Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Nisan, 5784
Parsha Metzora’ – “Tzara’at sufferer”: (Leviticus 14:1 – 15:33)
Seventh Portion: Leviticus 15:29 – 15:33

Shabbat Shalom! This is our final Shabbat before Passover begins Monday night. This is the rest before we “clean house” and search within to find the parts of us that need attention. Those pieces that are stuck in the past. Those things we are holding onto that keep us in slavery.

This week, we’ve been discussing “clean” and “unclean.” And it can be a struggle emotionally to wrap our minds and hearts around this.  Two years ago I wrote this:

 Someone was having a conversation with me about the idea of “pure” and “impure” in this weeks Parsha, and it is important to remember that The Torah does NOT call us “pure” and “impure” as humans. This is all a matter of RITUAL “impurity.” We have to ask ourselves; what does Ritual Purity mean? And what doesn’t it mean? I’ll confess I don’t have great answers to this. I will say it seems to be connected to how our soul connects to Hashem more than anything else. It’s a window into where our essence is in relation to our Neshama and Hashem. And, there are things WE do that cause us to be separated (ritually impure) and there are things that happen naturally (as we have been studying this week) that cause us to be separated. The idea of separation isn’t that it is “bad” – the idea of separation is it serves a function – to bring us BACK into restored relationship. Like any healthy relationships; they ebb and flow; it makes sense with Hashem, our relationship would also ebb (ritual impurity) and flow (ritual purity).

I went on to conclude:

And the idea is around what is the purpose of ritual impurity. The TL:DR version of this centers around the idea that we have to “go down” in order to “come up.” So the further down you go, the higher up you’ll come! It’s an interesting concept.

In our relationships, we want stability. In our relationship with food, with money, with our parents, with our kids, with our friends, our lovers.  We desire stability.  We expect it.

And the Torah here this week seems to be teaching us that relationships aren’t meant for the purpose of stability. They are meant for the purpose of TRANSFORMATION.

We ebb and flow. Like water.

I’m reflecting on water.

Elementally, I am a fire sign. I burn bright. And. I am learning, fire consumes source. The Torah talks about an eternal flame; which I resonate with. And. In our reality? I don’t have a stable source to keep my fire burning.

Let’s just say? My relationship to water? Not great. I mean I love swimming. But when I meet people who flow – who move like water? I feel doused. Like my energy is just snuffed out.

I am learning the value of water though.  Water shows me when to rest and just be, and when to take action. When to show restraint, and when to move.

I know people who are air signs – they are expansive. They look for possibilities. Water tends to feel too “grounded” for them. It’s limited. Yet, the air CONTAINS water. Water is needed for air to thrive. The water is what EXPANDS air.

I know people who are earth signs – the are stable. Solid. And water makes them mushy. It’s oft putting at times. And yet, without water, the ground dries up and won’t produce anything. We need water.

Water people? They flow. They get all over the place. And they need air, earth, and fire to give them form and shape.

It’s a beautiful tapestry.

And?

We are all of these. We have within us these elements.  We may resonate with one over the other, and we may resist others. And. They are all within us.

And. Tibetan Tantra adds one more piece to all of this which I love.

The idea of SPACE.

In Space? There is none of these. There is no fire, no air, no water, no earth. And? In Space? There are ALL of these. Space contains the planets that contain fire, air, water, and earth. It’s both/and.

Here’s the secret.

We get to create space. From nothing – we can co-create with the universe whatever we want in the space around us.

This is the message heading into Passover. This is the freedom of the wilderness.

Let’s dig in to our final portion this week.  The context is a woman who has finished cleansing her womb from the discharge of her period. A new cycle is beginning. Transformation is upon us:

29And on the eighth day, she shall take for herself two turtle doves or two young doves, and bring them to the kohen, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

30And the kohen shall make one into a sin offering and one into a burnt offering, and the kohen shall effect atonement for her, before the Lord, from the uncleanness of her discharge.

She brings four birds. The priest separates them out. Two selected to “go down” – one to accommodate the behavior, and the other to accommodate the feelings of guilt. (Side note: this is NOT saying the menstruation is “wrong” – though we must recognize religion has built this system for us to believe that to be true)

The truth is – the woman’s cycle is all about “right timing.” A time to show restraint and wait.  A time to act. A time to manifest. A time to gestate. A time to birth.

I’ll confess. I get impatient. I want to manifest and give birth. Those are the pieces that speak to my heart most. I’m not talking literal babies (though with six kids, that is certainly what the universe has provided) – but I am talking about ideas and concepts. I REALLY struggle with the restraint and gestation parts of co-creation. I think I may not be alone here.

Flow.  Like Water. Or? A woman’s Menstrual Cycle.

If there is a successful birth?

• Open space (pure womb)
• Action (seed planting – an idea)
• Manifestation (fertilization)
• Gestation
• Birth
• Restraint (recovery)

If there isn’t?

• Open space (pure womb)
• Action (seed planting – an idea)
• Prevention of Manifestation
• Restraint (recovery)

It’s interesting isn’t it? The parts I mentioned I resonate with earlier? Action and Birth? Are disconnected from the reality of the need gestation. And? When I act during a time of restraint? I am wasting seed because it cannot manifest during that time.

The idea of restraint and gestation in our processes is the flow of water we need here.

31And you shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness, so that they will not die on account of their uncleanness, if they defile My Sanctuary which is in their midst.

32This is the law for one who has a discharge, and one from whom semen issues, through which he becomes unclean,

33And for a woman who has her menstrual flow, and for one who has a discharge, whether male or female, and a man who cohabits with an unclean woman.

