMBERANCE DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY:
YOM ZICHORON & YOM HA'ATZMAUT
Remembrance Day and Independence Day
יום העצמאותיום זיכרון
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REMEMBERANCE DAY, יום זיכרון
Yom HaZicharon is normally observed on the 4th of Iyar; this year it has been moved earlier to the 2nd so not to conflict with Shabbat. This year the holiday falls on Tuesday evening, the 29th of April. On it we remember Israel’s fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terrorism. We light a Memorial candle. The siren will sound at 8 PM. Next morning at 11 AM the siren will sound again; the country stands still for a moment of silence A memorial service will be held at the Nahariya military cemetery. At home we read Psalms 9 and 144. It is a sad day.
It is particularly sad because the country is at war and more so because of the massacres of October 7, 2023 that remain an open wound with hostages yet to be freed and Hamas yet to be destroyed.
There is an on-going cost to keep us Israelis safe and free.
To those we have lost: May their memory be for a blessing.
May Hashem avenge their blood.
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In combat the IDF is not just for men. Women also play their role.
The most notable example is the Caracal unit. While Caracal is a mixed gender battalion, it has been 70% female since 2009.
On 7 October 2023, seven female Israeli tank crew members from Caracal fought against Gazans who were Hamas continuously for 17 hours. The battle was the first instance in modern military history of an all-female armored unit taking part in combat. According to They killed 50 militants.
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יום זיכרון, MEMORIAL DAY
A reflection on Memorial Day, יום זיכרון which we will soon celebrate.
I get to the Military Cemetery early. Some young people handed me a bouquet. I turned to the graves; there were so many of them. I did not know which one to lay the flowers on. I chose 34-year-old Lt. Eliyahu Tadri who perished in July of 1948. It has been a most sad day. I am in a blue funk. Nearby to Lt. Tadri were the graves of three 18-year-olds.
It has been a very sad day.
Immediately following Yom HaZichoron, Memorial Day, we began to celebrate Independence Day, Yom Ha’Atzmaut. During the Maariv service the Ark is opened; we say the Hallel and the Shofar is blown. It is festive, but I am still wrestling with my emotions from Yom HaZichoron. I don’t feel like dancing and the fireworks of Independence Day hold little attraction.
I drink a L'Chaiim to Lt. Tadri and go to bed.
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THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IN NAHARIYA,
REMEMBERANCE DAY, יום זיכרון
Let's step back to 2016:
In 2016 there was a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. Two Palestinian gunmen opened fire on patrons at the Max Brenner Café in the Sarona Market, killing four people and injuring seven others.
The attack was horrific, but the paradigm was not a new one. While the slaughter was going on at Tel Aviv’s Sarona market, I was with a group of English speaking Olim in Nahariya. We had gathered by an apartment building located at 19 Balfour Street. In 1974 this building was also the site of a terrorist attack in which a mother and her two children aged 5 and 12 were murdered.
There were about two dozen of us Olim. We walked around the building led by Motti Zarenkin who lost his wife, son and daughter that tearful night in 1974. Motti began his story. He took us to the rear of the building and showed us the first floor apartment where he and his family had lived some 42 years ago. Motti pointed out two windows: a bedroom window through which his wife and children tried to make their escape and a bathroom window where he had started to climb through before being shot and severely wounded.
In 1974 there had been a series of terrorist raids in the Galilee. It made sense for Israelis to have a plan in place in the event that their home became under attack. Unfortunately the same is true today. The Zarenkin family had such a plan. If under attack, Motti would lock the front door and then the family would escape through a bedroom window.
The Zarenkins lived on the first floor of the building. Late on the night of June 23, the concussion of a grenade and the sound of small arms fire quickly brought Motti to the terrifying truth that the building was under attack. He feared that the terrorists would break into his apartment, but he and his wife had planned for this frightening reality and so he ran to secure the front door.
