2 May 2025
Week of – 27 April – 3 May 2025
Torah portion : Leviticus 12 :1-15 :33 Haftarah : II Kings 7 :3-20
Theme: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy
When I was preparing for the Bat Kol study of Vayikra in July 2008, I was struck by the incredible awe with which the Israelites regarded the Holiness of the LORD. I felt that it was something I could really imitate. My favourite chapter is still and will always be 19. For me that is the essence of being holy as the LORD God is holy. When I offered to write this commentary, I did not realise what I was letting myself in for, especially with regards to chapter 12. I understand that the thought behind the laws is the beginning and end of life which are in the hands of the Holy One. I find a reason in this for the underlying feeling of sex being dirty as well as the discrimination between boys and girls. Dr Amy Jill Levine makes the point that both Matthew and Paul encourage celibacy but that John in 2:1- 12 presents Jesus and his mother and disciples at a wedding where he performs his first sign as the One sent by God.
The following is adapted from Rebbetzin Malka Touger placed on Chabad.org. “Do you get goose pimples when you are scared, or a nervous stomach when you are excited? Isn’t that strange? After all, it’s your mind and heart that feel excitement or fear. Why do your hands and stomach react in this way? Gd created our bodies to be sensitive and to react to the things which we think and feel. The Torah tells us that there was a time when people were so sensitive, that they could actually see a change on their skin because of something they said. When a person would speak bad things about other people over and over again, blotches of discolored skin, would appear on his body. The Torah calls this person a metzora. The word metzora is short for three words in Hebrew meaning saying bad things about someone else (“motzi shem ra“). The blotches or leprosy is a type of impurity from which the metzora had to purify himself. If a person discovered it on his body, he had to leave the entire camp of the Jewish people and follow the Torah’s instructions for purifying himself. He separated one Jew from another. Therefore, the Torah tells him that he must stay away from the rest of the people until he becomes purified.
If the metzora has to stay alone, away from everyone else, who is going to help him become pure? The Kohen – priest – comes to purify him. The priests are kind and loving toards their fellows. Listen carefully to the Priestly Blessing on holidays in the synagogue. They say: ‘Blessed are you Gd… Who has commanded us to bless His nation, Israel, with love.’ The metzora did not show love for his fellow when he spoke badly of others. He needs to be shown the right way to act — and the priests, with their strong love for their fellows, can do this job best. Because he cares for another Jew, even a metzora, the Kohen goes out from the holy Temple, the holiest place in the world. He walks to the outskirts of the city, to the place where the metzora is staying, to help him become pure and come back to his community with more love for his fellow than he had before.”
I find the mercy and care of the Kohen an example for all shepherds of communities. That was the LORD’s reason for choosing the Israelites – to show the LORD’s goodness and mercy through the way they treated one another and that continues for us as the shoot from the Olive tree.
For Reflection and Discussion:1) What are your thoughts/feelings regarding the Holiness of God and what is expected of us in response?
Bibliography: Tazria-Metzora Parshah Lesson – Family Parshah – Parshah; https.// sioncentre.org/recordings- of- our -zoom- sessions : Amy Jill Levine: The Wedding feast at Cana
This week’s Parashah Commentary was prepared by
Bernadette Teresa Chellew, South Africa, Bat Kol Alumna: 2008
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