Spiritual Sickness

THE BIG IDEA

We are 2 weeks into the 7 week long spiritual purification process between Passover (exodus from slavery)  and Shavuot ( receiving spiritual law). 

Remember getting free is only the first step, damage from past abuses or oppressive cycles takes time to heal. 

Each week  during this time is focused on healing various wounded personal attributes.  The first week heals aspects of loving kindness, the second week invites us to strengthen our boundary setting ability, and this coming week asks us to heal our relationship to beauty.  

In addition to those forces, Friday and Saturday’s new moon of Iyar brings with it a powerful healing energy, especially for the body. 

This week’s Torah Omens amplify the force of boundary setting and healing by focusing almost entirely on the spiritual sickness called Tzarat; a disease that can appear on the skin, clothing or walls of a home, (understood to afflict people who spread lies and gossip). The healing process of tzarat involved the physical removal of the afflicted person from the encampment for 7-21 days, depending on the severity, and priest’s assessment, and required a very involved ritual before re-entry into the camp. 

While we no longer know the spiritual origins of our own sicknesses, it is still a favorable time to pray for health and the healthy boundaries needed for our true beauty to shine. 

POSITIVE SEPARATION 

One of the trickiest areas in life to purify is our need, habit and desire to speak about other people behind their backs. Even when we think we are communicating with the purest of intentions, we are often speaking in a way that opens us to drama, upset, and manipulation. 

Take some time this weekend to recall the last time you either spoke or listened to gossip (or negative speech) about another person. Recall the feeling you felt when you spoke or heard the information.

Imagine that gossip or negative speech were a skin virus that was generated by the speaker.  Imagine yourself or whoever speaking, getting immediately infected after gossiping and needing to isolate from your/their social circle, home and culture for at least 7 days.

Imagine that anyone that gossiped or spoke negatively immediately contracted this mysterious skin sickness. Imagine that person needing to be removed from society until they had found the root cause of their need to speak negatively (usually ego defense or shame) and needed a minimum of 7 days alone to find it.

Next, imagine yourself as the speaker separated for that time and the deep cleansing you would need to do in order to re-enter society without having this sickness recur. 

Try to recall the last time you gossiped about another person and then identify what part of your ego you were defending by judging them (negatively).  Imagine your hideous skin disease wouldn’t go away until you found the truth.

Question: Would you want to live in that society?