Becoming Wholly Holy

The double portion of Parashat Tazria-Metzora (Lev. 2:1–15:33)is often seen as obscure or difficult, but at its heart, it offers profound insight into the spiritual design for living. These parshiot are not merely about ancient purity laws or obscure skin conditions — they’re about returning wholly to one’s self, that we must unite the physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Tazria, meaning “she will seed” or “conceive,” begins with the sacred process of childbirth — a woman’s most direct human emulation of the Creator. Here, the Torah introduces the concept of tumah, often mistranslated as “unclean.” In truth, tumah reflects a spiritual void or loss — a temporary state of disconnection. After childbirth, a woman is not “impure” in a moral sense; rather, she has experienced a profound transformation. For nine months, her body carried potential life, and with birth it leaves behind a void that must be healed and reintegrated. The Torah gives her time — 7 days for a boy, 14 for a girl — to restore balance.

Why does it take longer for the mother to return to full health after giving birth to a girl?

The deeper tradition teaches that women are spiritually elevated beings, so that the birth of a female, carries heightened spiritual potential and thus, intensifies the mother’s loss and subsequently doubles amount of time for recovery. The parasha also references the brit milah (circumcision). Midrash Tanchuma says that the male child is born incomplete and it is only through mitzvah of the brit that he becomes whole.

The Torah portion of Metzora addresses a person with tzara’at, a skin condition reflecting internal moral disorder linked to lashon hara (gosspip or any destructive speech), tzara’at physically manifests itself on the afflicted person’s skin, clothing—even the walls of his home. Those with this disorder are separated from the community — not as punishment, but as a pathway to reflection, repentance, and healing. Their reintegration mirrors the process of inner repair: healing body and soul, restoring connection with others and with God. Together, these two portions mirror each other.

Tazria begins with a natural physical event (birth) that requires time to restore the mother’s physical, emotional and spiritual state. Metzora starts with a spiritual imbalance that becomes physically visible. In both cases, healing comes through re-alignment — returning to a state of oneness, within the self and with the Divine.

These themes are especially resonant during the Counting of the Omer, a journey of spiritual refinement. The Israelites, newly freed from Egypt, ascended from the 49th level of degradation — the deepest spiritual disconnection — to a state of readiness to receive the Torah. Each of the 49 days was a trek—away from the taint of slavery, as well as the influence of Egyptian culture—and a march toward re-integration, healing, and spiritual maturity. Just as the mother and the metzora are given time and ritual to realign, so too was Israel.

As we read Tazria-Metzora this week, we also celebrate the modern rebirth of Israel — a living testament to divine restoration in history. On the 3rd of Iyar, 5708 (1948), Israel re-entered the world stage not just as a nation, but as a spiritual declaration that the process of redemption is real, and ongoing. It’s also a reality that the nations cannot ignore. Ironically, at this writing we are witnessing the most malignent and vile lashon hara (destructive speech) directed toward the Jewish People and Israel since the Holocaust—but on a global scale.

Tazria-Metzora reminds us that the path to holiness begins with awareness — that our bodies, our speech, our relationships, and our souls are deeply connected. When one is out of balance, the whole system needs healing. The Torah gives us the tools to realign, restore, and return — again and again — to a life of wholeness. It is also a journey that restores Israel back to the goal of becoming a people that will unite the world with the One True God. May it come speedily.