This week, as we read Parshiot Tazria–Metzora, we find ourselves situated between two of the most powerful markers of modern Jewish history: Yom HaShoah, which we have just commemorated this past week, and Yom HaAtzmaut, which we are about to celebrate this week. Is there a meaningful connection between these seemingly disparate themes?

Parshiot Tazria–Metzora deal extensively with the laws of tzara’at—a skin affliction often, though inaccurately, translated as leprosy. The Torah describes how if the symptoms meet certain criteria, such as a whitish discoloration of the body hair in the infected areas, the afflicted person is declared impure and he must leave the camp for seven days. He then must undergo a series of rituals before he can return and be fully reintegrated into the community. Similar procedures apply to afflictions of the scalp or under the beard, although in these cases impurity is determined by the appearance of yellow, rather than white, hair.

What was the perception of the tzara’at skin affliction?

When Miriam was later afflicted with tzara’at, Aaron reacted with anguish, describing her as “like one who is dead.” In other words, her condition was not merely physical;........

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