Caring for the Sick
Yes, we are still reading Leviticus and yes, we are still reading about stuff we no longer do.
This week we read about ritual purity and in particular the details about what to do if people are afflicted with leprosy. In ancient times, this disfiguring and contagious disease was tremendously feared. People worried with good reason that if they became infected, they could become permanently disabled.
The ancients did not understand bacterial infections, were unaware of proper hygiene practices that prevent the spread of such diseases, and most certainly were not blessed with antibiotic treatments.
And yet, every year we still insist that we confront this ancient, and seemingly outdated text.
We believe that we can wrest some contemporary meaning from even the most obscure, and obsolete, laws. It’s time to talk about leprosy again.
The Torah proclaims: “As for the person with a leprous affection: the clothes shall be rent, the hair disheveled and the mouth covered, and that person shall then call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” (Leviticus 13)
How unfair! It seems like infected people are being punished for having a disease. Then again, it is not so much that they are punished but instead that they become like mourners who likewise rend their clothes. Still given our modern approach to sickness the Torah’s requirement that people with leprosy must publicly acknowledge their disease is off-putting.
How embarrassing! How undignified! The ill’s feelings are cast aside.
The medieval commentator, Rashi, offers clarification. He writes: “They must proclaim aloud that they are unclean, so that people may keep away from them.”
Sick people’s concerns are no longer for themselves but for others.
Ibn Ezra, another commentator, adds more emphasis. He writes: “The word unclean is repeated. When lepers pass on a road in an inhabited area, they shall continually announce that they are unclean so that people will be on guard and not touch them.”
The Torah appears to be adding to sick people’s burdens. I want shout back, “Leave them alone. They have a terrible disease. Don’t make them declare their pain out loud.”
And yet I am reminded that the Jewish tradition emphasizes over and over again that our worry is first and foremost for others. An individual’s embarrassment is secondary to the needs of the larger community.
We bristle at such demands. We live in an age that emphasizes individual needs, and desires. The Torah appears unfeeling, and even cruel in contrast.
We hesitate to share our illnesses with others reasoning it is a private matter. Imagine a contemporary analog in which people are required to loudly proclaim, “Cancer! Cancer!” We would be aghast and taken aback. We might even become frightened.
Then again, the Torah’s demands might not so much be about protecting the community but instead about presenting communal members with opportunities to offer consolation to the sick. We can only provide words of healing if we know what ails others!
There is no way of making our way through sickness and disease without the care and concern of others. We must loudly declare, “This is no time to try to go it alone!”