These Torah portions discuss at length topics that are among the most challenging for us to relate to. What relevance do the laws of ritual purity and impurity - after childbirth, for lepers and for various types of male and female discharges - hold for us? Why does the Torah place such emphasis on these matters? Why do we feel so far removed from them?
In his book Orot, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook posited the following principle: the level of purity required corresponds to the degree to which a spiritual framework encompasses the various aspects of life. Frameworks that are more inclusive and all-encompassing necessitate a more rigorous degree of purity.
The Temple and its sacred offerings are a prime example. They projected an ethical and holy influence on a wide range of life's aspects: from the noble heights of the intellect, through the powers of imagination and the emotions, all the way down to the physical level of flesh and blood. Because its impact reached even the lowest levels of physical existence (which are nonetheless integrally connected to all other aspects of life in an organic whole), the Temple and its offerings required an exact and precise purity.
By contrast, a spiritual and moral influence that is directed only towards the human intellect does not require such a refined degree of physical purity. As the Sages wrote, "'"Are not My words as fire?" says the Lord' - Just as fire does not become impure, so too words of Torah cannot become impure." (Berachot 22a)
During the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian exile and the subsequent rebuilding of the second Temple, it was necessary to revive the Temple's strict requirements of purity. Thus, we find that during this period, Ezra enacted decrees stressing the subject of ritual purity.
The long exile that followed the Second Temple period, however, greatly weakened the emotive and imaginative abilities of the people. The intensity and aesthetic quality of Jewish life became impoverished, and the need for a rigorous degree of purity was accordingly lessened. One of the six sections of the Mishna - compiled in the Land of Israel - is Taharot, dealing exclusively with matters of purity. The Babylonian Talmud, on the other hand, was composed in the exile, and contains only one tractate on this order. Similarly, the Talmudic Sages repealed Ezra's decree that obligated immersion before studying Torah.
What remained for the Jewish people in exile? Only the intellectual influence of the Torah. It was still connected to the physical level, through the practical observance of mitzvot, but the intermediate stages of imagination and feeling were bypassed. "Nothing remains but this Torah." (Selichot prayers)
In the long centuries of exile, meticulousness in matters of ritual purity lost its obligatory nature. It became associated with idealistic longings, the province of the pious few.
The Hasidic movement (founded by the Baal Shem Tov in the 1700s), however, aspired to restore the concepts of physical purity to the masses. Hasidism emphasizes the imaginative and emotional - particularly prayer and song - more than the intellectual. As a result, it awakened a greater need for personal and physical purity. This objective certainly contains a healthy kernel, though it requires additional direction and development.
Especially now, with the national renascence of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, these aspects of purity should be expanded. This trend complements the renewed immersion in spirituality, and the wholesome thirst to heal the nation and its national soul in all aspects of life - including physical purity.
"For the Lord your God makes His presence known in your camp, so as to deliver you and grant you victory over your enemy. Your camp must therefore be holy. Let Him not see anything lascivious among you, and turn away from you." (Deuteronomy 23:15)
Together with the renewal of our national strength and vigor, there must be a corresponding reinforcement of emotive and physical purity. This will help prepare the basis for an integrated national life encompassing the full rebirth of the people: from the highest intellectual abstraction, to the simple joy in life and vitality.
[Based on Orot, p .81 (Orot HaTehiya, chap. 35)]
In his book Orot, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook posited the following principle: the level of purity required corresponds to the degree to which a spiritual framework encompasses the various aspects of life. Frameworks that are more inclusive and all-encompassing necessitate a more rigorous degree of purity.
The Temple and its sacred offerings are a prime example. They projected an ethical and holy influence on a wide range of life's aspects: from the noble heights of the intellect, through the powers of imagination and the emotions, all the way down to the physical level of flesh and blood. Because its impact reached even the lowest levels of physical existence (which are nonetheless integrally connected to all other aspects of life in an organic whole), the Temple and its offerings required an exact and precise purity.
By contrast, a spiritual and moral influence that is directed only towards the human intellect does not require such a refined degree of physical purity. As the Sages wrote, "'"Are not My words as fire?" says the Lord' - Just as fire does not become impure, so too words of Torah cannot become impure." (Berachot 22a)
During the return of the Jewish people from Babylonian exile and the subsequent rebuilding of the second Temple, it was necessary to revive the Temple's strict requirements of purity. Thus, we find that during this period, Ezra enacted decrees stressing the subject of ritual purity.
The long exile that followed the Second Temple period, however, greatly weakened the emotive and imaginative abilities of the people. The intensity and aesthetic quality of Jewish life became impoverished, and the need for a rigorous degree of purity was accordingly lessened. One of the six sections of the Mishna - compiled in the Land of Israel - is Taharot, dealing exclusively with matters of purity. The Babylonian Talmud, on the other hand, was composed in the exile, and contains only one tractate on this order. Similarly, the Talmudic Sages repealed Ezra's decree that obligated immersion before studying Torah.
What remained for the Jewish people in exile? Only the intellectual influence of the Torah. It was still connected to the physical level, through the practical observance of mitzvot, but the intermediate stages of imagination and feeling were bypassed. "Nothing remains but this Torah." (Selichot prayers)
In the long centuries of exile, meticulousness in matters of ritual purity lost its obligatory nature. It became associated with idealistic longings, the province of the pious few.
The Hasidic movement (founded by the Baal Shem Tov in the 1700s), however, aspired to restore the concepts of physical purity to the masses. Hasidism emphasizes the imaginative and emotional - particularly prayer and song - more than the intellectual. As a result, it awakened a greater need for personal and physical purity. This objective certainly contains a healthy kernel, though it requires additional direction and development.
Especially now, with the national renascence of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, these aspects of purity should be expanded. This trend complements the renewed immersion in spirituality, and the wholesome thirst to heal the nation and its national soul in all aspects of life - including physical purity.
"For the Lord your God makes His presence known in your camp, so as to deliver you and grant you victory over your enemy. Your camp must therefore be holy. Let Him not see anything lascivious among you, and turn away from you." (Deuteronomy 23:15)
Together with the renewal of our national strength and vigor, there must be a corresponding reinforcement of emotive and physical purity. This will help prepare the basis for an integrated national life encompassing the full rebirth of the people: from the highest intellectual abstraction, to the simple joy in life and vitality.
[Based on Orot, p .81 (Orot HaTehiya, chap. 35)]