Chevre, this week’s parsha is תַּזְרִיעַּ - מְצֹרָע (Tazria-Metzora). The parsha focuses mostly on physical conditions in the person. I initially wanted to say medical, but some of the conditions could also be spirtual in nature and/or spiritually impure. We’ve talked before about the idea that the potential for holiness can cause a longer period of impurity. In the cases of spiritual impurity, the Kohen is the one that declares the person impure and instructs them on what they need to do. Like COVID, there is a period of quarantine and re-inspection. Unlike COVID, it’s possible for a building to become tameh or spiritually impure. There are Midrashim about Jews who came into Israel and took over houses from the Caananites. The house had to be destroyed because it became impure and while demolishing the house, treasure or money was discovered. While I do not mean to lesson the impact of COVID on the world, it has taught us a great deal. Many companies were able to pivot to completely virtual on AWS. We as humanity were able to create a vaccine within 1 year, test it and get it rolled out. The number of sick people in Israel are dropping every day. So as we read this parsha, I think about the people we have lost this year, but also the success that we have wrought as citizens of the globe. Shabbat Shalom.