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Tazria-Metzorah

04/26/2017 09:53:08 PM

Apr26

I was once on a tiyul (a hike) with a family friend in Israel, and along the trail was some sort of small concrete block with a few bolts sticking out of the top. I might not have even noticed it if my family friend didn’t stop, puzzled, trying to figure out what this construction remnant might have been. It just so happens that this hiking companion is an engineer and this was the type of thing he enjoyed thinking about.
 
We all have our areas of interests and expertise; the things we spend most of our day thinking about. We are a community made up of professionals and individuals with different jobs and hobbies and I wouldn’t be surprised that we each notice something a little different when we walk into a room. Do we notice the architecture? The lighting? The people? Their clothing? Their shoes?
 
In this week’s parsha, Tazria-Metzora, we are bombarded with ritualistic details surrounding issues of skin conditions and impurities. As a reader of the Torah, I always find myself feeling that these details are a little uninteresting to me. In a way, they are the concrete slabs and bolts that one might walk by without really thinking about it. Yet others might read these parshiyot and think about the importance of not alienating those who are sick in our community, or maybe about the power of immersion in a mikvah to make someone feel spiritually pure.
 
Whatever reasons we come up with to explain the concrete slabs, or the details on impurity and skin conditions, take the opportunity to appreciate the diverse viewpoints and experiences of the people that make up the community. Also, take this week as an opportunity to reflect on your own expertise and skill sets and remind yourself of the ways that your unique perspectives are invaluable to our community. Shabbat Shalom.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784