The Torah鈥檚 Prescription for Healing
WebMD, a commonly consulted Internet source of medical information, devotes three pages to 鈥�.鈥� The site takes up the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of eczema, granuloma annulare, lichen planus, and pityriasis rosea, respectively. As for the etiology of the conditions, WebMD states in each case that 鈥渢he cause . . . is unknown.鈥�
Given the discomfort, discomfiture, and uncertainty that even mild skin eruptions can cause us nowadays, it should come as no surprise that they were a source of anxiety in ancient times. In this week鈥檚 parashah, that anxiety finds expression amidst an array of concerns about the human body and its functions. The purity laws in through 15, which digress from the narrative flow of the book, are concerned with diet (chapter 11), reproduction (chapter 12), and bodily integrity (chapters 13 to 15, including property as an extension of the person).
In the context of the biblical cult, impurity arises out of perceived deviation from a 鈥渘ormal鈥� state, skin eruptions and bodily emissions serving as obvious cases in point. Rituals of purification either signify or effectuate a return from 鈥渄eviant鈥� to 鈥渘ormal.鈥� The destruction of the Temple and the concomitant end of Temple sacrifice eliminated both the need to remain in a state of ritual purity and the means of attaining that state. The biblical conceptions of normalcy and deviance, moreover, became increasingly obscure or alien to post-biblical sensibilities. As a result, alternative interpretations of the purity laws arose early in the history of interpretation.
At a glance, the opening chapters of Parashat Metzora seem like a biblical antecedent of WebMD. describes the disfiguring symptoms of 爪专注转/tzara`at, starting with 鈥渁 swelling, a rash, or a discoloration鈥� that 鈥渄evelops into a scaly affection鈥� (). The text then goes into specific manifestations, instructing the priest as to the proper diagnosis in each case.
Whatever condition is designated by the term tzara`at, it is not 鈥渓eprosy鈥� or Hansen鈥檚 disease鈥攁 misunderstanding that may be traced to the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Torah). In any case, the priest鈥檚 responsibility is not to identify the condition per se, but to determine whether or not it imparts impurity. In contrast to WebMD, prescribes a course of ritual action rather than medical treatment. The diagnostician is not a physician, after all, but a priest, and the rituals are to be undertaken only after the sores of the afflicted individual have healed (14:3). The purpose of the rituals is cultic purification (14:2), not medical treatment.
Isaac Caro (1458鈥�1535) addresses this point in his Toledot Yitzhaq on , where he writes that interest in the medical aspect of tzara`at 鈥渋s inappropriate for our Holy Torah, which is concerned with spiritual ailments and not physical ones. Skin eruptions are the province of medicine, which is concerned with bodily health (beri鈥檜t ha-guf), whereas the Torah鈥檚 concern is with spiritual benefit (to`elet ha-nefesh).鈥� After an aside on the physical causes of skin diseases, Caro reiterates that they are not the Torah鈥檚 subject matter: 鈥淭he Torah addresses tzara`at to teach that human ailments have two causes, one material (mi-tzad ha-homer) and the other spiritual (mi-tzad ha-nefesh),鈥� and the Torah speaks only to the latter. A person of sound constitution whose affliction is spiritual 鈥渄oes not have to go to a medical doctor, but to a healer of the spirit.鈥�
Today鈥檚 physicians are attentive to possible nonphysical causes of disease such as stress, anxiety, and depression, and many dermatological disorders have a psychosomatic component. According to the , 鈥淪tudies link factors that affect our emotional well-being . . . to an increase in skin, hair or nail problems.鈥� Or, as a practitioner puts it, 鈥淎 dermatologist鈥檚 work would be incomplete if he/she did not consider and examine the whole patient, not only the physical body . . . but also the individual鈥檚 mind (the psyche or the psychologic aspects, 鈥榯he soul鈥�).鈥� Lacking the resources and terminology of modern psychiatry to pinpoint the cause and potential cure of the 鈥渟piritual鈥� malaise, Caro relies on the longstanding rabbinic notion that 鈥渋t is brought on by evil speech.鈥� He subdivides 鈥渆vil speech鈥� into three categories: statements that are malicious even if true (lashon ha-ra); second-hand gossip (rekhilut); and outright slander (dibbah). Then he argues with considerable ingenuity that three of the items designated for the rituals of purification in are intended to provide reparation for the three forms of evil speech: the slaughtered bird for lashon ha-ra; the live bird for dibbah; and the crimson stuff for rekhilut.
Other texts offer broader and more general etiologies oftzara`at.听Leviticus Rabba17:3enumerates 10, possibly corresponding to the number of afflictions (nega`im) described in the parashah. The 10 causes are idolatry, illicit sex, bloodshed, profanation, blasphemy, embezzlement, theft of personal property, arrogance, evil speech, and casting the evil eye鈥攅ach one of which the midrash exemplifies with a biblical story. The author of Midrash Tadshe (chapter 16) boils them down to three: envy (referring to Miriam in), greed (Gehazi in), and arrogance (Uzziah in).
Modern medicine is attentive to the relationship of mind and body: our psychological state unquestionably affects our physical condition. As the admonishes us, 鈥淧ay attention to what your body is telling you about the state of your mind.鈥� This week鈥檚 parashah offers a similar lesson with respect to spiritual well-being: we must be attentive to what our bodies are telling us about the condition of our souls. The author of Midrash Tadshe (chapter 17) asks why the priest is commanded to take two birds for the ritual of purification, slaughtering one and setting the other free (). He asserts that the slaughtered bird, dead and buried in the ground, symbolizes an infirmity that is gone for good. The live bird, on the other hand, serves as a reminder that reverting to the behavior that brought on the ailment in the first place could engender a relapse: just as the bird might return from the open country, so the affliction might recur. It therefore makes good sense to avoid thoughts, words, and actions that can trigger ill effects鈥攕ound advice that is conveyed in an odd and intriguing way in Parashat Metzora as refracted through the lens of traditional commentary.
The publication and distribution of the 91快播 Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee and Harold (锄鈥漧) Hassenfeld.
The narrative resumes in , harking back to chapter 10.
[ii]Quotation from See also
[iii]For an excellent introduction to the concept of 鈥渆vil speech鈥� (lashon ha-ra) and its consequences, see
[iv]Midrash Tadshe, also known as Midrash Pinhas ben Yair, is a fascinating and unusual work, probably composed in Southern France sometime before 1000 CE. A copy of the Hebrew text may be downloaded .
