Beyond the Binary in Parashat Naso: Coping During Traumatic Times

Anyone following the current news cycle would be forgiven for feeling helpless, impotent, anxious and/or depressed as they sipped their morning coffee. The uptick in gun violence throughout the United States blazes across our devices non-stop, revealing scenes of horror so shocking, that the images could be described as “biblical.”

As I began to contemplate this week’s parasha, Naso (lift up), my breathing quickened and my heart began to race. And I sat on my chair for quite a while – immobile. I was struck by chapter 5 verses 1-4 in which a seemingly incongruous addition to the text appeared as a throw back to the earlier Book of Leviticus. Why were the laws of ritual purity and impurity included now that the ancient Israelites were “bemidbar” (in the wilderness)? And why was this reminder placed after the second census and before the trial by ordeal of the sotah (more on that subject at another time) what was so significant about the ritual purity and impurity binary that it merited highlighting again?

We read in Numbers 5:1-4: יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: Instruct the Israelites to remove from camp anyone with an eruption or a discharge* and anyone defiled by a corpse. Remove male and female alike; put them outside the camp so that they do not defile the camp of those in whose midst I dwell.

The Israelites did so, putting them outside the camp; as יהוה had spoken to Moses, so the Israelites did.”

In order to keep the Mishkan ritually pure, all serious contagion must not contaminate the holy abode an must therefore be removed. According to Jacob Milgrom on Numbers in the JPS Commentary, “these three categories of affliction were seen as severe impurities, as is obvious from the fact that their purification is of seven-day duration and involves a complex ritual. furthermore, their impurity is contagious through contact with persons and objects; in the case of leprosy, it is enough to be under the same roof (Lev 14:46) however, it is not the threat of contagion to man and his objects that causes the banishment. Rather as the text makes amply clear, it is the threat to the sanctuary, that is, “the camp in whose midst I dwell.”

The removal of the ritually impure, in this case the metzora (similar to one afflicted with leprosy), azav (chronic bodily discharges) and tamei l’nefesh (corpse contamination) is not because of “dirtiness” as in not bathing, but the nature of their condition embodies a “leakage of life force” essentially representing death. God’s continual presence in the Mishkan necessitates a thoroughly ritually pure environment. Ancient Israelite belief in this extreme duality/binary can be understood easier with this background knowledge.

However, the extreme polarity of the solution borders on fanaticism. The only treatment for this between the binary of tamei (impure) and tahor (pure) is removal. Absolutely no other solution existed because God would not dwell in an unholy abode.

But what happens with that space between impure and pure? The rabbis speak about this and other struggles of polar opposites such as holy or profane, fit or unfit and especially with regards to the eternal inclinations of the yetzer hatov and yetzer hara.

So much of our news feed displays the polarization of our world in the increasing tension between of polar opposites. Right vs. Wrong, My Way vs. Your Way, Left vs. Right. And on and on.

But life cannot be lived in the binary as exemplified by the growing polarization of American society today. It is in the space that exists between the inclination for evil and the inclination for good, the pause between words and actions, the silence in the midst of reactionary discourse that we might be able to listen, to learn and possibly to affect change.

Consider Rashi’s interpretation of chapter 5 verse 2 “that they should send away from the camp”, “there were three camps there at the time of their encamping, within the curtains
that is the camp of the Divine Presence, the encampment of the Levites around -that is the Levite camp-from there to the end of the camp of the divisions -that is the Israelite camp.”

Here the text provides three categories as opposed to two polar opposites. There are three accounts of impurity and there are three mentions of completed removals all within the context of this duality of purity and Impurity within the camp near the Mishkan. The expansion to a third level is telling. While we learn that there are three camps (Divine, Levite, Israelite), we can also reflect on other significant connections to the number three in Jewish tradition and practice including the three Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), and the three main sacrifices corresponding to primary worship services, (Shacharit, Mincha, Ma’ariv).

For me the the three kabbalistic stages of Shevirat haKeilim (shattering of the vessels), tzimtzum (ingathering), and Tikkun (repair) are the most resonant of all. Is it not the tzimtzum where we take into ourselves the shattered-ness of the world in order to begin to make a space for wholeness and repair?

As we become enveloped in the traumas afflicted our society on a daily basis and respond in the “binary” of a trigger and immediate reaction, mirroring the polarization that is an underlying the modern day impurity eruptions we become incapable of moving forward. If we don’t heal from traumatic incidents every trigger will send us right back to the same place each time and our reaction will become more and more intense and less and less productive. When we create the space to cope and ultimately to heal, when the triggers come (and they will continue to come) our response will become less intense. Each time we return to the wilderness our awareness becomes more heightened and we can become more mindful of our actions and reactions.

Perhaps the best example of a non-binary approach to coping with trauma on today’s world Is to remember that the Divine Presence remains with us, sharing, in three distinct stages, the three-fold Divine Blessing for all the community. As Nili S. fox writes, “the three part blessing here invokes mercy and God’s mercy and favor toward the children of Israel for the sake of their general well being “shalom.”

As I reflect on my own immobility, understanding that I cannot fix the worlds ills, I am comforted by the fact that I exist in community and with the awareness that I can find a a space between the challenges of today, I may learn to better help myself and those around me. From our Torah portion this week the priestly blessing, including a special blessing from me to each of you….

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָס}

יהוה bless you and protect you!

May you have the strength to reach out beyond your own immobility and share your burdens with another.

יָאֵ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךּס}
יהוה deal kindly and graciously with you!

May you know that you are not alone during these troubling times.

יִשָּׂ֨א יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם

יהוה bestow [divine] favor* upon you and grant you peace!

May you continue to shine your own light, creating a holy space between the poles of extreme difference within our broken world and seek peace.

May it be so.
Shirat Hayam