Dear all,

I’d like to start off by asking you once more to register as a voter for the elections of the World Zionist Congress. It is the single most direct way that we as British Jews can vote for Masorti values in Israel: equality for women, LGBT+, and a just peace for the region. Registration closes soon – follow this link to register. You’ll need a credit card to pay £1 and ID document.
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My first full-time job was as a headhunter. I had to make cold calls and persuade people working in a very specific profession to apply for a new role. I didn’t stay long in the job: I lacked the skills I needed of unabashed selling and persuasion. But I soon got another job that was a match for me, and I started off on the path of my career. Being unsuited to headhunting didn’t count against me elsewhere.

In this week’s parashah of Tazria, the Torah describes what are often referred to as ‘purity’ laws. More precisely, there are rules about people with skin conditions: they are ruled out of certain ritual jobs, like being priests. However, if we describe these people as being impure, I believe we do a disservice to them and to the Torah. In the original Hebrew, their skin conditions make them tamei, which means they are ineligible for ritual roles. To translate this as ‘impure’ is to make a value judgement, which is not necessarily there in the original. Those with skin conditions may be ruled out of certain jobs, but they are not morally compromised.

We all have roles for which we are and are not eligible. My own make-up meant that I wasn’t suited to headhunting, just like those with skin conditions couldn’t become priests. And, just as we all have roles to which we are not suited, there are jobs which it is incumbent upon us to take on. Those may be the jobs which our personal gifts mean we are suited to, or the moral obligations which fall upon us all. These are the jobs we must do; the ones we’re exempted from, we needn’t worry about.

Shabbat shalom.

Tim