Chapters 11-15 in Va’Yikra, all about the holy hygiene of body and soul, private and public reality. What does holy living mean to you? What we eat, how we love, who we touch and what to do with illness and infection?
Susan Sontag wrote: “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.”
Pigs and lepers, birds and baths, babies and back to normal — these chapters invite us to explore how we honor boundaries between life and death and how as a liberal, progressive and justice driven society it’s on us to re-imagine some of the ancient definitions and demarkation of what and who is holy — so that we all are celebrated and loved - exactly as we are. Especially when we need an extra hand to deal with life’s more painful moments. Sooner or later, as Sontag reminds us, we all need help from humans - and beyond - for happy, healthy, holy lives.
Check out the vid.
Shabbat Shalom.
Every Friday, we will be recapping what we learned this week Below the Bible Belt. Be sure to follow on Instagram and subscribe to our Substack to stay up-to-date as we embark on this journey together. CT
Weekly Overview of Below the Bible Belt