Gradual, Intentional Healing
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Gradual, Intentional Healing
Parshat Tazria-M'tzora, 5780
Saturday, April 25, 2020
פרשת תזריע-מצורע, תש״פ
Parshat Tazria-M'tzora, 5780
by Rabbi Sydni
Saturday, April 25th, 2020
Gradual, Intentional Healing
It took me a long time to send Jackquie information for the May calendar. I wanted so badly to write in Shabbat services on Friday nights and Saturday mornings at the synagogue. I wanted so badly to schedule our Shavuot celebration for all night long on May 28, with food and drink to welcome each other’s presence once again. But of course, I know, we are not there yet. Even if Louisiana’s restrictions are lifted for May in the next few days, we are not yet a community free from COVID-19; even looking towards the end of next month, there is a good chance that gathering in groups will not be safe or compassionate for the members of our community who are at risk.
Late last night, I finally sent the month’s calendar to Jackquie, with all events scheduled online, for now. And when I woke up this morning to study our parashah, Tazria-Metzora, I found profound wisdom in this text filled with isolation and medical testing and bodily fluid for the very first time. Parashat Tazria speaks mainly of the isolation one must undergo when she is afflicted with a skin ailment known as tzara’at. When she first shows symptoms, she must be tested by a priest, who examines the color and shape of her bruises and rashes. If she is well, she is proclaimed tahor, clean. If she is doubtfully ill, she is isolated for seven days, and then perhaps even another seven days, and then she is tested again. If she is clearly ill, she is proclaimed tamei, unclean, and is unable to participate in Jewish ritual life. Yes, isolation, testing, and a general awareness about the communal dangers of contagion are parallel to today’s situation, but what catches my attention the most is the process the Biblical community takes to let the affected person back into society.
Parashat Metzora, the second in our double parashah, makes it clear that the community is not ready for full participation of the afflicted until there is no doubt the afflicted is well. And when that person is well, she returns to the community in carefully thought out stages that acknowledge the great personal changes that have been made during the time of her captivity.When the priest has decided that the afflicted person is well and has tested her as such, the priest guides her through a sacrificial ritual. She then immerses, a tradition in Judaism that represents a sort of spiritual rebirth, and even then, she comes back into the camp in partial isolation for the next seven days. Finally, at the end of those seven days, she brings her own sacrifice in public celebration of and gratitude for her new freedom.
In our community right now, all of us, even those of us who may not show symptoms, are in that doubtful tamei state of one who is afflicted with COVID-19. Until medical experts have deemed that we are safe, just as a priest must give the okay to the person formerly afflicted with tzara’at, we perform our duty of staying in our homes as much as we can until that point in time. And as we look towards the future, when restrictions are loosened, we cannot take our new world of increasing freedom for granted. Just like the person who has been tameh from tzara’at, our identities have been changed from living in this world of distance and worry for so long. Just like the metzora, both practically and emotionally, we will not be able to re-enter our world all at once.
Rather, I believe that with each step we start taking towards the freedom we once enjoyed, we must practice some sort of celebratory ritual. Whether it is a special meal with those we have not been able to see or a donation to our favorite charity or a journal entry, with every restriction loosened, we have the opportunity to celebrate each of those moments with real intention. On the day we can return to the dog park, let us ask ourselves how we each have changed personally during our time at home. On the day we can get that long-awaited haircut, let us observe what is so different about the world we are reentering. And on that first day back at Agudath Achim, as a community, let us acknowledge the gratitude we hold for living through this, for having passed the time connecting over the phone with long-lost friends, reading books, creating art, or improving our gardens.
At this moment in time, I am dreaming about the future - envisioning that eventually, we will start being able to trickle back into the synagogue, first with face masks and six feet apart, and then, some day, with the same physical closeness we were able to enjoy just a couple of months ago. At that point in time, I envision, we will have a big celebration of each other’s company, and of course, of each other’s fine baking and cooking expertise. Right now is difficult, really difficult, and yet, I appreciate that we are maintaining this community who will be so vital to supporting each other in our eventual transition back to a new sort of normal. Although that moment is not now, when we get there, let us be as deliberate as the Torah is in its treatment of recovery from tzara’at, celebrating and supporting each other through our gradual healing. Shabbat Shalom.
