There’s a
disease mentioned in this week’s double parasha , Tazria – Metzorah. The illness is one that we will read about
again when Miriam speaks out against her brother, Moses, for marrying a Cushite
woman. The disease is called tza-raat
and when we see it again in the book of Numbers, it is inflicted upon Miriam as
a form of punishment by G-d.
If you look
at the Torah’s perspective, Tzaraat is an illness that manifests itself on the
skin of an infected individual as well as on their clothing and on the walls of
their house. Commentators have often
stated that tzaraat is an illness that punishes
an individual for a character flaw. The
individual suffering from the disease is temporarily ostracized by being kept
separate from the camp. In a sense, they
are shamed before the entire community as they wait to be healed for having a
spiritual flaw that manifests itself as a physical affliction.
This outlook
found in the Torah and commented upon by Rabbis over the centuries, should not
be understood as Judaism’s only outlook on illness. Let’s take a look at the misheberach we say
at the end of a Torah service for all those who are ill. This prayer stems back to the middle
ages. The words state, “Hu yivarech
virapay et a holeh, hakadosh baruch hu yimaley rachamim alav, lahachaziko,
ul’rapoto, v’hishlach lo m’hayrah r’fuah shlaimah l’chol aveirav v’gidav b’toch
sh’ar cholay yisrael , r’fuat ha nefesh u’r’fuat ha guf, hastah ba’agalah,
uvizman kariv v’nomar ameyn.
The exact
translation: may He who blesses our
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah bless
and heal the sick , may the holy one overflow with compassion upon him, to
strengthen him, to heal him, and to bring him speedily complete recovery to all
his body parts and veins among the other sick people of Israel, healing of soul
and healing of body, soon, speedily and without delay.
This prayer
acknowledges the physical and spiritual components to illness but does not
equate illness with a spiritual or character flaw. It does acknowledge,
however, that spiritual and physical well-being are needed for a full
life.
Just as we
pray for an individual’s well-being on shabbat during the Torah service, we
also have inserts in the weekday Amidah for adding in prayers of healing for
individuals. We state, veehee ratzon
milfanecha Adonai elohaynu vaylohay avoteinu, shetishlach m’hayrah r’fuah
shleimah min hashamayim, r’fuat ha nefesh u r’fuat ha guf l’ ______________
b’toch sh’ar cholay yisrael. Ki ayl
Melech rofey neeman v’ rachaman atah.
Baruch atah Adonai rofay cholay amo yisrael. Let it be your will Lord our god and god of
our ancestors, that you will quickly send complete healing from the heavens,
healing of soul and healing of the body to ____________along with all the
others of Israel who are sick. Because
you are a faithful healer and merciful.
Blessed are you Lord, healer of the sick of His people Israel. Notice
once again the mention of healing body and soul.
We are also instructed to fulfill the mitzvah
of bikkur cholim, visiting the sick and while doing so to be mindful of the
length and timing of our visits. We are
also to be mindful of the dignity of the individual who is ill. Our participation in this mitzvah allows us
to see ourselves as being help mates to a loving, caring G-d who brings healing
to the sick.
When we read
about tzaraat and the removal of an individual from the community, or perhaps
the shunning of an ill-individual, we might think about how barbaric this kind
of treatment sounds. I would like to
suggest that shunning an ill person is still most apparent in our society when
we think about how we treat individuals with various forms of mental
illness. I have had the opportunity to
participate in two incredible sessions about mental health put on by our region
5 systems over the past year. The first
was about mental health and threat assessments and the second was mental health
first aid for adults assisting young people. We often judge individuals who
have a form of mental illness as being responsible for their conditions. We generalize by saying that they lack will,
they are not trying hard enough, they are dangerous, they must be
ostracized. We don’t always remember the
bio-chemical component involved in mental health conditions nor the need for
community support in the process of recovery and re-building one’s life. The current best practice for treatment of
mental health conditions involves providing medication, counseling or
psychological therapy, and support for families. Shaming an individual can be a barrier to that
individual or their family seeking help.
As we deal
with this pandemic, this form of a plague that is affecting so many individuals
in our world, it is important to realize that just as physical health is being
affected, mental health is also being affected as well. Depression, anxiety, and ptsd are reactions
many individuals are experiencing as they deal with our new stresses and our
new reality.
As the Dean of the Boston University School of Public
Health, Dr. Sandro Galea, wrote, “ we need to
realize that we are all in this together, that no one should ever have to feel
alone. As we continue to use social distancing in the coming months, we should
also reach out in whatever safe ways we can, letting the ones in our lives know
that, though perhaps physically isolated, they remain embedded in a web of care
and concern. Our health, both physical and mental, is linked. When trauma
strikes a society, it does not just strike a group of individuals who happen to
live in the same place. It exposes how connected we are, and support health—physical
and mental—in the days to come.”
So now let’s get back to a final word about Tzaraat. When an
individual was living outside the camp, it was the Kohen, the priest, who would
make contact with that individual, putting his hands on them and checking on
them regularly. The visits happened
every seven days to see if there had been a change in the individual’s
condition. In essence, he was also making
it known to the individual that he wanted to help him find a way back into the
community and would help the ill individual find a way to regain his
health. Maybe the lesson for us, in
reading about this is that we need to be the ones, just like the Kohen, who will
reach out to those who are not physically or emotionally well. We need to let others know we will work to
help them find a way back to health.
This is not any different than the message of modern day health
professionals who understand the connection between physical and emotional
well-being and the place that community plays in healing.
No comments:
Post a Comment