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Weekly Message:
The Power We Wield
Friends,
This week’s Torah portion, Tazria, reminds us about the power of words. Our ancient sages saw tzara'at (leprosy) as an external sign of internal moral or ethical turpitude – and a fitting punishment for spreading slander and malicious gossip. When you hurt someone’s reputation and make them appear poorly in public, you are punished with a skin disease that causes you to appear poorly. You are visibly singled out and separated from the community as an obvious and direct result of the hurt that your words have caused.
Whereas in biblical times tzara'at revealed the immediate effect of lashon hara (negative speech), nowadays our words are often separated from their effect, without any visible shaming mark. Once words are released, regardless of how, it is difficult if not impossible to completely withdraw or erase them. They have powerful potential to build up or tear down; to be constructive or destructive; to create a harsher or kinder world. They can live on and reverberate into the future, in ways that we may not imagine.
From this we can learn the important lesson to think carefully about the potential impacts of that most precious tool of good and evil - our words - and all of their potential to help and hurt. This is as true in our everyday interactions as in the writing that many of us do across online media, and the speaking that we choose to do on issues important to us.
Now more than ever, we can choose words that advocate urgently for the hostages' release; that pray for the safe return of all of the soldiers and evacuees to their homes; that offer comfort to our brothers and sisters experiencing grief, trauma, and loss.
It is also worth noting that because we are human, mistakes and pitfalls are inevitable. So the fact that tzara'at was treatable reminds us that even when we err, we can make amends and return to the community, hopefully the wiser going forward.
As we find ourselves at the heavy juncture between marking six months of captivity and war in Gaza, and preparing for Pesach, when we tell the origin story of our Jewish nation, these are two powerful reminders of all that words can do – and of the power within each of us to actively choose to use them for good.
With this in mind, below you will find hostage advocacy and Pesach resources; women's voices and perspectives on the situation in Israel and the weekly parsha, and more suggested ways to support needs on the ground in Israel.
May we use our words to keep supporting, advocating, and bearing witness for all in the community of Am Yisrael -- and to remind ourselves of the immense power we wield each and every day.
Shabbat Shalom ~ Besorot Tovot ~ Am Yisrael Chai
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