Alan Cooper: Metzor Tazria The Torah’s Prescription for Healing

Alan Cooper writes about the impurity of a “perceived deviation from a ’normal’ state”, requiring rituals to return the person or article from “deviant” to “normal”. As he writes, the responsibility of the kohen is to determine whether the condition causes impurity, not to identify it. Therefore, the definition of tzaarat as leprosy is not accurate.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Tazria / Metzora Holiness and Childbirth

Rabbi Sacks introduces the challenges in these parashiot: impurity that occurs because of our human physicality. He references Rambam, who wrote about the opposing lifestyles of the ascetic and the hedonist. The former denies the goodness of God’s world while the latter denies God. As Jews, we celebrate both the Creator and creation.