Parsha Talk Tzaria Metzora Yom Ha'atzmaut 2023 5783

Parsha Talk; with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. This Shabbat features not only the weekly parasha, Tazria-Metsora [Leviticus 12-15], but also a maftir [Numbers 28:9-15] and haftarah [Isaiah 66] for Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new month of Iyar whose first day is this Saturday. In addition, it is the Shabbat preceding Yom Ha-Zikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom Ha-atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day. The parashah describes the rituals for childbirth [ch. 12], the disease commonly referred to as leprosy in humans and its manifestation in clothing and in houses [chapter 13-14], and bodily discharges [chapter 15]. These are not the topics that normally provide rich conversation, so we devote the first half of the show to the meaning we might find in these chapters. In the second half, we discuss new rituals for Yom Ha-atzma’ut and how we might understand the religious signficance of the day. Shabbat Shalom!