Torah Discussion Starter: April 2022
In Parashat Tazria, we learn it was thought that certain skin conditions were the physical manifestation of impurity (So, presumably 99% of teens going through puberty had a lot of spiritual work to do! 😉). While anyone could easily observe the appearance of a skin problem, we also learn it was the duty of the priests to examine people and determine if they were morally pure or impure and advise on their road back to purity, if needed.
While science has debunked the correlation between a rash and immorality, we can extract an important lesson from Tazria: It is often wiser to leave the diagnosis of right and wrong to the right setting and to those who have trained on the subject. We are not always as unbiased as we think we are - or would like to be. Taking it upon ourselves to cast judgment on our neighbors’, or our own, spiritual lives can lead to a free-for-all of finger pointing and rulings without all of the facts.
Did you ever think you had “someone’s number” only to find out you were wrong? Are there mediator-types in your life that you can trust to be fair in their judgment?
