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Rabbi Barry Leff Digest
Number 35 Date 041203
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(Torah Commentaries)
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35. Tazria 5763 -- "outside the camp"
From: "Rabbi Barry Leff" <rebbarry@yeladim.org>
This week’s Torah portion, Tazria, is largely concerned with the
condition of “tza’ra’at,” a skin condition similar in appearance to
leprosy. When someone contracted this condition, he went to the Kohen,
the priest, for an inspection, and if the Kohen confirmed that the
person was in fact afflicted with tza’ra’at, the person was forced to
leave the camp, to live outside the camp in a sort of quarantine.
The Torah gives us clear guidelines about who should be put outside the
camp, and who makes the decision. The Kohen, made the decision. There
were clear criteria to be used…the effort was made to be inclusive, not
exclusive; doubtful cases were monitored, and remained in the camp until
it was certain that the person had the affliction.
The rabbis understood tza’ra’at not as a physical affliction, but as a
spiritual affliction. The priest was not acting as a physician making a
disease diagnosis and providing healing, but rather he was acting as a
“spiritual doctor,” looking for physical signs of what was understood to
be a contagious spiritual affliction…the root cause of the problem was
in the spirit, not in the body.
When the “spiritual expert,” the Kohen, determined that a particular
affliction was tza’ra’at, the person afflicted was commanded to leave
the camp. In later times, and in theory even today, Jews have had
another way to put people “outside the camp”—“cherem,” or
excommunication. Excommunication in Jewish law is not a black and
white, you’re in or out, type of punishment. Excommunication is
actually highly nuanced—people could be “put outside the camp” by the
rabbis for various periods of time, sometimes as little as a few days,
or a month, or in extreme cases permanently. A person who realized he
did something wrong, or acted disrespectfully toward his teacher could
put himself under the ban, put himself outside the camp, as a form of
penance.
Putting aside the question of who should get to decide who is in and who
is out, this idea of putting people outside the camp merits some
consideration. Are there people today who SHOULD be put outside the
camp, because they have a “spiritual affliction” or should we be
“all-inclusive?” If there are people who SHOULD be put outside the
camp, who are they? There are no simple answers to this question. Each
community should be free to set their own standards as to what
constitutes such an offense that the person should be expelled. For
example, a woman who was in an abusive relationship, and got a divorce,
might feel very uncomfortable, even physically threatened, being around
her ex-husband. She might feel that if the community fails to
pro-actively expel her ex for what he did, they are by default putting
her, the innocent victim, outside the camp because she may feel
uncomfortable coming back into camp.
With people who are danger to the community, whether abusers, drug
dealers, or thieves, it is easy to say that they don’t have a place in a
typical community. Other cases may be more difficult. There was an
article in Jewish papers in LA last year about a Jew who is active in
his community who makes his living as a producer of pornographic films.
Clearly a career that is in opposition to a great many Jewish values.
It should be up to an individual community to decide whether they want
someone like that participating prominently in their community.
The formal mechanism of “cherem,” excommunication, is very rarely used
in the Jewish world today. However, we certainly do continue to put
people “outside the camp.” All too often we each take on the role of
the priest ourselves, deciding that someone has a tza’ra’at worthy of
being sent out. Even worse, we often do this unconsciously. We don’t
make a conscious decision that someone has done something so bad that he
or she deserves to be put outside the camp. Rather, we do it
inadvertently; someone has an “affliction” of some sort, and we avoid
their company—putting them outside the camp just as effectively as if
the priest had looked at them and declared “impure, impure!”
Teens put others outside the camp for being different. What do we
adults put people outside the camp for? Who do we put in isolation?
Sick people are often put outside the camp, unconnected to their
community, especially if they have a disease like AIDS, or even cancer,
diseases that make others feel uncomfortable. The elderly are often
isolated, living alone, frequently lacking transportation or money to
get around.
The disabled, and not only the disabled themselves, but families with
“special needs children” are often left to feel isolated. Sometimes
physically when an institution is not easily accessible to those with
handicaps, sometimes just emotionally when they are not invited to
social events.
Intermarried couples are often not fully welcomed in to the community
because some people are very judgmental about other people’s lives.
Anyone who has been through a divorce can testify that it can be a very
isolating experience. People who were friends with the couple sometimes
don’t want to seem to “take sides,” or feel they no longer have much in
common with someone who is single. Or sometimes one spouse gets the
support of the community, and the other is left out in the cold.
Gays and lesbians often find that the only “camp” they can be welcome is
a small camp of other gays and lesbians.
People who are suddenly facing a financial downturn often find
themselves being put “outside the camp.” In the words of the 1929 blues
song by Jimmy Cox…made famous by Janis Joplin and Eric Clapton:
“In your pocket there ain't one penny
It's as for friends you don't have any
When you finally get yourself up on your feet again
Everybody wants to be your long lost friend
It's mighty strange but there ain't no doubt
Nobody loves you when you're down and out”
Why is it that we fail to put outside the camp those who deserve it, and
we DO put outside the camp those who don’t?
I suggest we act this way because it is the “easy way.” We don’t
exclude people because they deserve it due to a spiritual or moral
failing: we put people outside the camp who make us uncomfortable. If
life has been hard on someone and has afflicted them, we don’t know what
to say, so we avoid them entirely…putting them outside the camp.
Our tradition tells us not to do this accidentally. In a case of doubt,
the priest would keep the person within the camp, not send them out.
More than that, some of those people we isolate—those who are sick, or
grieving the loss of a loved one—our tradition tells us that in fact we
must reach out to them. It is mitzvah to visit the sick and to comfort
the mourners. We should remember that failing to reach out to people in
need, is putting them outside the camp without thinking. We put someone
outside the camp when we stop inviting them to join us for a meal.
We’ve put someone outside the camp if we don’t offer help in a time of
need. If we don’t make sure someone KNOWS he or she is a part of the
community we have effectively put them outside the camp.
In our dealings with one another, may we remember the lesson of this
week’s parsha: that putting someone outside the camp is a serious
business that should only be done carefully, intentionally, and when
there is no doubt. Let us not inadvertently put people outside the camp
who most need our loving and welcoming presence within the camp.
Shabbat Shalom
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The world is built on three things: on the Torah, on service of God, and
on lovingkindness…Pirkei Avot 1:2
Rabbi Barry Leff
Beth Tikvah Congregation
9711 Geal Road
Richmond, BC V7E 1R4
phone: (604) 271-6262
fax: (604) 271-6270
email: rebbarry@yeladim.org
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