This week’s two parashiyot, Tazria and M’tzora, explain the process by which those with leprosy were quarantined from the community, and eventually reintegrated into it. The ancient rabbis understood the illness and its consequences as a metaphor for lashon hara, the sin of bad-mouthing, which cuts one off from community. One who bad-mouths turns him-/herself into a spiritual exile, by destroying trust.

What is the antidote to lashon hara? The rabbis taught that it is the study of Torah. We heal ourselves from words that cut us off from one another by turning to words that bind us together. The answer to destructive language is sacred language, language that creates community by teaching us to recognize the image of God in one another.

May the words of Torah that we share bind us to one another, and to all human beings.