The Blogs: Holiness in the Body: Wrestling with Hatred

Parshat Tazria: Finding Holiness in Wounds

Parshat Tazria opens with laws that mystify the modern reader—ritual impurity after childbirth, skin afflictions, and mandated isolation. But hidden in these ancient texts lies a bold truth: Judaism does not flee the physical—it sanctifies it.

In a world obsessed with perfection, Tazria dares us to see holiness not in the flawless, but in our pain, wounds, and most vulnerable spaces.

And today, that truth is more needed than ever.

Yom HaAtzmaut Disrupted by Fire and Grief

This year’s Yom HaAtzmaut didn’t unfold as planned. What should have been a day of pride and gratitude was literally consumed by fire.

The hills of Jerusalem burned, not by accident, but by arson. Hateful, deliberate acts extinguished celebrations across the country. Ceremonies were cancelled, security, fire and safety resources were overwhelmed, and joy was suspended.

Ironically, I had written in my blog yesterday morning, “Yom Ha’atzmaut 2025: No Fireworks, Just Fire“, unaware of how painfully literal those words would become.

But even without the flames, this day was heavy. The leap from Yom HaZikaron to Yom HaAtzmaut is always emotional whiplash. This year, it felt nearly impossible.

A photo circulated—too painful to share—of IDF reserve soldiers from Battalion 8208. The soldiers in black and white had fallen. Twenty-one. Nearly 80% of the unit.

Another image, etched in all our minds, shows whole families burned alive on October 7th.

We try to celebrate. But our wounds are too fresh. Hostages remain. The world forgets or justifies our suffering.

When Evil Finds Applause

At the JNS Conference this week in Jerusalem, Mike Huckabee called Hamas “the most evil people.” I don’t disagree—but what chills me more is the applause they receive from educated elites around the world.

Evil in its pure form is terrifying. But evil that is excused, endorsed, and intellectualised? That is a deeper darkness.

As Shiri Fein-Grossman, former Head of Regional Affairs at Israel’s National Security Council, put it in the New York Post:

“Assuming actors like Hamas or Iran are primarily motivated by a desire to live—and can therefore be reasoned with—reflects a dangerous misunderstanding of their long-term ideological goals.”

We fail to name evil for what it is. We project our own values onto those who reject life, liberty, and peace. And in doing so, we become dangerously naïve.

A Cultural Clash: Sanctity of Life vs. Glorification of Death

Judaism teaches: every life matters. Every Body matters—alive or dead.

We pray for the hostages. We mourn with reverence. We bring our fallen home, no matter the cost.

This is not politics. This is faith.

Our enemies, by contrast, celebrate death. They parade martyrdom. They film atrocities with pride. Hamas didn’t just kill—they raped, tortured, and desecrated, not out of madness, but with method. It was ideology.

This is not just a war of borders. This is a war of values.

The Jewish Body: Sacred Ground

Jewish practice ties the spiritual to the physical—circumcision, mourning rites, dietary laws. Even illness, like that of the metzora, is not condemned but dignified. The afflicted are examined, cared for, and ultimately restored to the community.

Our bodies are not shameful—they are vessels of holiness.

The Human Soul: Angel or Beast

We are each a chelek Eloka mimaal—a spark of God. But we are also free.

The Holocaust revealed just how far man can fall. These were not savages, but cultured Europeans—philosophers, musicians, engineers—who built gas chambers.

October 7th repeated the horror. These were not animals. These were men—guided by hatred, evil and ideology,

The Jewish Soul: Bound by Compassion

Could a Jew do such things?

With heartbreak—not arrogance—we say: No.

We are shaped by a covenant of compassion:

Cry for the stranger.
Leave food for the poor.
Love the outsider—36 times in the Torah.

Ours is not a history of survival alone. It is a mission: to bring conscience into the world.

As Rabbi Sacks taught:

“The Jew is not hated because he is evil. He is hated because he represents good.”

To erase the Jew is to erase the idea that morality matters.

Why the Hatred Now? The New Religion of Power

Universities have become pulpits of rage. “From the river to the sea” is chanted with no understanding of its genocidal meaning.

Jewish students are silenced. Professors excuse terror.

Because in this new secular theology of binaries:

Power = evil
Weakness = innocence
Israel = villain/oppressor
Palestinians = saints/oppressed

Complexity dies. History dies. Facts don’t matter. And antisemitism re-emerges, disguised as virtue.

This Hatred is Theological

This is not just political. It is theological.

It is hatred of what the Jew represents:

A world with God.
A history with meaning.
A moral law beyond might.

We are not hated for what we do.
We are hated for what we mean.

What Do We Do? We Choose Life

And so we respond as we always have—not with vengeance, but with vision.

We teach who we are—not just with words, but with how we live.
We raise children with pride and purpose.
We support our students, our soldiers, our communities.
We gather. We sing. We light mangals. We say Hallel.

We remember who we are.

We are the people who bury the dead and plant trees in their name.
We are the people who brought conscience into history.
We are the people who choose life—again and again.

Final Words: The Flame That Cannot Be Extinguished

Parshat Tazria reminds us: even the afflicted can be sacred. Even the scarred carry divine light.

So too, our people.

We are wounded—but holy.
Scarred—but sacred.
Hated—but never destroyed.

The world may shout lies.

But we will not hide our soul.
We will shine it brighter.