Tue, October 8 2024
6 Tishrei 5785
Rabbi's Sermons
Bereshit - Genesis
- Parshat Bereshit: Oct. 26, 2019, October 1, 2021, October 2, 2021
- Parshat Noah: Nov. 2, 2019, October 8, 2021, Oct. 29, 2022
- Parshat Lekh-L'kha: Nov. 9, 2019, Oct. 31, 2020, Oct. 31, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 15, 2021
- Parshat Vayeira: Nov. 16, 2019, Nov. 7, 2020, Nov. 7, 2020 - Part 2, Oct. 22, 2021, Oct. 23, 2021
- Parshat Hayei Sara: Nov. 14, 2020, Oct. 30, 2021
- Parshat Toldot: Nov. 30, 2019, Nov. 21, 2020, Nov. 6, 2021
- Parshat Vayeitzei: Nov. 28, 2020, Nov. 13, 2021
- Parshat Vayishlah: Dec. 14, 2019 , Dec. 5, 2020, November 20, 2021
- Parshat Vayeisheiv: Dec. 12, 2020, Nov. 27, 2021
- Parshat Miketz: Dec. 4, 2021
- Parshat Vayigash: Jan. 4, 2020, Dec. 26, 2020, Dec. 11, 2021
- Parshat Vay'hi: Jan. 11, 2020, Jan. 2, 2021
Shemot-Exodus
- Parshat Sh'mot: Jan. 18, 2020, Jan. 18, 2020 - Part 2, Jan. 9, 2021
- Parshat Va'eira: Jan. 25, 2021
- Parshat Bo: Feb. 1, 2020, Jan. 23, 2021
- Parshat B'shalah: Jan. 30, 2021, Jan. 15, 2022, Feb. 3, 2023, Feb.4, 2023
- Parshat Yitro: Feb. 15, 2020, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 6, 2021, Feb. 21, 2022, Feb. 22, 2022
- Parshat Mishpatim: Feb. 22, 2020, Feb. 18, 2023
- Parshat T'rumah: Feb. 29, 2020, Feb. 29, 2020 - Part 2, Feb. 20, 2021, Feb. 4, 2022, Feb. 5, 2022, Feb. 25, 2023
- Parshat T'tzaveh: March 7, 2020, Feb. 27, 2021, Feb. 12, 2022, Feb. 11, 2022
- Parshat Ki Tisa: March 14, 2020, March 6, 2021, February 19, 2022
- Parshot Vayak'heil-P'kudei: March 21, 2020, March 13, 2021, February 26, 2022, March 18, 2023
Vayikra-Leviticus
- Parshat Vayikra: March 20, 2021, March 11, 2022, March 24, 2023, March 25, 2023
- Parshat Tzav: April 4, 2020, March 27, 2021, March 19, 2022
- Parshat Sh'mini: April 18, 2020
- Parshot Tazria-Metzora: April 25, 2020, April 17, 2021, April 2, 2022, April 20, 2024
- Parshot Achrei Mot-Kedoshim: May 2, 2020, April 24, 2021, May 7, 2022, May 3, 2024, May 10, 2024
- Emor: May 9, 2020, May 1, 2021, May 13, 2022, May 14, 2022, May 6, 2023
- Parshot B'har-B'hukotai: May 8, 2019, May 16, 2020, May 7, 2021, May 21, 2022, May 28, 2022, May 24, 2024, May 31, 2024
Bamidbar-Numbers
- Parshat Bamidbar: May 15, 2021, May 20, 2023, June 7, 2024
- Parshat Nasso: June 6, 2020, June 6, 2020 - Part 2, May 22, 2021, June 10, 2022, June 2, 2023, June 14, 2024
- Parshat B'ha'alotcha: June 13, 2020, June 13, 2020 - Part 2, June 9, 2023, June 10, 2023, June 21, 2024
- Parshat Sh'lach: June 20, 2020, June 20, 2020 - Part 2, June 5, 2021, June 28, 2024
- Parshat Korah: June 27, 2020, July 18, 2020, July 24, 2023, July 5, 2024
- Parshot Chukat-Balak: June 26, 2021, July 12, 2024, July 19, 2024
- Parshat Pinchas: July 11, 2020, July 11, 2020 - Part 2, July 2, 2021, July 3, 2021, July 22, 2022, July 23, 2022, July 26, 2024
- Parshot Matot-Masei: July 18, 2020, July 18, 2020 - Part 2, July 10, 2021, July 30, 2022, August 2, 2024
D'varim-Deuteronomy
- Parshat D'varim: July 25, 2020, July 25, 2020 - Part 2, July 17, 2021, August 6, 2022, August 9, 2024
- Parshat Va'et'hanan: Aug. 1, 2020, July 24, 2021, August 12, 2022, August 13, 2022, Aug. 16, 2024
- Parshat Eikev: Aug. 8, 2020, July 31, 2021, August 19, 2022, August 20, 2022
- Parshat Re'eh: August 7, 2021, August 30, 2024
- Parshat Shoftim: September 7, 2019, Aug. 22, 2020, August 14, 2021, August 14, 2021 - Part 2, September 3, 2022, September 6, 2024
- Parshat Ki Teitzei: Aug. 29, 2020, August 20, 2021, September 13, 2024
- Parshat Ki Tavo: Sept. 5, 2020, Sept. 5, 2020 - Part 2, August 28, 2021, Sept. 17, 2022, Sept. 20, 2024
- Parshot Nitzavim-Vayeilech: Sept. 11, 2021, September 24, 2022, Sept. 27,2024
- Parshat Ha'Azinu: Sept. 26, 2020, October 4, 2024
- Parshat Haberakhah
Rosh HaShanah: Sept. 19, 2020, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 2, Sept. 19, 2020 - Part 3, Sept. 20, 2020, Sept. 7, 2021, Sept. 8, 2021, Sept. 9, 2021, Sept. 26, 2022
Yom Kippur: Sept. 28, 2020, Sept. 16, 2021, October 5, 2022
Sukkot: Oct. 3, 2020 , Sept. 20, 2021
Passover: April 3, 2021, April 23, 2022, April 7, 2023, April 12, 2023 April 27, 2024
Rosh Hodesh: April 22, 2023
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