Daniel Goleman argues that while they we may not be able to view them under a microscope, “emotional contagions" have the ability to affect our minds and bodies. In Social Intelligence, Goleman urges us to look at emotions as similar to viruses, ones that can spread to others for both good and ill:
“The fact that we can trigger any emotion at all in someone else--or they in us--testifies to the powerful mechanism by which one person’s feelings spread to another. Such contagions are the central transaction in the emotional economy, they give-and-take of feeling that accompanies every human encounter we have, no matter what the ostensible business at hand may be” (Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence, 16).
Goleman’s definition of an emotional contagion is a fitting concept to think about in relation to Parashat Metzora, which outlines the procedure for dealing with one afflicted with tza’raat. Beginning with early rabbinic texts, the Metzora is presumed to have committed some kind of interpersonal sin, with the Talmud listing seven possible crimes ranging from murder to envy (BT Arachin 16a), and with Rashi asserting that Miriam is afflicted with tza’raat in Parashat Ki Tetze because she spoke slander about Moses (Rashi on Devarim 24:8-9), a clear stance by our tradition that interpersonal sins have physical consequences for the sinner’s body.
When I first learned these commentaries, I found them utterly simplistic, choosing to write an inspiring sermon about what we believe to be true as opposed to reading the parasha contextually to figure out what is actually true. However, commentaries I only recently learned about this parasha helped me this view interpretation of tza’raat in a new way, and how this week’s parasha may be one of the most powerful lessons we can teach our children about how they ought to treat one another. In his medieval commentary, the Ramban expands upon the rabbinic notion that tza’raat only occurs in the land of Israel by arguing that the affliction of tza’raat is more spiritual than physical in-nature, and that the disease only occurs in one tainted by a disconnect from God. The Ramban states:
“This is a completely unnatural phenomenon that does not occur under ordinary circumstances. The same is true of an “eruptive plague” in the house. When the Jews are at one with the Lord, His spirit it always upon them, keeping their bodies, clothes, and homes in good appearance. When one of them happens to sin, however, an ugliness appears in the flesh, his clothes, or his house, to show that God has departed from him” (Ramban on Vayikra 13:47).
When the Ramban makes the statement that if a person is afflicted with tza’raat, then the person must somehow be spiritually connected from God, the Ramban is making an explicit connection between how sins of the mind can affect the physical status of the body. Literally, if a person is spiritually disconnected from God, then the entire community will be aware of this disconnect through the presence of tza’raat.
Drawing a connection between the meaning of tza’raat and the sins Jewish tradition associates with tza’raat, Rabbi Obadiah Seforno argues that the sins Jewish tradition associates with tza’raat are not merely an affront to one’s fellow human beings, but are an affront to God, as well. He writes:
“the principal sins for which a person is afflicted nega tza’raat, are bad-mouthing people people and haughtiness, both of which are perceived by the sages as direct trespass against God’s holiness. Even though badmouthing is generally perpetuated in secret, not affording the victim a chance to defend himself against the accusation and character assassination, the prophet Isaiah 29:15 views it as the perpetrators saying: “who sees us, who takes note of us?” The prophet considers the “secrecy” as worse than the sin itself, as it suggests that God is unable to see it, and therefore represents a gross insult directed at God” (Seforno on Vayikra 14:12).
According to Seforno, because slander and gossip are actions usually performed without the knowledge of the one being wrong, our tradition argues that the person is sinning against God himself, for these sins assume that when no person is looking, no one is aware that the gossip and slander are taking place. In this sense, tza’raat is brought to make the sinner aware that just because certain sins can be done in private does not mean that those sins do not have public consequences.
Finally, Rabbi Aharon Yaakov Greenberg wrote in his modern anthology Itturei Torah that tza’raat is ultimately brought to serve a spiritual purpose, and the attempts to marginalize and isolate the Metzora serves the purpose of teaching that person the consequences of divine disobedience. Greenberg writes:
“The Metzora comes to realize that it is not his body that must be healed and corrected, but rather his behavior. in spite of the fact that it is his body that is stricken, his humiliated position is due to spiritual circumstances. He is unclean and contaminates everything that comes in contact with him. He must be isolated from society, since he is socially destructive. He is given time to think about his failings and repent” (Rabbi Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, Itturei Torah, Intro to Parashat Metzora).
Greenberg’s choice to say that the Metzora is “socially destructive” reflects our Jewish tradition’s perspective that the social destruction brought by the Metzora requires that he or she be punished socially. If an individual Jew seeks to make life impossible for their fellow human beings, the plague of tza’raat intends to provide a measure-for-measure consequence for that decision.
Unfortunately, it is far too easy for us to dismiss the ordinary ways human beings degrade one another as simply the less-flattering aspects of how we interact with another. In response to this unfortunate assumption, Jewish tradition implores us to see the deeper significance of all ordinary human interactions, and use the Metzora as an archetype of what can happen when human beings spread emotional contagions by even the most subtle ways of mistreatment, whether that includes gossip, bullying, or social exclusion. This Shabbat, take time as a family to think about how we can see even these small acts are matters of cosmic importance; if we succeed in doing this, we will truly accept the timeless lessons we can learn from our parasha.
Shabbat Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment