Parashat Tazria, & Parashat Metzora in advance, 5774/2014 edition

Said it all here (or in the linked posts from previous years).  Got nothin' more to say about my least favorite parashot (parshiot?).


 ~ Rav Shai Held holds, with Everett Fox, that the correct translation of "korban chattat" is "decontamination offering," and reminds us that childbirth is still life-threatening in too many parts of the world.

~ " . . . really stressful experiences can sometimes make prayer hard," which, according to Conservadox, may be one explanation for why women had to wait after childbirth to bring a sacrifice.

Sunday, March 30, 2014 update

~ Rav Dov Linzer, in connection with the way "lepers" are discussed in this parashah, reminds us that there's a delicate balance between objectively diagnosing and treating, on the one hand, and remembering that patients are individual human beings, on the other.

It occurred to me that Tazria is a sort of diagnostic manual for "paramedics."  Our ancestors had no trained doctors, but someone had to treat the sick, so the Kohanim/priests got the job, then had to be taught how to do it.