Rejoining the World
In last week’s Torah portion, Tazria, we explored the idea of quarantining a person who has tzara’at and the separation and isolation that result from it. In this week’s Torah portion, Metzora, we explore what it looks like for that person to rejoin the community and be integrated back into normal life.
The Torah outlines an extended purification ritual, involving sacrifices, herbs, bathing, and shaving, ending with the afflicted person providing a guilt offering (a special kind of sacrifice). For many modern readers, these rituals may feel inaccessible. They speak in intense detail about afflictions we are not familiar (or which make us squeamish), about sacrifices we not longer practice, about categories (such as purity) that many of us no longer think in. And yet, I think the message of these texts is profoundly resonant, especially for our current period. Because of COVID, so many of us have experienced the strange liminality of trying to move in and out of quarantine, and a fear of contamination that defies logic. Think of the first time you went into a public place, after ending a period of isolation, or the first time you saw someone after they exited their quarantine. For me, at least, those experiences felt difficult to navigate. I felt an almost visceral fear of contaminating others or being contaminated by them, even if we were all “cleared” to be together again. It felt like there was this strange invisible barrier to re-entering normal life.
In my mind, the purification rituals in this parasha provide a way of leaping over that hurdle, a road map that all participants can follow to navigate through this strange liminal state and back into the world. They provide a way for the affected individual to reintegrate into the community, and a path to help the rest of the community re-open their arms and their homes and their lives to that person.
For our children, I think we can find a pathway into this parasha through the rituals or processes they have for navigating transitions in their own lives. For example, my youngest is going through a hard time when I drop him off at school. He has been at the same daycare/preschool since he was a baby, and for the longest time he ran off happily and enthusiastically into his classroom. But for some reason, right now, the move between home and school is hard for him. This week, consider talking to your child about one of those hard transition moments in their own lives. Maybe it is going to bed, or turning off screen time, or getting out the door in the morning. Is there a ritual or routine that you follow to help guide you through that moment successfully, to make the difficult moment feel a bit easier or more familiar? If, like my son, your child has a hard time with separation, I highly recommend reading the following books with them: Llama Llama Misses Mama (good for toddlers and younger preschoolers) and The Kissing Hand (better for older preschoolers/kindergarten). These have both been loved in my house, and have helped my kids navigate separation at different points.
For your table this week, I recommend making a meal that features za’atar, a fantastic Middle Eastern spice blend that makes everything delicious. Many versions use hyssop as one of the ingredients, a minty herb that plays a central role in the purification rituals outlined in this parasha.
Hummus with Za’atar
If you, like me, are busy preparing for Pesach, you don’t have a lot of free time to devote to Shabbat dinner this week. Instead, try making a za’atar infused oil and drizzling it over some hummus. Sure, you can make your own hummus if you want to, but it’s amazing how this simple step can transform something store-bought into a Shabbat-worthy centerpiece. Serve it with challah or pita bread (or both! Enjoy that chametz while you can!), and a simple Israeli salad or other store bought salatim, and you have an easy dinner. Having guests over? Serve this elevated hummus as an appetizer, and round out your meal with some roast chicken and veggies.
And speaking of hummus, I was lucky enough to see Jewish cooking legend Joan Nathan speak at an event for her new cookbook, My Life in Recipes, this week. It was amazing to hear her talk about the history behind some of her recipes, and she mentioned the possibility that people in the Middle East were eating hummus even in times of Ancient Israel. She pointed to a verse in the book of Ruth where they eat bread dipped in vinegar, arguing that the word for vinegar might also mean “chickpea.” I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical, but some serious dictionary diving showed that there are cognates in other Semitic languages, where a very similar word does in fact mean chickpea. So, thank you to Joan for inspiring me to learn more about hummus and about the world of the Bible. I’m still inclined to think they were dipping their bread in vinegar, but these random rabbit holes are truly what make biblical scholarship fun for me.
Back to the food: I’ll admit that I have been spoiled for American hummus by the time I spent in Israel. The two dips, while both made of chickpeas and tahini, taste almost nothing alike. But even a basic American hummus can be transformed by the addition of this za’atar oil. If you’ve ever sprinkled za’atar directly on top of your hummus, it is worth the extra step to make the infused oil; the flavor really pops. Not into hummus? This would also be delicious on labneh.
Ingredients
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs za’atar
1 small tub of your favorite hummus
Warmed pita and chopped Israeli Salad (for serving). Think something like this.
Instructions
Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium.
Stir in za’atar and remove from heat. Let cool.
Drizzle over hummus, and serve with pita and Israeli salad. Have extra? Brush this oil on top of your pita for an extra delicious kick of za’atar flavor.