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Spirituality

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TORAH PORTION

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Who will you be this Passover?

The four sons. We've read about them for years.
But who are they? Four people or one?
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On the night of the four questions, what
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Both Your Houses

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Shabbat Metzora:
Leviticus 14:1-15:33; II Kings 7:3-20.

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R

omeo and Juliet: What
type of event never actually happened:
drama! Tragedy at its height! "The house affected by the plague
As I read this week's Torah never existed and is not destined to
exist." I like to think that this inten-
portion, I can't help but recall the
tional ambiguity in the text
scene in Shakespeare's play
allows for its extension to
where Mercutio falls to the
ground as he is stabbed;
different kinds of plagues
that we potentially confront
and then as he dies, calls
in our homes.
out to curse the Montagues
How many times have we
and the Capulets for their
heard that good behavior,
feud that has led to his
strong moral values, com-
death: "A plague o' both
mitment to God and faith
your houses!"
begin at home?
Indeed, it is a powerful
The home is the center of
curse. A plague upon your
Rabb i Marla
houses has so many impli-
the
family, but ultimately,
Hor nsten
building a healthy, peace-
cations. There is the literal
Speci al to the
ful and meaningful home
one — the black mold type
Jewis h News
life will ensure a healthier
of plague that renders the
and stronger community
home uninhabitable, and
the more interpretive ones — the
at large.
We can't let the modern day plagues
home weighed down with conflict and
dissonance or abuse or the weakening that afflict our society into our homes,
of ethical and social values.
a place that is supposed to be a mik-
dash me'at, a mini sanctuary. Rather,
This type of home is not fit to live
it is the opposite: to let the values of
in either.
the home flow out-
Parshat Metzora,
ward into society, to
which deals with the
let our practices of
purification rites of
generosity, of kind-
those afflicted with
ness, of tikkun olam,
a scaly skin disease
repairing the world,
(usually translated
flood out into the
as leprosy) and other
world.
impurities, also tackles
Perhaps, when we
the case of a house
allow this to happen,
rendered uninhabit-
our Jewish value of
able by plague. When
peace in the home
a person suspects that
will lead to peace in the world; and
his home has been corrupted with
then we will have understood the true
this plague, he comes to the priest
meaning of this Torah portion.
saying, "Something like a plague has
Ken yehi ratzon, may this be God's
appeared on my house."
Of course, detailed and precise
will. ❑
instructions are laid out for the priest
Marla R. Hornsten is a rabbi at Temple
to follow in order to diagnose and
Israel in West Bloomfield.
then rid the home of the sickness.
On the surface, it seems to be
dealing with the black mold type of
Conversations
plague. But I find it so interesting that
What modern day plagues con-
when the owner comes before the
front us in our homes? How can
priest, he is intentionally vague in his
we cure our homes (and our-
description that he has discovered
selves) of these plagues? What
something like a plague. He neither
Jewish values can we prioritize
identifies the exact nature of problem
for our families in our homes
nor diagnoses it himself.
today?
Since the rabbis of the Talmud
(Sanhedrin 71a) teach us that this

We can't let the
modern day
plagues into our
homes, a place
that is supposed to
be a sanctuary.