While Motti was locking the front door, his wife, son and daughter were exiting the apartment as planned on a rope previously woven from sheets. They reached the ground and began running toward the street. But they were spotted and a grenade killed all three of them. Motti did not know this; he thought that he had saved his family. When he tried to escape the apartment as well, through a bathroom window, he was shot. Wounded, Motti climbed back into his apartment, where he hid until found by soldiers.
Motti was taken to the hospital and was being prepared for surgery. This was the first of nine surgeries over a three month period. Just before he went under the anesthesia, his brother-in-law told him that his wife and children had been killed. “What will you do”, his brother-in-law asked? “I will get through this and make a new life”, Motti responded.
And although it is impossible to put yourself in his shoes, that’s what Motti did. There is another piece to Motti’s story. In 1979, Nahariya once again was under attack. This time a mother lost her only infant child. It was a terrible thing. The mother was beyond reconciliation. She would not able to speak or be with anyone. Her grief was unimaginable. Motti was asked to approach her which he did. She knew who he was and what unspeakable agony he had gone through. The mother and Motti spoke. Like Motti, despite her tragedy she persevered. Today she has a growing family. Motti had saved her.
Motti moved to Haifa. He built a new family, even grandchildren. This was the first time that Motti chose to tell his story. It was beyond riveting. We were honored to have been selected to hear his story. Motti was truly a man; resolute, a role model for all us Jews, and he makes me proud to be an Israeli. Moti passed away in 2020.
The terrorists who attacked the market in Tel Aviv were members of Hamas. They did not come from the sea as they did in 1974 and 1979. They came from a town near Beersheba. They are evil. Hamas and Fatah are evil. And as we have learned, sad but true; evil will not cure itself.
To the families of the slain Israelis in Tel Aviv: May the Almighty comfort you among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
For Motti’s deceased wife and children: Peace be upon them; May the memory of the Holy ones be for a blessing, and May Hashem avenge their blood.
The same is true today for all the fallen ones.
May their memory be for a blessing...Only simchas.
Only good news.
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Independence Day, יום העצמאות
Normally Independence Day falls on the 5th of Iyar. This because of Shabbat it will fall earlier, and is celebrated on Wednesday evening, the 30th of April.
There is a prayer for the State of Israel found in my prayer book:
Our Father in Heaven, Rock of Israel and Redeemer, Bless the State of Israel, the First flowering of Our Redemption.
אָבִינוּ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם,
צוּר יִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹאֲלוֹ,
בָּרֵךְ אֶת מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל,
רֵאשִׁית צְמִיחַת גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ
According to Rabbi Sacks excerpted from the Koren Siddur, the phrase "the first flowering of our redemption" means that the restoration of Israel as a sovereign nation in its own land was not merely an event in secular history. It is the fulfillment of a prophetic vision--first stated by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:4 --that Israel would one day will be gathered from "the furthermost lands under the heavens".
Astonishingly, this precise prediction has actually happened
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OMER COUNT FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY
Let's not forget the counting of the Omer for the 5th of Iyar which is the 20th day of the Omer count.
Rabbi Simon Jacobson provides spiritual insight into the counting of the Omer for each and every day. For the 20th Day of the Omer, which is day six of the third week we are directed to correct the flaw in the Sefirat known as Yesod of Tiferet. Here Tiferet is considered as compassion, and Yesod having within it the ability to bond. Rabbi Jacobson explains how the compassion of the day can be rectified:
"For compassion to be fully realized, it needs bonding. It requires creating a channel between giver and receiver. A mutuality that extends beyond the moment of need. A bond that continues to live on. That is the most gratifying result of true compassion. Do you bond with the one you have compassion for, or do you remain apart? Does your interaction achieve anything beyond a single act of sympathy?"
The 20th Day of the Omer coincides with Yom Ha'atzmaut. Consider Rabbi Jacobson’s words in the context of a relationship between Jews outside of Israel and our Land of Israel.
To correct the flaw in this Sefriat, Rabbi Jacobson proposes the following exercise: Ensure that something eternal is built (the Land of Israel) as a result of your (Jews living outside of Israel) compassion.
