Tazria-Metzora

Ritual Purity and the "Life Force"

Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan

Through the concepts of ritual purity (taharah) and impurity (tumah), Parashat Tazria and Parashat Metzora present the basic values of priestly theology. Tumah describes a diminished life force and taharah a restored life force.

Israelite priests thought of body and soul as one living unit - a nefesh. Damage to either the body or the soul diminishes the life force of this living unit. An individual is a living unit but so, in a sense, is a group of people. According to the priests, damage to the life force of a single person (tumah) diminishes the life force of the entire nation.

According to Torah, some regular natural events - such as menstruation, childbirth, or attending the dying at the moment of death - can drain the life force, causing tumah. These are transitional events that can carry risk or the fear of death. Irregular surprising events - such as disfiguring skin diseases or sins by public leaders - also drain the life force. These events unsettle the collectivity by breaking down trust in relationships.

The mission of the priests was to help restore the life force, or taharah, through symbolic ritual. By looking after the emotional well-being of each individual, and thus of the nation as a whole, the priests invoked God's presence.

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