A few months ago I woke up feeling not so great. I was nauseous, my back hurt, and I felt generally yucky. But it was Monday morning and I had to get dressed, wake up the kids, drop them off at school, and get to work. I got myself ready, all while feeling really not like myself, and just as I was getting ready to head out the door, my pain and discomfort level shot up, and I gave in. Duncan took the kids to school, and I went to lie down. Two hours later, after resting, hydrating, and listening to my body’s signs, I was able to get up and move on with my day. I don’t believe that my temporary ailment was a punishment for something (or someone) I had done wrong. However, it’s very possible that it was the result of me not listening carefully enough to my own body.

This week’s Torah portion, Metzora, continues the discussion of the laws of ritual impurity and purification that were introduced in Parshat Tazria. Looking beyond this, there seems to be a deeper message in this portion to explore, one that deals with the various causes of sickness. Tzara’at, the skin disease that is the focus of this portion, was understood to be a punishment for sins such as gossip, slander, and arrogance. In other words, it was seen as a physical manifestation of spiritual impurity resulting from harmful speech and behavior. The Torah is teaching us that our words and actions have a powerful impact on others. We must be careful to avoid engaging in harmful speech and behavior, and if we do err, we must take responsibility for our actions and make amends.

As we reflect on this message, it’s important to remember that it’s not just our outward words and actions that can cause harm, but our inner thoughts as well. Just as our actions can have a significant impact on others, the way we treat ourselves – physically and emotionally – can take a toll. We must strive to act with kindness and compassion towards others and ourselves, recognizing that it’s not just the wellbeing of others that’s at stake, but also our own.

Furthermore, the purification process for someone afflicted with tzara’at emphasizes the importance of teshuvah (repentance) and the potential for spiritual growth and renewal. Through acknowledging our mistakes, making amends, and seeking to improve ourselves, we can overcome our flaws and become better people.

Let us strive to be mindful of the impact of our words and actions on ourselves and others, and let us embrace the potential for growth and renewal that comes with repentance and self-improvement. Let us listen to the signs our body is giving us about our own limits, and may we take this message to heart as we move forward into the coming week.

If the core isn’t solid, the integrity of a structure suffers. This is true for homes and commercial buildings as well as the structure of the human body or even the “structure” of a community. When we were doing renovations on our house a few years ago, I was very interested in the steps the builders took to make sure we had a sound structure. Naturally, I wanted our house to be strong and remain standing, but it went beyond that. I noticed the places where they used reinforced materials. I noticed where they pointed out a little bit of wood rot or gaps in insulation from old construction. All of that information was helpful to understanding the core strength of our home. 

On a personal and very physical level, it was around this time when I also started exercising regularly and often with my coach. As we cycled through the strength exercises, I would notice that some days worked muscles I didn’t know I had, resulting in incredible soreness, while other times, I hardly felt anything the next day. The muscles I used frequently were already strong and didn’t feel the strain, while the muscles I used less often made themselves known. The key to it all was building and maintaining a strong core. When my core was engaged, my body was more stable.

The idea of identifying the core of a structure, a person, or even an organization is at the center of this week’s Torah portion. This week’s portion, Metzora, is a pause in the narrative of the death of Aaron’s sons, his mourning process, and his rejoining the community. The text details the healing and purification processes of physical buildings and our nation of Israel. As you might imagine, these processes require different actions for different circumstances.

There’s a focus on literally scraping apart buildings and looking at materials to find the source of an impurity. Find the brick, scrape the mud, cut a hole, etc. When all else fails, the Torah asks the community to tear down the building altogether, because at its core, it isn’t sound and must be rebuilt. The commentators read these verses and liken the idea of building strong physical buildings to that of building strong communities.

In chapter 14, verses 43 through 45, the question we’re to ask is whether or not the building as a whole has superficial issues or “wounds,” or if it is the entirety of the building that is broken and must be torn down. In the commentary, we’re asked to use this same lens on our own organizations when there are problems, struggles, or stumbles. Is it the entirety of the institution that is failing, or are there individual boards that need replacing or screws that need tightening?  

Not every problem can be solved with a repair. Sometimes what you really need is an overhaul. Parshat Metzora reminds us that to be problem solvers means knowing the difference.

A year and a half ago, Duncan and I decided to move forward with a major renovation of our home. We were desperate for more space for our growing family and wanted our house to fully function for our daily needs. As we started the process, it became clear that given the age of our home we needed to test for lead and asbestos. Chances were slim, but better safe than sorry. Different people came to our house and took what you might call biopsies of our walls to determine if there was anything that would be poisonous to the people who would come in contact with the inside of those walls as they reconstructed our space.

Even though we believed our house was pretty low-risk (it was built in the 1980s), was it possible we had been living in our house for four years while our son and daughter were being exposed to dangerous substances? Was our house suddenly no longer this safe space we assumed it was to raise our family? And then if they started construction, would the dust particles spread and contaminate everything? We couldn’t be 100% sure until the tests all came back safe.

Asbestos and black mold might be the modern dangers of the past few decades, but concern about the safety of our living spaces goes back as far as the Torah. This week’s Torah portion, Metzora, is a pause in the narrative between the death of Aaron’s sons and his mourning process and then rejoining the community. The text details the healing and purification processes of physical buildings and our nation of Israel. These processes require different actions for different circumstances.

Chapter 14, verses 33-53 deal entirely with construction. That is to say that this section of text is entirely devoted to making sure that we are aware that our homes and buildings are holy vessels that help to sustain life, and if they are not safe spaces, then our community is at risk.

It is a Torah mandate to make sure that our living spaces are safe. Whether this means making sure we are lead free or asbestos free, or that our homes have safety measures in place for fires or other destructive forces, it is imperative that we are creating warm, loving, and safe environments for our children to grow in. While doing the construction served a much bigger purpose than checking for harmful toxins in our sacred family space, I was still glad to know that our home was and is as safe as we can make it for our children and all who come to play there.