This week’s portion – Met’zorah (the leper) – is not only a direct continuation of last week’s portion, but in most years they are read together. This year, we are giving Met’zorah its own due, which allows us to reflect another week on the notion we began to explore last week. That notion – the ubiquity, or totality of Judaism – as well as the upcoming Passvover Seder would be the two points I will shortly discuss today.
I. The Ubiquity of Judaism - in Our Lives….
Last week we began to discuss the unique nature of Judaism, in that it surrounds us from cradle to grave, 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, every single day of our lives. We noted, in brief, the notion of our “holiness” as people, as opposed to the more mundane aspects of our biological life. This week, I wanted to expand a bit on this notion.
In the introduction to the two portions – Tazri’a and Met’zorah – we find, in the Portion of Sh’mini, the ultimate declaration of the connection between the People of Israel and the Lord our God: “For I am the Lord your God, and you shall become holly, and you shall remain holy, for I am holy, and you shall not contaminate your soles.” (Lev. 12:44, my translation). Here, we see not only the many times in which the term “holy” appears, but the only time where the term “Tah-mmè” – often translated as unclean, impure, or contaminated – appears, in the negative sense: “you shall not contaminate your soles.” Accordingly, the essence of the connection between the Jewish person and his or her God depends on the notion of holiness. But in the past two weeks, and this week in particular, we read much more about the “Tah-mmè” and its derivatives than on “holiness.” We thus read more on bodily discharges, menstrual cycle, skin and other diseases – and less on “holy” notions such as standing before God.
This, as I mentioned last week, is not a coincidence. The notion of “holiness” and “Tah-mmè” do go hand-in-hand in Judaism. The ideal and its mirror image, the most elevated and the least, the most unique form of human life and the most mundane – are all a part of Judaism. And when the Shulchan Aruch (the set table) – one of the most important books ever written in Judaism – opens, it does not begin with “you shall be holy before the Lord your God,” but rather with “the laws of waking up in the morning”; we are warned not of “not being holy enough,” but rather of not waking up early enough to serve God. At the end of the day, it is the aggregation of those functions that we execute in our everyday lives that make us unique before God. Thus the mundane and the holy merge, at the end of the day to one, complete, ubiquitous Jewish identity, which embraces us wherever we go, and with whatever we do.
So much for the ubiquity of Judaism in each our lives. The Pasasover Hagada, however, adds another dimension to this fascinating notion of Judaism. I turn now to that second dimension.
II. … And That of the Next Generation
The Passover Hagadah is named after the decree to pass on (no connection to pass-over) the story of the liberation from the house of bondage from one generation to the next, from father to son, each year: “Ve’Higa’de’tah Le’vin’cha Ba’yom Ha’huh le’e’mor….” – “And you will tell your son on that day the following…” Interestingly, this opening reminds us of the “classic” opening of the weekly portions, where God speaks to Moshe and says: “Tell the People of Israel the following…” Here, in other words, each parent plays the role of Moshe, and his sons – or daughters – play the role of the children of Israel.
We can thus see the passing on of the torch – of Jewish identity – from one generation to the next. Thus, not only the Jewish religion commands every aspect of our own lives, but it also make sure that we pass on that tradition to the next generation, and so on and so forth through the end of times…
But the Hagadah presents another, even more unique facet of the interconnection between one’s Jewish identity and the passage of time. It reads, among others: “In each generation and generation, a person must see him- or herself as if they have left Egypt, from the house of bondage.” One common interpretation of this interesting passage is that in every generation, each of us should consider him- or herself redeemed, moving away from some form of slavery (physical addiction, mental desire, or any other form of slavery) towards our own personal liberty. I truly like this interpretation, but today would like to offer another one, not necessarily contradicting the first but more complimentary: “In every generation and generation” – means that in the life of each of us we may experience several periods, or “generations.” In each of these periods – childhood, early adulthood, marriage, parenting, etc. – each of us must reflect on how he, or she, has been redeemed. Thus, the torch is passed not only between father and son, between one generation and the next, but within each generation the torch is “passed” – within the life of any one person – such that the Jewish identity always remains, throughout every period of our lives.
Shabbat Shalom,
Doron
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