Torah Tidbits This 'n That Phil Chernofsky

JONATHAN POLLARD 10,956+1584* days imprisoned • www.jonathanpollard.org Social Distancing Know the term? Currently, it's as popular as 'wash your hands'. I was curious, so I Googled the term. What I found surprised me at first, and then it didn't. Wikipedia: Social distancing is a set of non-pharmaceutical infection control actions intended to stop or slow down the spread of a contagious disease... One of the earliest references to social distancing dates to the seventh century BCE in the Book of Leviticus (Vayikra)... And then I had a flashback to almost 59 years ago. Wikipedia was referring to my Bar Mitzva sedra, Tazri'a-M'tzora. I remembered being jealous of friends whose parshiyot were in Sefer B'reishit, or the beginning of Sh'mot. Sedras loaded with great D'var Torah material. And I had all kinds of TUM'A (ritual impurity) to speak about. So I didn't. It wasn't in vogue in those days for Bar Mitzva boys to speak, anyway. But I missed it. And now, all these years later, thanks to Coronavirus, I have my DT. A person has a blemish of various sorts on his skin. He's not sure what it is symptomatic of. (Sound familiar?) He goes to a kohen-expert in Tzaraat and Nega'im and shows it to him. The kohen can tell him that it is nothing to worry about, and sends him to the pharmacy for an ointment. Or he can declare the person TAMEI. Or, as seems to be more likely, the kohen will order him to be quarantined for a week. And on the seventh day, the kohen will inspect the symptoms and declare the person TAHOR or TAMEI - or - order a further period of a week in quarantine. That's 14 days in BIDUD. (Again, sound familiar?) [My challenge is to share what I want to say in only one page. Not easy.] There are similarities between M'tzora and today's 'pandemic'. But there are differences, too. With NEGA'IM, we know there is a connection between the physical and the spiritual. That's why it was a kohen that was seen first. The quarantine gave the m'tzora time for introspection. Time to realize that he needed improvement in certain aspects of his religious and social life. Today, quarantine serves to protect others (and the person himself) from spread of the virus. But quarantine can also serve the same purpose as it did with nega'im. We do not know that there is a connection to human behavior and morals, but maybe there is. And we are all challenged to introspection, T'shuva and improvement, whether we are in isolation or just know about it. Health experts, scientists, and governments are working hard on the situation. But we each have an agenda, too, that includes hygiene, social distancing, prayer, and self-improvement.