Parashat Tazria 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

This week is a three Torah Shabbat!

The weekly parashah outlines the laws governing a woman’s impurity after childbirth. She is unclean for one week, plus an additional 33 days if she bears a son; twice those numbers for a daughter. Afterwards, she brings a burnt offering and a sin offering.

There follows a lengthy explanation of the laws of צרעת (leprosy) and all its forms of manifestation. The afflicted individual must dwell outside the camp for seven days before being checked by a priest and hopefully declared clean; immersion in a mikvah is required before reentering the congregation. There are similar laws for infected garments, which must be burned if the infection cannot be eradicated.

The short reading from Numbers lists the sacrifices that were brought on Shabbat and on Rosh Chodesh.

This is Shabbat HaChodesh, which occurs either on (like this year) or just before Rosh Chodesh Nisan; its name derives from the second verse of the special reading, which declares that this is the beginning, the first month of the year. The reading then delineates the laws of Passover offering and observance.

In the haftarah for this shabbat, Ezekiel speaks to the nation in Babylonian exile, giving them a vision of the restored Temple in Jerusalem, describing the sacrifices that will once again be brought on all the sacred occasions and the leader (prince) who will be responsible for bringing them and cleansing the Temple.

Connecting it to the Torah readings, the haftarah speaks of bringing the Passover sacrifice on the 14th of the month, followed by seven days of eating unleavened bread, just as was commanded in the reading from Exodus. Prior to this, on the first of the month, a sin offering is brought (like the new mother in the first reading) and its blood is smeared on the doorposts of the Temple, just as the Exodus reading commands the smearing of blood from the Pesach sacrifice on the doorposts of the home.

We are reminded of Hashem’s protective presence, both in the privacy of our home, and when we gather for public worship. This year, as many of us tentatively emerge from our Covid induced cocoons to invite others into our homes for seder, and we also venture to our synagogues to worship together,  b’yachad, again, may we feel the comfort of the Shekinah surrounding us and lifting us up.