“From a psychological point of view, ‘sins’ are indispensable in any society organized by priests; they are the actual levers of power, the priests live on sins, and need the ‘commission’ of sins.” (F. Neitzsche, from The Anti-Christ, 1888)
ויקרא פרק יג
ב אדם, כי-יהיה בעור-בשרו שאת או-ספחת או בהרת, והיה בעור-בשרו, לנגע צרעת--והובא אל-אהרן הכהן, או אל-אחד מבניו הכהנים. ג וראה הכהן את-הנגע בעור-הבשר ושער בנגע הפך לבן, ומראה הנגע עמק מעור בשרו--נגע צרעת, הוא; וראהו הכהן, וטמא אתו. ד ואם-בהרת לבנה הוא בעור בשרו, ועמק אין-מראה מן-העור, ושערה, לא-הפך לבן--והסגיר הכהן את-הנגע, שבעת ימים. ה וראהו הכהן, ביום השביעי, והנה הנגע עמד בעיניו, לא-פשה הנגע בעור--והסגירו הכהן שבעת ימים, שנית. ו וראה הכהן אתו ביום השביעי, שנית, והנה כהה הנגע, ולא-פשה הנגע בעור--וטהרו הכהן מספחת הוא, וכבס בגדיו וטהר. ז ואם-פשה תפשה המספחת בעור, אחרי הראתו אל-הכהן לטהרתו; ונראה שנית, אל-הכהן. ח וראה, הכהן, והנה פשתה המספחת, בעור--וטמאו הכהן, צרעת הוא
(Leviticus 13: 2- 7)
“When a person has a rising, scab, or bright spot on his skin that appear like a plague-infection and it is reported to Aharon or one of the other priests. And the priest shall examine the infection. If the hair inside the infection has turned white or if the infection appears deeper than the skin, it is a plague-infection, and the priest designates it as unclean. If it appears as a bright spot on his skin, but doesn’t seem to be deeper than the skin, nor has the hair turned white; the priest should quarantine the person for seven days. On the seventh day, the priest should examine the person again and if there has been no change, the person remains quarantined for an additional week. On the seventh day of the second week of quarantine, the priest will re-examine, and if the infection stagnates and does not spread, the priest pronounces the person clean because it is just a scab; and the person washes his clothing and is clean. Yet, if the scabbing spreads after the priest declares it clean, it is shown to the priest again, and if it has spread, the priest declares the person unclean. It is the plague!”
I’m not going to translate the entire sedrah here. You can read the rest for yourself, if you are so inclined or bored enough. The issue is not what cancerous, contagious, or dermatological disorders the Torah might be describing here. No one really seems to know what the Torah is talking about, but we do know that it isn’t leprosy, which is a neurological disorder affecting the extremities, and has never been known to display the symptoms of white patches or white hair within the patches that the Torah describes. The others terms are really ambiguous and tell us nothing of what the modern equivalent of such symptoms might be describing. Some believe that the Torah is describing Hansen's Disease, a leprosy with hypo-pigmentation and discoloration of the dermis. If that is the case, I find it very hard to believe that anyone could have survived its effects, seeing as there were no antibiotics available at the time.
One might want to say that the priests were doing the best they could to diagnose and treat skin problems, and that, among the other religious and political roles, was to be the responsibility of the priestly class. That leaves some questions to be answered. Weren’t there any doctors or healers among the Bnei Yisroel that the Cohanim had to make house calls? Can you imagine modern Judaism without doctors? Is there a doctor in the house? No? Every culture had its healers, some of them applying time-tested naturalistic forms of medicine, and others, in the tradition of the snake-oil dealers, killed more people than they ever helped. It is reasonable to assume that the Israelites also had people well-versed in the healing techniques of the day and battlefield or emergency medicine. We know they had skilled midwives, so why not other medical personnel?
Parshas Metzorah does not mention internal diseases, broken legs, or other common maladies, but the message of Metzorah is crystal-clear. The ancient Jews were a very superstitious people. These infections are not medical problems, and therefore were not diagnosed by healers, but by the religious cult leaders. There was already a long tradition of God’s wrath coming by way of plagues and funny looking diseases, so the idea that disease and sin are linked were already an ingrained, traditional perspective of illness and recovery. This sort of attitude that sees death, disease, and sin and mutually inclusive events begins from the story of Odom and Chava. In Genesis 4:22 it says, “ And YHVH Elohim said: now that man has become similar to us, cognizant of good and evil, he might stretch out his hand and eat from the Tree of Life and live forever!” So we see, that from the beginning of Torah, life, death, health, and the knowledge or ability to disobey God are mutually inclusive elements of Jewish thinking, exacerbated by the belief in a Specific Providence that scrutinizes the thoughts, words, and deeds of every individual.
Physical deformities of all kinds were considered a form of God’s displeasure. Many cultures still treat the handicapped and leprous as outcasts tainted by sin and God’s wrath, even when no contagion exists. Such treatment is the realm of the stupid, cruel, and ignorant. Even in many religious Jewish homes, children with physical and mental challenges remained hidden away from public view, or shipped off to hospitals, so that others might not think the family has either spiritual or genetic malfeasance running through its veins. Fortunately, in last couple of decades, this backward thinking has changed, and religious communities are offering top-notch care and education for those born with birth defects and other challenges. In ancient times, however, your plight was unforgivable. Families were ashamed to have handicapped children.
The real issue is something much more dangerous than the possible misdiagnosis of a dermatological problem. Superstition and false religious beliefs can have devastating psychological effects. The attitude that disease and sin are mutually inclusive leads one into paranoia. Imagine that every time you get a cold or flu, that you have to worry that somehow, someway you have just pissed off the Almighty. In fact, much of our modern religious exhortation, called Mussar, says exactly that! The links established between Biblical leprosy and loshen hara have been around a long time, though no actual verse exists to support the thesis, unless you count the story of Miriam as proof. People with migraine headaches run out to have their tefillin checked. People with household molds and allergies check their mezuzahs. People with gastrointestinal problems re-kasher their kitchens. Everything is connected to sin, on the assumption that the truly righteous always have a perfect, rich, and healthy life.
(I remember many years ago, during the debates over the Shtachim, when the Lubavitcher Rebbe, M.M. Schneerson, during a shabbos farbrengen, said of HaRav Shach that he should have his ‘tefillin’ checked, which is a reference to a brain tumor that might be radically altering HaRav Shach’s cognitive processes.)
Now if a person believes that his illness has a spiritual source, then why ever go to a doctor? No antibiotic could ever cure what God insists the person must have. Taking this attitude to its illogical conclusion, you begin to understand why many believers in faith healing, though the majority not Jews, refuse to take their chronically ill children for medical care. Modern Jews, thankfully, aren’t as stupid as their ancient ancestors, and seek medical care when necessary. Disease is not seen only as an act of God’s wrath on a sinful person, but as atonement or a cleansing process for that individual, much like the Torah views the plague-stricken person in Parshas Metzorah. Our responsibility to help that person and show compassion are not mitigated or superceded by that person’s spiritual status and we are obligated to assist the person to find medical help. Some may still waste time in prayer, but even prayer shows a level of care and concern for others. Yet, the attitude that spiritual defect and physical deformity and disease are inexorably linked remains.