YOU ARE HEREBY EXPELLED

A short section in this week’s parsha seems, at first glance, to contain a directive that has very little relevance to the modern period. God tells Moses to command the Children of Israel (Bamidbar 5:2-3): “That they shall expel from the camp everyone with tzara’at, everyone who has a zav – emission, and everyone contaminated by a human corpse. Male and female alike shall you expel, to the outside of the camp shall you expel them, so that they should not contaminate their camps among which I dwell.” The Torah is dealing here with the concept of tumah, ritual impurity, of which there are many types and severities. Depending on the type of the impurity, the impure person would have to leave one, two or all three of the designated “camps” in the wilderness and later, in Jerusalem (and other walled cities), until such time as he or she had completed a purification process. The first and most holy camp was called Machaneh Shechinah, the Tabernacle itself; the second was Machaneh Leviah, the camp of the Levites, who dwelt in the area immediately around the Tabernacle; and the third camp was Machaneh Yisrael, the camp of the Twelve Tribes, who dwelt on all four sides of the Tabernacle. In the city of Jerusalem, the camps were, respectively: the Temple itself, the Temple Mount and the rest of the city within the walls. One of the types of tumah itemised in the verse is the impurity of one who is afflicted with the dreaded skin disease tzara’at. Someone afflicted with this disease was required to live outside all three camps (see Vayikrah13:46). The next form of impurity is that of a zav. This impurity comes as a result of certain liquid emissions from the genitals (see Vayikrah chapter 15). A man or woman who displayed such symptoms was required to leave the first two camps, namely the Temple itself and the Temple Mount, but they could reside in the city. The final form of tumah itemised is that of tumat met, the impurity caused by contact with a dead body. Anyone who had been in contact with a dead body was required to remain outside of the Temple itself, but could remain in Jerusalem and could also ascend the Temple Mount (see Rashi verse 2). 

These laws were strictly enforced in the forty years that the Children of Israel lived in the desert and during the periods of both Temples. In our generation, however, there is little application of these laws, save that one who has come into contact with a dead body may not walk upon the Temple Mount in the area where the Temple used to stand. Even though the Temple no longer exists, the area it occupied remains sanctified for all time (see Megillah 28a). Since today there is no way to properly become pure after touching a dead body, it is assumed that all Jews have a status of tameh met. This is true even of one who has never been in actual contact with a dead body or in the presence of a dead body, for it is unlikely that he or she has not been touched by someone who has been in the presence of a corpse, and has therefore transferred the impurity.  Consequently, one who desires to visit the Temple Mount (which for a Jew can be a political hot potato) must first discuss the matter with a rabbi learned in these principles who can explain clearly which parts of the Temple Mount are off-limits.

Rabbi Yeshaya Hurwitz (1560-1630), in his famous work Shnei Luchot Habrit, sees within this passage great relevance for Jews in all times and in all places. He cites the verse in Devarim (23:15): “…so your camp shall be holy, so that He (God) will not see a shameful thing among you and turn away from behind you.” The mystical work Zohar explains that “your camp” also refers to the human body, with all of its organs and limbs.  Hence, the human body must be holy and one must banish from it all forms of “impurity.” Rabbi Hurwitz extends this comparison between the camp of Israel and the human body. He notes that just as the Israelite camp was comprised of three distinct areas, so too the body has three areas, each of different sanctity. The most holy is the head which contains the brain that processes all of man’s thoughts. This area is so holy that even the slightest impurity – improper thoughts – must be banished from its midst. This conforms with the statement of the sages (Yoma 29a) that “thoughts of committing a sin can be worse than committing a sin itself”, for improper thoughts contaminate the most sacred part of man and, in turn, his entire body and soul.  The next less holy area is the heart. The heart pumps life-giving blood to the rest of the body and is second only to the brain. Therefore, one must possess a ‘good heart’, physically, emotionally and spiritually, and banish from it any form of impure emotions. The third and least holy area is the digestive system where food is processed.  Man is also physical and although this part of the body might be viewed as somewhat repugnant, it must still remain as pure as possible. Hence, one must take great care that no impure food reaches his stomach (in the Torah non-kosher food is referred to as tameh, impure) and that when he eats, he does so in a manner befitting a human being. Furthermore, even when he needs to evacuate the waste products of his food, he must do so in a modest way, hence Sages (Brachot 62a) warned that one must behave modestly in the toilet.

This passage might also be alluding to another concept, that of expelling from our midst people whose behaviour and attitudes are antithetical to Judaism. Throughout Jewish history, individuals (and groups) have arisen from within the Israelite camp and advanced philosophies that compromise the purity of Judaism, Torah and mitzvoth. Occasionally these people pose a physical threat to the wellbeing of their co-religionists. The Torah instructs us not to tolerate such people, but to remove them from our midst until such time as they have purified themselves. Such a directive may appear very harsh to a Jew who has been raised in the spirit of 21^st century democracy, egalitarianism and liberalism. The Jewish community today is perhaps the most pluralistic it has even been. There are ultra-Orthodox Jews, Modern Orthodox Jews, Centrist Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, Reform Jews, secular Jews, atheist Jews and a dozen more groups along the spectrum of religious practice and belief. 

For some, each of these groups represents a valid and acceptable form of Jewish practice. No one is wrong and no one is right and everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how extreme or liberal. There are even Jews who liken the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to Apartheid and accuse the Jewish State of genocide, even in the aftermath of the terror attacks of October 7^th, 2023. Some weeks ago, I received a call from a community member imploring me to send a letter from the Beth Din excommunicating a group of local anti-Zionist Jews from the community! When the Sages were forced to engage with such people, it was always to dismiss their views as contrary to the Torah, but never because they valued their opinions. Not every opinion expressed on a matter is valid. Simply put – some viewpoints are simply unacceptable and should not be tolerated either because they are false or because they are uttered by people unqualified to comment on the subject. I do not mean by this that we should actively expel dissenters from our ranks, for this usually strengthens their cause, provides them with free publicity and transforms them into martyrs. Nevertheless, we need to realise as a community and as a nation that some ideas are not acceptable and do not comply with normative Judaism and should therefore remain “outside the camp”.

Lee, Chani Merryl & Naomi join me in wishing you Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Liebenberg.

Rabbi’s YouTube messages: https://youtu.be/xAA9wLgJAcM?si=4GGhWrZWENprzSlu