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A Blemish In Our House

Shabbat Tazria-Metzorah:
Leviticus 12:1-15:33; II Kings 7:3-20.

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people suffered just such an affliction.
W bile fighting for control
Although it transpired almost a year
of the hostile village of
ago, the bitter Lebanon War remains
Bint Jbil in southern
fresh
in our minds. After thousands
Lebanon last summer, 31-year-old IDF
of
missiles
rained down on Northern
Major Ro'i Klein and his men were
Israel
and we lost so many
ambushed by Hezbollah ter-
Israeli
soldiers, terror-
rorists.
ists
still
hold Gilad Shalit,
Maj. Klein led a group of
Eldad
Regev
and Ehud
soldiers and tried to attack
Goldwasser.
the terrorists from behind,
Our house has a nega, a
but they were stopped by a
blemish we cannot allow
wall. Klein then began treat-
ourselves to ignore. What
ing one of the wounded,
we must do instead is ask
at which point a terrorist
Rabbi Reuven
ourselves: Why has God
hurled a grenade at the
Spolter
touched
His nation in such
group.
Special to the
a painful way? How do
Soldiers who survived the
Jewish News
we correct our mistakes,
battle — eight did not —
and bring cleansing to our
reported that Ro'i yelled out
house?
and
jumped
upon
the
Yisrael"
"Shma
On Monday, April 23, at 7:15 p.m.,
grenade, absorbing the brunt of the
explosion and saving the men around the Jewish community will gather
together at the Jewish Community
him. This week, Israel nominated
Center in Oak Park to honor and
Klein to receive the State of Israel's
remember Major Ro'i Klein and others
highest honor, the Medal of Valor for
who have made the ultimate sacrifice
heroism in the heat of battle.
defending and protecting the Jewish
The Torah uses the term nega to
State.
describe tzara'at — the spiritual
It is my hope and prayer that this
disease that can appear on a person's
community-wide event, cosponsored
body, hair or even his house. In fact,
by the Kollel Torah Mitzion, the
this week's Torah portion goes into
Metropolitan Council of Young Israel,
great detail describing the symptoms
the JCC, as well as Congregation Beth
and characteristics of a nega — an
Shalom and Temple Emanu-El, will,
impurity — that can appear in a
in some small way, bring us closer
Jewish home in Israel.
In Hebrew, the word nega can mean together as a people.
And maybe — just maybe — it can
different things: it can refer to an ill-
ness or a blemish, an affliction or even help transform the nega, the afflic-
tion from God that we have endured
an infection. Yet, the primary mean-
during this past year, into the warm,
ing of the word derives from the verb
nogeya, meaning "to touch." What's the gentle, caring embrace for which we
yearn, pray and hope. I
connection between a "touch" and an
"affliction"?
Reuven Spolter is rabbi of
Judaism forbids us from viewing
Young Israel of Southfield.
challenging life events or personal ill-
nesses as chance occurrences. Rather,
every Jew — whether we realize it
or not, and whether we feel it or not
— has a relationship with God. The
Jewish nation as a whole, Klal Yisrael,
Conversations
also enjoys an intimate relationship
Discuss some of the current
with God. So, even when we suffer, we
conflicts and anxieties that
do not suffer in a vacuum.
plague modern urban life and
Our suffering isn't random. Even in
the ways that we can, through
our pain, we understand that we have
increased spirituality, overcome
been "touched" by God.
them.
This past year, the entire Jewish

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