Parshat Tazria (Leviticus 12:1-13:59)
There comes a time, for each of us, when we stand face to face with our demons; it is in our response to this challenge that we often see some of the more beautiful moments in human life. In this week\’s parsha, Tazria, we find one of those opportunities.
There\’s a famous story in the Talmud about a smart aleck who asks the sages Hillel and Shammai to teach him all of Torah while he stands on one foot. Hillel\’s response is well known: \”What is hateful to you, do not do unto others All the rest is commentary.\”
We plead for life, yet the Talmud teaches there are three circumstances under which we must be willing to give up our lives.
There is a scribal tradition, maintained in every Torah scroll, that testifies to the problematic nature of Pinchas\’ reward. \”I give him my covenant of peace,\” God tells Moses regarding the young priest. But the word for peace, shalom, is defective. The letter vav is inscribed hollow. It is a broken letter, a broken shalom, a peace that can\’t endure.
Who will provide spiritual care for the needy?
My daughter, the animal lover, has a father who isn\’t. A hamster is the biggest pet I\’ve gotten talked into so far. It lives in her room, and basically I wouldn\’t even know it was there except for one thing — it\’s nocturnal.
The American Library Association got more than 400 requests to ban books last year. But most of those requests were unsuccessful, because of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other people who make sure books stay on shelves.
The Haggadah tells us \”you were strangers in the land of Egypt.\” Here is the interesting thing — because we were strangers, we are supposed to learn not how the Israelites should have acted, but — how the Egyptians should have acted. We are supposed to learn how not to oppress others. Don\’t treat others the way we were treated.
When a book on bar mitzvah opens with a poem by Rudyard Kipling and a quote from French ethical philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, it\’s clearly not your usual bar mitzvah book, of which there are many.
To: My vegetarian husband
From: His guilt-ridden wife, who keeps falling off the vegetable cart
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