Blood; eczema, dermatitis; bodily discharges; mold, fungus. Hardly sounds edifying. The topics of this week’s dual portion of Torah evoke responses ranging from an adult’s “Egad, is that in the Torah?” to “Yuck!” from the bar/bat mitzvah student who has just learned that this is the portion s/he has been assigned. But for those of us who study Torah regularly, the response goes beyond the initial reaction. The response is, “Yes, that’s in the Torah, but why?” Getting beyond the yuck-factor, is there anything spiritually uplifting in this week’s parashah?

As an aside, there was an era in Reform Jewish practice in the mid-20th century when some Reform rabbis would substitute an extra reading of Kedoshim when the schedule called for Tazria-Metzora. Why? They found the latter to be unedifying. A Conservative colleague of mine was shocked to learn this bit of history. However, I assured him that my generation of Reform rabbis held with the view that, since it is in the Torah, we must read it, grapple with it, and seek to understand why it is there and what is its meaning.

There is an infinite yearning in many people to feel God’s presence, to be in God’s presence. Yet the fulfillment of that yearning is, ultimately, elusive. One moment a person seems to sense God’s presence; in the next moment the feeling is gone. Yet, for that one fleeting moment, that person has had an extraordinary experience. The person would like to replicate it, but it is not easy. It may come again, or it may never come again, but the memory lingers And, still, for some people, such experiences never come. No matter how intense their yearning, it never comes. Yet the yearning persists.