Dear Friends,
What can one say about Parshat Metzora? We are dealing with leprosy and often the onset of leprosy is equated with uttering lashon hara or saying negative things about people. Sometimes I believe that the national pastime is saying hurtful or evil things about people that can leave us sore and wounded. And after all, how many of us have been victimized by rumors or falsehoods about ourselves or people with whom we are close? We know how damaging these negative comments can be to those we love and to us.
Rabbi Abraham Twersky in his book, “Living Each Week” discusses the following verse: “Something like a lesion became visible to me in the house.” (Leviticus 14:35)
Rabbi Twersky quotes Rashi who says that even if one is pretty sure that there is a lesion, one should not make a definitive statement and so says “there is something like a lesion….”
I believe that this teaches us not to believe that our way of looking at a situation is the only way of looking at a situation. How many of us declare that our position is the “right” position and are unwilling to look at things from alternative points of view? Whether we are talking about religion, politics, sports teams (except for the fact that the White Sox are the best baseball team:-)) we should be open to discussion and debate. Recently I participated in an interfaith dialogue about current conditions in the Middle East and was inspired by the willingness of the participants to be open to varied points of view. The participants certainly didn’t necessarily agree with each other, but were open to listening to each other.
I believe that we should have strong convictions and certain principles that we view as important and we should stand by them. However, I hope that we will be inspired by Rashi to realize that in certain situations, one cannot always be totally sure that we are correct. We should always be open to dialogue and being receptive to new ideas and ways of looking at things. After all, as we grow and mature, each of us has new insights to life’s experiences.
May we not be afflicted by the “sore” of intolerance and being close minded. May each of us be willing to look at new perspectives on issues and even if we disagree with others, be respectful and not disagreeable.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bruce Aft