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- Leann Shamash
- 11 minutes ago
- 3 min read
#tazria #metzora #tazriametzora #vayikra #sefervayikra #parshattazria #space #artemis #home #return #thereturn #moon #darksideofthemoon #nasa #April2026expedition
With a double parsha the likes of as Tazria-Metzora it is easy to look away from the many details of the status of being Tamei or Tahor. Whether it is childbirth, attending to the dead, various sexual emissions or contact with "creepy crawlies," there are ways to become Tamei. And then there are those who develop Tzaraat, who must announce their condition and then live outside of the camp for a period of time, but returning home after situation has cleared up.
Some commentators take pains to say that the states of tamei and tahor are natural states that people flow in and out of. Living apart, outside of the camp, was a temporary condition. Eventually, the period of separation would pass and the person would return home.
As for the person with a leprous affection: their clothes shall be rent, their head shall be left bare, and their upper lip shall be covered over; and they shall call out, “Impure! Impure!”
They shall be impure as long as the disease is present. Being impure, they shall dwell apart—in a dwelling outside the camp.
Leviticus13: 45,46
One can imagine the camp. People cycle in and out of their statuses and even cycle in and out of the camp. Somewhere in these strange parshiyot of dry diagnoses are people. Real people who follow the rules, and long to return home, to their loved ones and routines.
Last week the Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon returned safely to earth. Following their successful touch down, Commander Reid Wiseman remarked that despite being on a mission that others only dream about, what he wanted most was to come home.
"This was not easy..When you're out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It's a special thing to be human and it is a special thing to be on Planet Earth."
Reid Wiseman, April, 2026.
Perhaps this is an unlikely message to connect with Tazria -Metzora, but its there. The concept of home, even in the details of tamei and tahor, is like the beating heart hidden under all the fine print. I’ll take it.
Shabbat Shalom,
Leann
on a humid summer day,
or a black satin night
we glide
in and out of
the tedium of the ordinary
into adventures that careen us
into orbits we could never imagine,
where
with eyes transfixed
and fingers extended
we view the unexplored;
the far side of the moon
and then
when the time is right
we soar back
ensconced like bees in the hive
and with a splash
we return.
voyagers
almost always return home.
****
I wonder if from space they can see the movements of the tides?
the waters give and take
flowing, cresting
less building to more
and more funneling to less,
but always
they return home.
But where is home?
The tides know.
It is here,
but also there,
on the far side.
Each holds equal weight
though it may not seem so to us,
small and nearsighted.
We, who only see the waves
that foam, froth and flee from us
only to return.
But from high above
all is equal
the comings and the goings,
the journeys and the returns.
We hear the tides as they whisper
home, home,
home, home.
More Posts From Words Have Wings on Tazria-Metzora
That Mark on Her Arm
A post about living outside of the camp after being diagnosed with Tzaraat
A post about using the Mikvah
Just what it seems....a poem about skin!
A post about the two birds used as part of the sacrifice.
מִח֥וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה מוֹשָׁבֽוֹ
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