To me? This passage is trying to show us how to manifest everything we want.  It’s not just about literal babies. We must respect restraint and gestation.  This is the message of Torah as we enter into Passover.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from two years ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Nisan, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!!! I hope this day is restful for us! Let’s dig into the end of this week’s Parsha!

We close the parsha (which has mostly been about the reproductive systems of men and women) with a closing of the idea around women’s menstruation. We learned yesterday about what should happen when a woman experiences an “abnormal” menstruation- basically needing to count 7 clean days before she can become ritually pure.

Someone was having a conversation with me about the idea of “pure” and “impure” in this weeks Parsha, and it is important to remember that The Torah does NOT call us “pure” and “impure” as humans. This is all a matter of RITUAL “impurity.” We have to ask ourselves; what does Ritual Purity mean? And what doesn’t it mean? I’ll confess I don’t have great answers to this. I will say it seems to be connected to how our soul connects to Hashem more than anything else. It’s a window into where our essence is in relation to our Neshama and Hashem. And, there are things WE do that cause us to be separated (ritually impure) and there are things that happen naturally (as we have been studying this week) that cause us to be separated. The idea of separation isn’t that it is “bad” – the idea of separation is it serves a function – to bring us BACK into restored relationship. Like any healthy relationships; they ebb and flow; it makes sense with Hashem, our relationship would also ebb (ritual impurity) and flow (ritual purity).

There was an interesting article here that discusses this concept: https://www.chabad.org/…/On-the-Essence-of-Ritual…

And the idea is around what is the purpose of ritual impurity. The TL:DR version of this centers around the idea that we have to “go down” in order to “come up.” So the further down you go, the higher up you’ll come! It’s an interesting concept.

So let’s dig into the final part of the parsha;

After seven days of being “clear” on the eighth day, the woman should take two turtledoves or two young doves and bring them to the priest to sacrifice – just as we have been reading all week. At that point her discharges will be atoned for, bringing her back into connection with Hashem.

And we close with a reminder; all of this idea of “ritual impurity” really is about the tabernacle. Because God tells Moses and Aaron; “You should ensure that the children of Israel are dissociated from their ritual Impurity, so that their ritual impurity does not cause them to die IF THEY DEFILE MY TABERNACLE that I have placed among them.” I CAPITALIZED the crucial part here. All of this was about defiling the Tabernacle. If someone entered the tabernacle while ritually impure, they would die.

One takeaway from this (for me) is that it SEEMS that women had access to the Tabernacle. Otherwise, why would their need to be laws of ritual purity when it comes to women? So I extrapolate here that women did indeed have access to the holy places. Just like the men.

What are your thoughts? As always each Shabbat, my Haftorah thoughts will be in the comments below.

Todays Haftorah is from 2 Kings 7:3-20

It relates the account of “four Tzara’at suffers.”

The context of the passage is that it takes place during the siege of Samaria by King Ben-Hadad of Aram. This caused a famine, and even drove people to cannibalism (2 Kings 6:24-29). The king blamed Elisha the prophet who had stopped famine with his prayers in the past. When confronted, (a messenger was sent to kill Elisha) Elisha tells the messenger “relax, chill, food will be freely available at this time tomorrow.” The messenger didn’t believe him, but Elisha told him “not only will this happen, you don’t get to eat it!” (Paraphrasing)

So this is the context for the story of the four Tzara’at suffers sitting at the city gate.

These four said to each other “why should we sit here until we die of hunger?” They told each other basically, no matter what we do, we are going to die. They decide they are going to the enemy camp; where there was food. If the Arameans kill them, oh well – they don’t lose, because they would be dead if they remain. If the Arameans let them live, then they will live. It’s a no lose proposition!

So they went to the enemy camp.

What happens next is amazing.

When they get to the camp, no one was there.

Wait. What?

Yea. No one was there; because Hashem was ALREADY working behind the scenes. He caused the Arameans to believe they heard the sounds of chariots and horses; the sound of a great army. The Arameans thought the Hittite Kings and Egyptian Kings were hired by the King of Israel to attack them. So they fled.

The Tzara’at sufferers went into the camp and into the tents and ate and drank, took silver and gold and clothing. They went and hid it, came back and did it again in another tent.

But then they realized – this wasn’t right. They said to one another “today is a day of good news and we are being silent! If we wait until the morning, the king will find out and we will be guilty of withholding good news! We need to tell the king at once!”

So – that is an important lesson here. When we get good news; do we hoard it for ourselves, or do we share it with others? That’s something to reflect on.

So; they go back and tell the gatekeepers and it gets all the way up to the king. The king wakes up in the middle of the night, and his perspective is a little different.

He sees it as a trap. He believes The Arameans are plotting that once the Jews leave the town looking for food, the Arameans will take them alive and enter the town.

The servants advised sending five horses and riders to investigate – because if it’s a trap, and they die sooner, oh well; they were already going to die. But the king only sent two horses to investigate.

They followed the Arameans to the Jordan River and basically found the entire road covered with clothing and utensils which the Arameans had thrown away in haste so they could get away quickly.

Now; Elisha had ALREADY told the king this was going to happen. And yet the king STILL didn’t believe. But even with that doubt, the King in his due diligence was given the data to confirm what he should have believed by faith.

That’s comforting. Our faith is crucial. But we aren’t punished by investigating beyond our faith.

Now the king sent the messenger to kill Elisha (who the king relied on and trusted) was placed in charge of the gate.

Well, when word got out there was food, you can imagine what happened. The messenger got trampled to death; as Elisha had said.

Wow. So the takeaway here is trust Hashem. Our reality – the one we see with our eyes, may not be actual reality. There are other possibilities – and trust that Hashem works things out for our good!

What are your thoughts?