{"id":45196,"date":"2018-12-04T14:09:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T12:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45196"},"modified":"2022-06-28T18:09:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T15:09:51","slug":"physical-body-v-the-body-politic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/physical-body-v-the-body-politic\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Body v. The Body Politic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Leviticus legislation concerning tsara\u2019at<\/em> is filled with details of all kinds: colors and shapes and wait times, purifying ablutions and sacrifices. Nowhere, however, does Leviticus explain why a person might contract tsara\u2019at<\/em> in the first place. On the contrary, tsara\u2019at<\/em> is presented as the kind of skin condition that could just appear on the skin to anyone, at any time. The real concern is teaching the Israelites– and the priests — the proper ritual response to tsara\u2019at<\/em>; the gradual stages of identification, quarantine, and re-entry to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Midrash on Leviticus, radically redirects our focus away from the body, towards human behavior. Leviticus may not itemize the catalyst for tsara\u2019at<\/em>, but elsewhere in the Bible, people who have contracted tsara\u2019at<\/em> are often characters who have behaved improperly. Most famous, of course, is Miriam who seems to speak ill of her brother, engaging in lashon hara’<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Midrash deepens the connection between lashon hara’<\/em> (gossip, evil speech) \u00a0and tsara\u2019at<\/em> and constructs tsara\u2018at<\/em> as a symbol of ethical failure, emptying it of its ritual content or practical value, and instead focusing on abuses of speech and their corrosive effects on society. Whereas levitical ritual impurity laws (including tsara\u2018at<\/em>) govern or protect divine holiness from human mortality, the rabbinic homilies on tsara\u2018at<\/em> advocate for attention to the holiness of the human community. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Harmful speech is emblematic of human actions that rupture the social fabric; it is the quintessential act with no quantifiable or visible consequences but which nevertheless wreaks havoc on the body politic. According to the Midrash, the real threat to the human community is relatively slight social offenses, or small pecks at communal order. \u00a0Focusing on the havoc unleashed by misspoken words, particularly those that may seem to be inconsequential, or unintentional, best expresses the sentiment that human actions pose dangers to the holiness of the community.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":103037,"id":103037,"title":"-6231a106ccbce--6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate speech bubble.png","filename":"6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-not-to-communicate\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble-png\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble-png","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":103036,"date":"2022-03-16 08:34:14","modified":"2022-08-07 07:47:16","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1084,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-300x254.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-768x650.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":650,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-1024x867.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":867,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1084,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1084,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-1200x1016.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1016,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/03\/6231a106ccbce-6231a106ccbd0gen30-communicate-speech-bubble.png-496x420.png","home_baner-width":496,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Physical Body v. 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