Metzora is a continuation of the same theme as last week’s portion of Tazria. The portion includes a detailed look at a house afflicted with the disease. As the Torah narrates:

When you enter the land of Canaan that I give you as a possession, and I inflict an eruptive plague upon a house in the land you possess, the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, "Something like a plague has appeared upon my house."

The priest then (not a doctor; this ceremony is more ritual than medical) boards up the house until the plague is removed.

Can tzara'at, the skin disease, actually attack a house?

The new Conservative Movement commentary Etz Hayim offers the following interpretation:

Commentators consider the afflicted house to be a moral warning rather than a natural occurrence, even more emphatically than they consider cases of skin disease to be a moral warning.

They fasten on the word for "I inflict" to deduce that this was a plague sent by God. A home is a family's private refuge. Thus a home afflicted by plague represents the breakdown of the social values that kept a family safe and united. It was a cause for concern if the problems of society at large had come to infect the home. Most commentators suggest that the antisocial behavior that brought the plague to the house was selfishness, blind to the needs of others.

In other words, the commentators understood this plague in a symbolic way. A home that lacks the values of kindness and compassion is a home that should be boarded up and isolated from the rest of the community. The mezuzah on our doorposts does not simply identify the house as a “Jewish” home; it suggests that the values practiced within that home reflect Jewish values.

Nevertheless, even if we understand the Torah reading in symbolic terms, the concern for health is a priority today, as then. Health is so important to the future of Israel that the Torah devotes two portions to the disease of tzara'at. In the United States we have a Center for Disease Control, which monitors various types of diseases to help in protecting us as a community.

Regarding any serious illness, we need to protect the community’s health while at the same time expressing both love and sensitivity toward the sick.

What are some of the health concerns which you believe are not properly addressed? What are some additional antisocial behaviors that bring a “plague” upon individuals, families and our society at large?

Commentators explain that the word metzora is an abbreviation for the Hebrew motzi shem ra – the Hebrew expression for slander.

One who slanders is guilty of such insensitivity that he/she is worthy of being afflicted with the disease. Lashon Hara, or evil speech, extends beyond mere gossip to threaten a person's reputation and psyche.

As caring human beings, we need to care for what we say as well as for how we act. The subject of indecent speech is such a central Jewish value that one of the great Jewish teachers in the last century devoted much of his life to that topic!

Shabbat Hagadol – Haftarah: Malachi 3:4-24

The Shabbat before Pesach receives its own special name: "Shabbat Hagadol," calling attention to the special holiday we are about to observe.

The Shabbat was also called "Hagadol" (The Great Sabbath) because sages would extend their remarks to speak about the various details of Pesach. Fortunately, today we have copy machines, which can print information so that the congregation can return home at a suitable hour!

Nevertheless, we read a special Haftorah today from the prophet Malachi. The Haftorah discusses a future time of redemption when Elijah the Prophet will appear and help usher in the Messianic age.

We associate Pesach with Elijah, since at a point in our Seder we symbolically open the door and "welcome" Elijah into our homes as an expression of peace and hope. (Today many families include a song about Miriam as well.)

As the Haftorah concludes:

Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you
before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of God.
God shall reconcile parents with children
and children with their parents.

Although the Haftorah speaks about the relationship between parent and child in Messianic terms, that relationship is key to our Seder experience.

So much of the Haggadah focuses on the parent-child dialogue (Four Questions, Four Children). The primary text of the Seder recalls ancient history, but the ultimate intention of the Seder is to create, re-create, or strengthen the cultural and spiritual bonds between parents and their children, not to mention the physical bonds strengthened by the evening’s conversation.