The person with leprosy must wear torn clothes and let the hair of their head hang loose, and they must cry out 'Unclean, unclean!' They shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.
These chapters on skin disease are detailed and uncomfortable - the priests have to examine, diagnose, exclude or readmit people. There's grief in this system. People are being isolated for their own protection and the community's, but isolation itself is a kind of death.
When I read these passages now, I think about how we handle contagious illness. COVID taught me something about the weight of isolation - the psychological cost of being separated from your community, even for necessary reasons. We need rituals and compassion alongside the practical measures.
No comments yet. Be the first.